A year ago I wrote my MCAT.  I had no idea what was about to happen and how my life was going to change.  It has been quite a head spin.  More at the beginning of the year than now, as I’m starting to feel like I know my way around and what’s going on.  I have spent just over three months here now and am getting back into feeling like a student, and at the same time am starting to feel like I’m able to really get my head into the game for school.  It feels good to finally have the motor running.  Now it’s time to cover some serious ground cause my mid year exam is coming up at the beginning of June.  It’s the first written exam I will have and is the only one I’ll have before finals, which makes it feel like a big hurdle to jump.

Tags: Medicine, UQ by David Graff
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I took a trip to the Fraser Coast last weekend, sutured a pig’s foot and learned to make a plaster half cast (the broken arm kind).  The other thing we saw was the Royal Flying Doctor Service operation at the Bundaberg airport.  Airborne medicine is a big part of Australia’s history and practical logistics.  With 20 million people in a land mass larger than the continental US, getting around fast is a big problem.  It’s so important here that the guy who started it, Rev. John Flynn, is on the $20 bill.  It was sweet to see the equipment they use and the airplane and two choppers they are currently using out of that location.  Maybe one day…

Tags: Australia, Medicine by David Graff
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That just about says it all.

Tags: Medicine by David Graff
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End of the first week here and it’s Australia day, which brings back good memories from the last time I was here.  I remember walking our butts off around Sydney trying to figure everything out. Maybe I’ll go downtown and relive it.

This week has been busy feeling compared to the time leading up to it.  The classes so far are a mix of introductory science, orientation and when the parties are.  The most different thing is PBL, which is Problem Based Learning.  Basically you have 9 other people that you sit in a room and go over a case chosen by the school.  Except you can’t just talk about logical conclusions and what the most likely reality is.  You, and all your colleagues, have to discuss at length every single minute detail of the situation.  It’s not enough to say he hurt his finger.  What muscles are in the finger?  What bones? What structures could have been affected by an injury like this? Is the pain from the skin, or elsewhere? Why does it hurt? How is the pain transmitted? What is affected by the pain? How does that make him feel? What led up to this injury? How can it be avoided? Is it our responsibility to avoid this for other people? etc.  I hope it doesn’t drive me crazy, and I suppose the point is to make the footprints of coverage as large as possible with a single case at a time.

Tags: Australia, Medicine, UQ by David Graff
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It was international welcome day today for the School of Medicine.  There was a few sessions on how things work at the school, some introductions, and a lot of welcome-to-the-brotherhood talk.  One of the things that stood out to me today was in the Australian Culture session.  They encouraged us to “Let our judgements be fair” (Specifically in context of understanding other cultures).  In Canada it often seems that judgement is a bad word, and that everything is just equal because “we’re supposed to think” that way.  I have often thought it strange that everyone would habitually judge, but just as habitually deny or condemn judgement.  The Australian way seems to be a better fit for the way I see things; it seems more honest.

Aside from all that the BBQ was good, and despite being cloudy all day, I got sunburnt.  They say it can happen through the clouds, and once again, they’re right.

Tags: Australia, Medicine, UQ by David Graff
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To make things easier for me to change my site, I have started… this. Don’t expect enlightenment, just plain, boring, normal things, as [my brother Mike pointed out] those often amaze me.

Tags: Medicine, Uncategorized, UQ by David Graff
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