Lyse!

I had my second SP interview last week. It was okay, I didn't forget any questions, but I did fail on some follow up questions. That's okay though, as it gives me something to write about as I relive the horror over the internet.

I can't tell you too much about what my patient had (apparently) *cough cough* *wink* but when I walked in I noticed he had a medic alert bracelet on. I made a mental note of it, but then forgot about it, as you do. When I asked him about allergies, he said "strawberries," and I went "Okay!" completely forgetting about the patients medic alert bracelet.

As the faux interview finished, and I headed for the door, I suddenly remembered the stupid bracelet. "Was I meant to ask about the bracelet - it completely slipped my mind" I asked the tutor. The SP, who was still there looked down at his arm, and then back at me and laughed. "No, I'm just actually allergic to penicillin." I was greatly, and inappropriately relieved!

As I wandered off down the hall, I heard the SP telling my tutor I was a very observant student. Made me feel good! So here's my tip: If you want to positively influence the outcome of your SP interviews, clarify whether you should have asked about something quasi relevant after the fact. Try these maybe:

"I found the SP was extremely unattractive, should I have asked about depression?" or
"The SP was wearing Kappa and Fubu, should I have asked more questions about illicit drug use?"

I hope this helps.

A real shocker

I think I will never ever ever be bothered to polish a car again. That took way too much time, even if it does look amazing.

And the new fenders? It took me four hours and I only replaced one of them. It also looks amazing though. The Jeep is turning in to one sleek beast. It's just a shame about the woeful fuel economy, it's a really cool car otherwise.

Hopefully next summer will be less rainy and I can leave the top off for longer.

It's all about passion

Today I met a person, who had quit there $100k+ a year job as a radiographer to study medicine. I thought that was encouraging. It's nice to know that there are lots of peeps doing it for the passion.

I went to a research night last night - highlighting something of the medical research going on in FMC. Some of it was boring, other parts weren't my cup of tea. But I felt a niggle within me. Something that I haven't felt for a long time. I think, I'm almost out of my burn out phase and am almost ready to get back on the bandwagon again. I'm not planning on rushing it though, but I felt this feeling once before during the break before starting my PhD. I'm feeling like being back on the bench... Though the thought still churns my stomach a little.

Had a cruise through the hematology labs today though, as part of my education about blood. That was interesting, and reminded me again what all that basic research is about. Discovering something useful, putting it in to practice, and making a difference.

*contented sigh*

Site update

Even though most of you read this blog through some form of feed reader, just thought I'd tell you that I've gone to the effort of changing the way everything looks. The blogger default settings are gone. Please enjoy my new visually pleasing page elements.

That's all really. Med school has hit the end of the first block. Goodbye basic biochemistry, hello immunology. Fingers crossed for some exciting medical conditions soon!

You can't spell progression without progress

I'm a bit worried. Well, not really. But I've relaised that the biochem book I purchased when I was an undergrad is now out of date. Which means, rather tragically. Not only have I forgotten the stuff I learned when I was an undergrad, but the field has moved on a long way... and now I need a new book.

On the up-side. I have been using even older books, and found some of the stuff to be relevant still! Dad's pharmacology text, managed to discuss the hip new drug naloxone. The good thing about that book, is that it was written in the days before molecular biology kicked off, and they had no idea what a receptor was. Gosh, why couldn't I be older?!

In other news, I have a sore back. I shared this with my tutorial group, unwisely. They then began executing the CC method of history taking on me, curious as to how the condition was effecting my life. Didn't really give them the marks for empathy, but at least they tried!

Notes *pun*

"There are two ways to kill a song. Either speed it to death, or drag it slowly to death. If you're gonna kill it, at least err on the side of caution, and kill it quickly."

Peace like a river, joy like a fountain

Medical students are renowned for their hypochondriacal capacity to take on the disease they are studying that week. This week we're examining obesity... I'm... yeah I'm not feeling it this week.

Truth be told I have no exciting stories to tell. I had my mantoux test, where they inject tuberculin just under you skin (so your skin bubbles up visibly) to see if you have an immune response. Unsurprisingly, the result indicates I have never had TB. Hooray! Hooray, because this means I'm nearly done with the paperwork and vaccinations!

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with my lazy Friday arvo this week. Every Friday for the last three weeks I've taken a needle to the arm. Maybe I'll go get that flu vax script filled...