Hmm hmm.. it's been a while.
Completed my first MSA, Nuclear Medicine. It's quite amazing actually, the amount of things you can do with nuclear scans these days. Even though there wasn't a lot to do and some days were spent just sitting around in the reporting room with the registrar, it was a satisfying 3 weeks. Teaching was pretty informal and nuclear medicine touches a bit of most systems in medicine, so it was a good bit of revision. And much to my relief, it was a rather slack rotation. :) I'm really glad I got this as one of my MSAs. Kinda gave me a chance to see another side of medicine that you'd normally won't see in regular rotations. Not to mention getting tons of practice in putting in IV cannulae. I think I put in a couple dozen of them during those 3 weeks. :P Would still like more practice though. I get nervous when I know people are watching me, especially if it's a consultant. -_-" Like, there was one time I accidentally *squirted* saline on a patient. Steph was there, and so where 2 radiology technician students. Needless to say they all burst out laughing. Luckily, the patient was laughing along as well. I'd consider myself good at Jelcos (IV cannulae) when I can put them in as cleanly and quickly as the registrar there. 2 seconds flat I tell you! And not a drop of blood spilt!
Completed my first MSA, Nuclear Medicine. It's quite amazing actually, the amount of things you can do with nuclear scans these days. Even though there wasn't a lot to do and some days were spent just sitting around in the reporting room with the registrar, it was a satisfying 3 weeks. Teaching was pretty informal and nuclear medicine touches a bit of most systems in medicine, so it was a good bit of revision. And much to my relief, it was a rather slack rotation. :) I'm really glad I got this as one of my MSAs. Kinda gave me a chance to see another side of medicine that you'd normally won't see in regular rotations. Not to mention getting tons of practice in putting in IV cannulae. I think I put in a couple dozen of them during those 3 weeks. :P Would still like more practice though. I get nervous when I know people are watching me, especially if it's a consultant. -_-" Like, there was one time I accidentally *squirted* saline on a patient. Steph was there, and so where 2 radiology technician students. Needless to say they all burst out laughing. Luckily, the patient was laughing along as well. I'd consider myself good at Jelcos (IV cannulae) when I can put them in as cleanly and quickly as the registrar there. 2 seconds flat I tell you! And not a drop of blood spilt!
Am currently into my second week of my last MSA of the year: Medical Imaging. Hehe.. both my MSAs are imaging electives. I'm not complaining, though. :P Exams are less than a month away, so I don't really have much drive to make full use of this rotation. You get to see some really cool prodecures in radiology (it's not just X-rays and ultrasounds down there). Though it IS more fun if you're actually involved with the procedure and not standing around idly watching people till your eyes rot. Though the doctors do try to explain things whenever you ask, they're generally preoccupied with their work. Guess they don't have much time to waste with students like us. Don't feel like going to the hospital much anymore for that matter. There's just so many things to cover before the end of the year exams but barely enough time! And here I am bloging away on a Sunday night....
Oh yeah I should tell you about my interesting first day at Radiology. There was this guy who came in for a CT-guided lung biopsy of a mass. Pretty routine procedure, only that this guy has really severe emphysema. His lungs were practically just AIR. Doing a lung biopsy on him is like asking for a pneumothorax. The respiratory registrar decided to hang around for the meantime as he was expecting something to happpen. Yep, a few seconds after the biopsy, the patient started getting tachypnoeic and really crook (that's "ill" in Aussie slang) on the CT table. Oxygen saturation droped to 60% within minutes. Another 10 minutes or so, he'd be going into respiratory arrest. Everyone was rushing around trying to stabilise the patient while yours truly could only stand there and witness the ensuing pandemonium. Basically they gave him oxygen, quickly wheeled him to the recovery bay and inserted a chest drain. He made a rapid recovery after that, thank goodness. I really respect those doctors lor. They were so calm through it all (they were kinda expecting this to happen also la, both the consultant and registrar AND the respiratory registrar were there). Felt really useless for not doing anything, though there really wasn't anything I could do at that point. A medical student would only be in the way when you already have so many staff attending to the patient. But it was a memorable experience nonethelss. I'll never forget how tension pneumothorax looks like now.
Update 15/10/2007 - One week after that incident, the poor guy is back again for another biopsy. Good grief. Dunno whether the chest drain was still left in. Didn't stick around to see what happened this time. -_-"
With the upcoming exams and impending stress, I decided to treat myself yesterday. Bought half a dozen raw oysters from the market and had them for lunch. A few dashes of tabasco sauce and some lemon juice did the trick. And they tasted just orgasmic.... I know Darling would bet to differ. :P:P It's a good thing I didn't get ill after eating it, though I did wash them just in case. I've never eaten anything raw from the market before, but the shopkeeper reassured me they're safe to eat...
Raw oysters + tabasco sause + lemon juice = a taste of heaven indeed... ^_^
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Another day closer to the exams. Another day closer to home. I fear to long for November to come, as I fear I am far from prepared. Nights ppl... It's midnight already.
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