It's already the second day of May already. Wow! Time really does fly. I love the month of May--spring (or autumn here) is in full bloom, and the weather is just perfect.
I know that it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything, so let me update you on my comings and goings. Let's see. This weekend is another long weekend in Australia! Tomorrow is their Labour Day, so I have an off-day from school. Yippee! I love being able to sleep-in for another day of the week. However, the weekend is a bit dampened by the impending due date of my ethics essay due a week from tomorrow. I finally have a topic I am happy with, but the writing part has yet to happen. I started last night and am very slowly progressing through it. My goal is to finish most of this by this weekend so that during the week, I can revise and do my references section. Wish me luck!
Last weekend was another long weekend here in Australia--Anzac Day. Basically, it's Australia's Memorial and Veterans' Days combined. I spent last weekend trying to learn about the respiratory system and V/Q ratios. Not exactly fun, but it's important stuff. Also, last Friday night was Kat's bday BBQ. It was really fun, and it's amazing how many people I met from the first year med class. There are so many of us that I just keep seeing new faces and meeting new people. But yea, Kat's party was a blast--the most fun I've had in a while! Then on Sunday, Jeff, Darren, and I watched The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Pretty good movie, though I prefer the book. Can't wait until my sister lends me the other two books of the trilogy!
It is here that I must digress a bit and mention my walk to the UQ campus last Sunday. Usually, when I head to school, I always take the bus, but since it was a holiday weekend, I decided to walk and find out exactly what my route would be. I didn't get lost (whoo!), and it was during this walk that I finalized my ethics essay topic and knew exactly what I was going to argue. I love runs and walks!
This past week, I also got my exam results back. I did all right--most importantly, I passed. =) I did better than I expected, but there's still lots of room for improvement. But I'm happy since I have had no exposure to any of this anatomy and physiology stuff before. Not only that, but the last time I actually was in school was 4 years ago...so yea. And now it's time to start major studying for June exams. Those will definitely be a lot tougher!
Coming back to this weekend now, on Friday, I went to watch Iron Man 2 with a whole bunch of classmates. I didn't really want to watch it as I wasn't a huge fan of the first Iron Man, but I gave in...it turned out to be rather good, this second movie--much better than the first! Yesterday morning, I met up with my mentor assigned to me by the Australian Medical Association. Dr. Solley is an allergist, and he's really nice! Hopefully I can shadow him during clinic some time.
Last bit of news--this week, I found out that I will not be able to complete my elective in the UK. Boohoo. The school decided two months after the fact that the Ochsner cohort will not be allowed to go abroad and must stay in Australia for our elective. LAME. I am particularly upset with this as I have spent a lot of time and effort setting up housing and also looking for doctors/hospitals willing to take me on. I have friends who have had their electives approved already; some have even paid a deposit to secure their spot! But what's new? This whole UQ/Ochsner set-up is not really well organized, and you can never trust what they tell you. I can deal with all the day to day stuff of attending classes and pracs, going to PBLs, and even taking exams. I can deal with spending a lot of time reading textbooks and learning things on my own. However, I'm really fed up with the UQ/Ochsner administrative crap. We're paying $20K more than all of the other foreign students here--for what, we're not really sure since the SOM can't give us a clear, straight answer. We were told that we could do our first year elective anywhere since we cannot for our 4th year elective and also must come back Australia for a 4th year rotation. But two months after everyone's started looking or have confirmed spots, guess what? They tell us that we're not allowed to go overseas. It's a whole bunch of BS. I treasure this opportunity to be able to study medicine in Australia. I really do. But UQ/Ochsner really needs to get their act together.
So yes, after my ranting and raving, I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and a wonderful week ahead! 6 weeks and counting before I get a two week holiday!!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Post-Exam Weekend
So, I finally had my first written exam on Friday afternoon. All I'll say is that it was a fair exam with nothing too ridiculous on it. Most definitely not the most difficult exam I've ever taken, so yea. And boy, am I glad it's over!
Over Easter break, my schedule consisted of waking up daily at around 7-8am, studying, and taking a nap, more studying, and then going to bed at night. Of course, I ate in between and did some random stuff, but for the most part, it was a pretty strict and regimented study schedule. Then last week, before the exam, it was more reviewing and then memorizing all the details. But it's over, and I've been sleeping a LOT this weekend!
I have a lot to catch you guys up on--let's see.
1. My parents are coming in June to visit me during my break! They've booked their flights already, and I'm in the process of planning our itinerary when they get here. So far, I've booked tickets to Sydney and Melbourne, so we get to travel around Australia! SO excited! In the beginning, I was more excited to go to Sydney, but now, I think I'm more looking forward to Melbourne because it's the food capital of Australia! The Queen Victoria Market looks amazing, and I plan on spending at least 1/2 a day there gorging on ridiculous amounts of good food! Can't wait to see my parents!
2. I've finally started looking for doctors in the UK. If any of you know any, please let me know. I found one doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (I've always wanted to work there), but she doesn't do enough clinical work for me to follow her. However, she did forward my enquiry to an administrator who deals with students, and he has said that the HTD would love to have me except he needs to check with the management team of doctors before he can promise anything. At least it's a start, right?
3. Ethics Essay - I have an ethics essay due in 3 weeks. Haven't started freaking out yet, but I'm sure that will descend upon me soon. I'm not so much worried about writing the essay as I am doing the research. I've always found it hard to find good sources and then extracting the information that I need from them. But it'll get done.
4. I've been cooking a lot more. On the weekends, I usually make something for the rest of the week. Today, I will be making a vegetable curry! Yummy! I always find it fun and stress-relieving to cook, and you'll always find me doing it more during exam times.
5. Thanks to the yarn from Ampy, I have made a koozie for my new water bottle. I've also started making a crochet hooks holder. So much fun!
6. Teamwork in Action - We have this assignment where we have to work with first year students from all the other allied health fields. Basically, it entails us to pick a charity and then either do a fundraiser or somehow help the charity out. My TIA group has pretty much been MIA since we met for the first time a while back. But finally, we had an in-person meeting on Friday after my exam, and we're getting somewhere. We're thinking of doing a sausage sizzle to raise money...we've picked a foundation, but we still need to get approval first before planning everything else can be underway. This should be fun!
That's about it, I think. Back to studying now for A&P, and then it's off to Sunny Bank for dim sum with some friends this afternoon! It'll be interesting to see how good the food will be...will keep you guys updated! Hope you guys have a great weekend!
Over Easter break, my schedule consisted of waking up daily at around 7-8am, studying, and taking a nap, more studying, and then going to bed at night. Of course, I ate in between and did some random stuff, but for the most part, it was a pretty strict and regimented study schedule. Then last week, before the exam, it was more reviewing and then memorizing all the details. But it's over, and I've been sleeping a LOT this weekend!
I have a lot to catch you guys up on--let's see.
1. My parents are coming in June to visit me during my break! They've booked their flights already, and I'm in the process of planning our itinerary when they get here. So far, I've booked tickets to Sydney and Melbourne, so we get to travel around Australia! SO excited! In the beginning, I was more excited to go to Sydney, but now, I think I'm more looking forward to Melbourne because it's the food capital of Australia! The Queen Victoria Market looks amazing, and I plan on spending at least 1/2 a day there gorging on ridiculous amounts of good food! Can't wait to see my parents!
2. I've finally started looking for doctors in the UK. If any of you know any, please let me know. I found one doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (I've always wanted to work there), but she doesn't do enough clinical work for me to follow her. However, she did forward my enquiry to an administrator who deals with students, and he has said that the HTD would love to have me except he needs to check with the management team of doctors before he can promise anything. At least it's a start, right?
3. Ethics Essay - I have an ethics essay due in 3 weeks. Haven't started freaking out yet, but I'm sure that will descend upon me soon. I'm not so much worried about writing the essay as I am doing the research. I've always found it hard to find good sources and then extracting the information that I need from them. But it'll get done.
4. I've been cooking a lot more. On the weekends, I usually make something for the rest of the week. Today, I will be making a vegetable curry! Yummy! I always find it fun and stress-relieving to cook, and you'll always find me doing it more during exam times.
5. Thanks to the yarn from Ampy, I have made a koozie for my new water bottle. I've also started making a crochet hooks holder. So much fun!
6. Teamwork in Action - We have this assignment where we have to work with first year students from all the other allied health fields. Basically, it entails us to pick a charity and then either do a fundraiser or somehow help the charity out. My TIA group has pretty much been MIA since we met for the first time a while back. But finally, we had an in-person meeting on Friday after my exam, and we're getting somewhere. We're thinking of doing a sausage sizzle to raise money...we've picked a foundation, but we still need to get approval first before planning everything else can be underway. This should be fun!
That's about it, I think. Back to studying now for A&P, and then it's off to Sunny Bank for dim sum with some friends this afternoon! It'll be interesting to see how good the food will be...will keep you guys updated! Hope you guys have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
PBL Fun & Care Package
I knew that this week was going to be long with two assessments--the respiratory physical exam and also an exam on basic life support. I wasn't worried about these assessments per se, but they are compulsory passes in order for me to move onto second year, so they weren't exactly walks in the park either. Also, everything was packed into 4 days as Good Friday is a holiday here. Next week is my Easter break, but it's really called Revision week since I have my first written exam the week after break. Wish me luck!
But the week wasn't half bad as it is now over, and there were some very pleasant surprises along the way too!
1. Care Package from the VERY awesome people in the PI Dept at BMC.
On Monday, I received an email from the manager of my apartment complex saying that a package was waiting for me in the office. I wasn't expecting a package nor had anyone told me they were sending me anything, so I was thoroughly intrigued! Only problem--I didn't have any time to pick it up! They were closed by the time I got home on Monday. I have classes every day starting at 8am, so I'm always gone before the office even opens. Tuesday was a late night with classes and then a medical specialties talk. The office is closed on Wednesdays. They are also closed Friday-Monday for Easter. Today was my only chance, but then peer tutorial was scheduled for tonight, so I wouldn't be able to pick it up today either...SO, I made the decision to skip this morning's lecture on Population Health (as they are ridiculously boring--and for those of you who are shaking your heads--I don't make it a habit to skip lectures. This was only my second one this semester). so that I could pick up the package before my biochem expert tutorial and PBL. Boy am I glad I did!!!
I walked into the office this morning, but I couldn't find anything with my name on it! Finally, I spot the LARGEST box (it was wrapped with all this Australia Customs tape) sitting on the chairs, and I recognized Connie's handwriting! All of my other packages have been either textbooks or meds from home, so this definitely takes the prize. What an awesome surprise!! I almost ran up the stairs and back to my apartment so that I could cut all the tape off and see what was inside, but as I was "flying" up the stairs, I noticed the declarations sheet and just read what was inside...I know, I spoiled it. But I was still very excited to open the box! After cutting through all the tape, I found 6 skeins of yarn and WHATABURGER ketchup (the best ketchup on earth)!!! YUM! I also found a Customs pamphlet in there saying that X-Ray detected something that they thought was illegal and so therefore, they had to open and inspect it, but they didn't find anything illegal. Hilarious. But yes, some of the ketchup containers did bust open, but it's all good as it didn't leak out of the ziploc bag. I now also have 3 skeins each of gray and dark pink yarn. YAY!!
But the best part of it all was the cards inside the box. I had to take them and run to the bus stop, but while I was waiting for the bus, I read Ampy's card first. So sweet! Thanks for the yarn, Ampy! I promise to put it to good use. I'm sure it'll be useful for me as I study for this exam. But then onto the other card--I honestly was expecting only something from Connie, but low and behold, everybody in the office had written a note! Seriously, I almost started crying at the bus stop...Thank you guys, and especially Connie, for this wonderful, amazing surprise.
2. Career Fair - After our basic life support assessment yesterday at the hospital, we had to head back to campus for a Micro Prac at 3pm. It was only noon, so the 5 of us who headed back decided to try to crash an earlier session. As we were walking from the bus stop, Ann-Marie and I noticed signs about the UQ Career Fair that was going on. Obviously, we knew that they wouldn't have anything in store for us there, but we decided to swing by to get some lollies and free stuff. By 12:45pm, we'd only been around to a couple of the stalls but had gotten a ridiculous amount of lollies...so we decided that we were going to just go to our normal Micro session so that we could walk around the whole UQ Centre and explore all the booths.
After 1.5 hours of pretending that we were first year engineering students, undecided on what we wanted to specialize in (electrical, mechanical, etc), we walked away with some awesome stuff. Highlights for me include a metal water bottle (I've been meaning to get one), a pair of flip flops, bags of jelly beans, and finally lots and lots of chocolate. Here is a picture of everything I got:
Ann-Marie and I have decided that this is the best we've ever done at any career fair and plan on going again next year!
3. PBL fun - I belong to a very awesome PBL group. No dominant personalities, everybody's really laid back, and there's no drama. I was worried at the beginning of the school year that I'd be stuck in a really horrible group, but after my first session, all of these worries eased. Anyhow, this week, we switched tutors and now, we have this amazing one! It's a refreshing change.
But yes, after PBL today, Ravi organized another pizza get together at the Pizza Cafe on campus. It was nice to just be able to hang out and know that we don't have classes for the next week. Jade and I shared the Sophia Loren pizza (spinach, gorgonzola, and olives), and it was really good.
Thanks to everyone for making this week awesome! And I did pass both of my assessments! Only peer tutorial left tonight, and then it's 10 days off (study, study, study though). Hope you all have a great rest of the week!
Cheers,
Jen
But the week wasn't half bad as it is now over, and there were some very pleasant surprises along the way too!
1. Care Package from the VERY awesome people in the PI Dept at BMC.
On Monday, I received an email from the manager of my apartment complex saying that a package was waiting for me in the office. I wasn't expecting a package nor had anyone told me they were sending me anything, so I was thoroughly intrigued! Only problem--I didn't have any time to pick it up! They were closed by the time I got home on Monday. I have classes every day starting at 8am, so I'm always gone before the office even opens. Tuesday was a late night with classes and then a medical specialties talk. The office is closed on Wednesdays. They are also closed Friday-Monday for Easter. Today was my only chance, but then peer tutorial was scheduled for tonight, so I wouldn't be able to pick it up today either...SO, I made the decision to skip this morning's lecture on Population Health (as they are ridiculously boring--and for those of you who are shaking your heads--I don't make it a habit to skip lectures. This was only my second one this semester). so that I could pick up the package before my biochem expert tutorial and PBL. Boy am I glad I did!!!
I walked into the office this morning, but I couldn't find anything with my name on it! Finally, I spot the LARGEST box (it was wrapped with all this Australia Customs tape) sitting on the chairs, and I recognized Connie's handwriting! All of my other packages have been either textbooks or meds from home, so this definitely takes the prize. What an awesome surprise!! I almost ran up the stairs and back to my apartment so that I could cut all the tape off and see what was inside, but as I was "flying" up the stairs, I noticed the declarations sheet and just read what was inside...I know, I spoiled it. But I was still very excited to open the box! After cutting through all the tape, I found 6 skeins of yarn and WHATABURGER ketchup (the best ketchup on earth)!!! YUM! I also found a Customs pamphlet in there saying that X-Ray detected something that they thought was illegal and so therefore, they had to open and inspect it, but they didn't find anything illegal. Hilarious. But yes, some of the ketchup containers did bust open, but it's all good as it didn't leak out of the ziploc bag. I now also have 3 skeins each of gray and dark pink yarn. YAY!!
But the best part of it all was the cards inside the box. I had to take them and run to the bus stop, but while I was waiting for the bus, I read Ampy's card first. So sweet! Thanks for the yarn, Ampy! I promise to put it to good use. I'm sure it'll be useful for me as I study for this exam. But then onto the other card--I honestly was expecting only something from Connie, but low and behold, everybody in the office had written a note! Seriously, I almost started crying at the bus stop...Thank you guys, and especially Connie, for this wonderful, amazing surprise.
2. Career Fair - After our basic life support assessment yesterday at the hospital, we had to head back to campus for a Micro Prac at 3pm. It was only noon, so the 5 of us who headed back decided to try to crash an earlier session. As we were walking from the bus stop, Ann-Marie and I noticed signs about the UQ Career Fair that was going on. Obviously, we knew that they wouldn't have anything in store for us there, but we decided to swing by to get some lollies and free stuff. By 12:45pm, we'd only been around to a couple of the stalls but had gotten a ridiculous amount of lollies...so we decided that we were going to just go to our normal Micro session so that we could walk around the whole UQ Centre and explore all the booths.
After 1.5 hours of pretending that we were first year engineering students, undecided on what we wanted to specialize in (electrical, mechanical, etc), we walked away with some awesome stuff. Highlights for me include a metal water bottle (I've been meaning to get one), a pair of flip flops, bags of jelly beans, and finally lots and lots of chocolate. Here is a picture of everything I got:
3. PBL fun - I belong to a very awesome PBL group. No dominant personalities, everybody's really laid back, and there's no drama. I was worried at the beginning of the school year that I'd be stuck in a really horrible group, but after my first session, all of these worries eased. Anyhow, this week, we switched tutors and now, we have this amazing one! It's a refreshing change.
But yes, after PBL today, Ravi organized another pizza get together at the Pizza Cafe on campus. It was nice to just be able to hang out and know that we don't have classes for the next week. Jade and I shared the Sophia Loren pizza (spinach, gorgonzola, and olives), and it was really good.
Thanks to everyone for making this week awesome! And I did pass both of my assessments! Only peer tutorial left tonight, and then it's 10 days off (study, study, study though). Hope you all have a great rest of the week!
Cheers,
Jen
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