Rural Placement Warragul Redux!

Rural Second Week!

Phew. First off, I have to say that I enjoyed the 2nd Year Rural Placement tremendously and I thoroughly miss it now that it's over. No work, slack life, crap talk. All the things that one can wish for.

The second week seemed to fly by much faster than the first, and in no time at all I found myself on the way back to Melbourne. Without further ado, here's what I did then.

Monday was the usual drive back. This was quite easily the worst day in the whole of the Rural Placement. We had a four hour lecture on First Aid Level 2 (I have no idea that there IS such a thing as Level 2 First Aid... So don't ask) which took up the majority of the day.

The highlight of the day was after lessons were over and we had sports sessions! Football and Netball (For the girls) was certainly fun and refreshing - especially in the cold night air.

Anyway, remember the song that we sang last Friday for the "Life Story" thing? Apparently someone recorded it and burned it onto a DVD. Watching that horrid video was probably the longest 5 mins of my life. Watching it a second time nearly drove me crazy - we all looked like idiots in that video.

Tuesday was the hospital day. Exciting, interesting and just plain awesome. It was the day that made up for the complete lack of clinical teaching during the first week. I was attached to the Emergency Department (YAY!) with Daryl for one shift from 8 am to 3 pm.

Wow. It was incredible.

We saw all sorts of patients coming in. People with casts, kids with breathing problems, adults with heart attacks, someone who memory loss... Best of all was that I got to do all sorts of investigations and examinations on them. Blood sugar level, ECG (Note that you can place ECG leads closer to the centre of the body to minimise artefacts due to muscle contractions), auscultation, cast removal.

Daryl and I also visited the other wards of the hospital and we were able to interview a patient with pneumonia. Haha. Suffice to say I made my first "diagnosis" based on examining the patient and viewing his X-Rays.

All in all, the day was great and we brushed up not only our clinical skills but also our ability to network and communicate with both patients and doctors.

We headed back to the Caravan Park after the hospital visit and had a soccer match. As usual, I was targetted for irritation by Jenn. The unsuspecting me was happily dribbling a ball when she started running towards me. I intended to dribble past her when she suddenly grabbed my arm with both her hands and dragged me back. Needless to say, I lost the ball. At least she was laughing hysterically - and I thought it was kind of funny too.

Dinner was with the 3rd, 4th and 5th Years at the Bukhara Indian Restaurant - voted the best Indian eatery in Melbourne (Or maybe Victoria) by The Age. "Fine" dining indeed. The portions were pathetic even though the food tasted good. I'd take ABC Restaurant at Duku Road any day, thank you very much.



I just remembered another super random thing that happened. Jenn came to our place, opened the door, and said to me "I don't hate you Yuan Hwa" for no apparent reason. Win...?

Wedneday was an interesting day that started out really poorly. We had a forum on Complementary Therapy in which the speaker didn't turn up - which meant that we had to discuss it amongst ourselves. We also spoke to someone with spinal injuries - it was interesting but somewhat draggy in the end.

Following that we went down to the "fat cattle" market as part of a compulsory rural cultural experience - and it was certainly a heck of an experience. To make a long story short, it basically involved us looking at cows while stepping in their shit.




Fortunately, Jenn decided not to try anything funny this time.

The afternoon was spent at the local pharmacy where Daryl and I revised our drug names/uses. Oddly enough, the pharmacist referred us to a computer when we wanted to ask him some questions regarding drugs. ArGh. Someone remind me why we have pharmacists again if all they're gonna do is make us look stuff up ourselves?

We then returned to the Caravan Park and that was where Jon, Daryl and I became Xin Yi's models.

Obviously, that's where the first photograph in this post came from. She apparently took the photograph while I was looking at the nice afternoon sky. The rest of the photos were posed for though.





Haha. I look like some punk. Basket.

Anyway, we went on for our usual Netball game where a super weird incident happened to me. It was pretty cold that night and my hands were literally numb from the cold and the impact of catching netballs. Apparently, Jon concurred with me and touched my hand to see if I could feel them (THIS IS NOT THE WEIRD INCIDENT BASKET. I KNOW ALL OF YOU WILL ASSUME SO UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED).

That was when Jenn approached me with both her hands stretched out. For some reason, I stretched out my hands too and held hers. We stood there in a daze (Or maybe I was the one in a daze) for a while before Daryl broke us apart by shouting, really loudly, "What are the two of you doing?". Ok. To this day, I still have no idea WHY that happened. What was she trying to do? What was I trying to do? To be on the safe side, I shall assume that I am thinking too much.

Thursday was like the calm after the storm. We had clinical skills tutorials the whole day. The only thing barely interesting was when Jon, Daryl and I sang, out of tune and in high pitch, a selection of songs from my computer. Haha. It was really great fun. Thanks for being spontaneous guys.

We headed over to the girl's place to show them our "talents". Apparently, Jenn took a video of me doing an emo rendition of All 4 One's "I Swear". I hope that video doesn't get out into the public - the humiliation and shame is deadly; and the Life Story video is already bad enough.

Friday was nothing much. Pack up and go home day. Zzz...! I felt so sad when we had to leave. It had been a great two weeks!

Looking back, rural was more than anything I could've ever hoped that it could be. The company was excellent and the work was literally non-existent. Still, if you ask me what memories I would have on this placement years from now, it would undoubtedly be all the funny stuff that Jenn did to me.

And I'm left wondering why me.

Well, exams are in four weeks and it's back to school tomorrow. Don't expect to see many new posts!

I should be back in Singapore by mid June. Till then!

Rural Placement Warragul

Woot!

Just came back from my 1st Rural Placement week at Warragul, about an hour's drive from Melbourne central.

How do I say this... It was fun! Met lotsa "interesting" people and had many amazing experiences. Haha. Daryl, Jenn, Jamie & Wing!

Anyway, this Rural Placement thing is apparently a significant part of the Medical course here at Monash Uni (I went to Mildura last year, the photos are still there - I hope).

First off was the crazy, long drive there. If you haven't driven on long, straight roads with lots of scenery, you can't claim to really have driven before. As usual, my buddy Jon Goh and I set off on a bright Monday morning to the Warragul Caravan Park.

Upon reaching there, we discovered that Xin Yi & Becky were late (The first of many "late" episodes to come) and our schedule for the day was thus delayed.

Mmm... The rest of the first day was pretty boring and unmemorable except for the icebreaker/introduction "game" we played. Somehow Jenn came up to me and said "I heard your play WoW, what character do you play?" Needless to say I was caught unaware and blabblered.

A girl who actually knows what WoW is?! They exist! Anyway, this blog entry will contain many, many more of Jenn's weird personality quirks because I happen to remember lots of them. LoL.

Tuesday.

As far as boring days go, Tuesday, fortunately, qualified as one of the better ones.

We had a GP visit in the morning to interview patients and observe a practice in a rural area. Had a couple of patients come in, mostly with chronic conditions - I noted that they are mostly old people.

The GP also told us that he owned an apartment in Melbourne City and also, he probably owned a Ferrari. Dang. Rural sure is good money - too bad it's also boring as hell... Or maybe hell isn't as boring as Rural.

My house of three dudes also cooked on Tuesday. Teppanyaki Chicken, Steamed Egg, Stir Fry Vegetables, Fruit Platter. HAHA! MEN make the best cooks. Really. There is simply no competition.

Today was also the most embarrassing day in Rural Week.

I was happily singing in the shower (Like I always do) because I thought that the walls are sound resistant and the sound of dripping water would drown out my voice. So imagine my surprise when I exited the toilet, head wrapped in my Spongebob Towel, and see Jon, Daryl, Megan and Jenn there smiling at me. I assumed that it was my towel when they started laughing and said they heard me singing in the shower...

Oh shit? LoL.

Not to be conceited but I think I sing pretty ok. Though I was quite shocked as good friend Jon didn't warn me about the sound leakage! WtF... Call yourself a friend. ArGh... At least I entertained a few people.

Wednesday was a slightly more interesting day. Jon and I first met up with this old lady from whom we elicited a Life Story. To be honest, I thought it was quite monotonous and dull. It just seems that a Life Story is only significant to the person who actually wrote it.

We learn lessons from other people, find their lives interesting, but at the end of the day it's just that - a story. Nothing more, nothing less. A story with a beginning, an ending and hopefully, some morals to teach. Then again, I might be wrong.

After the visit at the nursing home we proceeded to a dairy farm. Ahh... The smell of fresh manure in the air. *Cough*

As someone who literally downs milk by the gallons, it was pretty interesting to see where the milk actually comes from. Apparently, the cows are all pregnant and they are kept pregnant for nearly 300 days per year. Personally I thought that was somewhat cruel (?) and it just might put me off milk someday - that and the fact that a cow's udder and anus aren't really that far away from each other.

Thursday was just the craziest day ever.

It was Indigenous day where we organised a BBQ with the Indigenous people living in Warragul and examine healthcare from their perspective. Suffice to say that I didn't find the adults that much interesting because they were mostly feuding over the past transgressions of the Australian Government - I believe that while future generations should be aware of past mistakes, we shouldn't ever be blamed for them.

So this means that I got to hang out with the kids - and do kids say the darndest things...

I also got to try my hand at spear throwing (Which I was pretty good at) and the boomerang (Jon's floated off into the lake and I valiantly waded in to save his toy).

We went home really late and had to prepare for a Life Story presentation - where we share the Life Stories of the people we interviewed with the rest of the students here. Xin Yi so brilliantly composed and wrote a wonderful song for us to sing - and also resulted in a lot of last minute practice for the big day tomorrow.

Friday! (That's today)

Ah. A slack day if there was ever one. It was pretty much the presentation and then home. We weaved the tales of the past and sang the song that Xin Yi wrote. Oddly enough, a few of the interviewees were so touched that they cried (Including mine) and it was then that I realised how I was wrong about what a Life Story means. It seems that everyone wants to leave a piece of themselves after they pass away - a legacy to remember them by - and telling someone your Life Story is a particularly good way of doing that.

The look on my interviewees face as Jon & I presented her with the really, super ugly diary that we rushed through the night before really made me feel all warm inside. It felt good to have made someone happy - and I'm sure this is what made me want to do Medicine in the first place.

People. They say that as far as Rural goes, it's not where you are but who you're with - and boy did I meet interesting people at this placement.

I've been acquaintances with Daryl, Jamie and Wing for a while now but I've never really known much about Jenn. Haha. And she's one quirky person.

First off she seems to subsist on fries & chips. Monday's lunch was Smoothie & Fries at KFC. Tuesday's was the same thing at McDonald's. Wednesday's dinner was Fish & Chips. Thursday's breakfast was Kettle chips... Wow. To be honest I was surprised (Which is why I took so much notice). This diet isn't just bad... It's plain awful. High fat, high sodium, low fibre. The kind of food that doctors beg their patients not to eat. Told Jon Tan to advise her to eat more healthily to prevent diseases and constipation.

Secondly she is ridiculously terrified of crossing roads. I'll admit that I haven't met people who weird phobias but being scared of crossing a road is just... Different? She would squeal everytime she crossed a road and I remember one particular time when she berated me for looking towards the direction of traffic while we crossed a two-way street - apparently I was supposed to look the other way to ensure that no cars came from that direction... Dots?

Third. She watches soccer (And came over to sleep in my house's sofa bed for the Man Utd match on Thursday morning. Needless to say, us three guys were kinda shocked...), plays games (Age of Empires II) and has drawings of a penis for her computer wallpaper. I'm beginning to doubt everything that Jon Tan told me about this girl...

Finally, Jenn is also pretty random. We both happened to be overseeing the painting area during the Indigenous Health BBQ when this feisty little girl enquired if the two of us were attached to each other. Ok. So a 6 year old just asked a weird question and I was wondering what the world was coming to when she further added that she had a boyfriend in Prep School. WoW?! I thought that my surprises were over until Jenn asked her if she was going to get married to her boyfriend soon - at 6?! Yep. Women DO come from Venus.

Mmm... Although I said lots of "bad" stuff I must ensure you guys that Jenn is really a very nice person. Just quirky. Haha.

Jamie... Always arguing with me - and somehow I can't ever find a decent rebuttal in time. Really weird sneeze/cough too (I can't tell at all). Funnily enough, she just seems to laugh at every single thing that I say (Is the word "constipated" funny at all?) but helping me with the art on the diary places her back into "friend" territory.

Wing can eat more than most guys but still stay slim... (I must get the secret from her and sell it as some book to all the ladies out there)

Daryl's a really fun guy to hang around with. Haha. Our house is kinda fun with all three of us talking crap most of the time. Good to have laid back guys to talk to. I can't stand people who are uptight or think about doing work all the time.

Anyway, that's it for Rural Placement Week 1! I'm heading back to Warragul for the next coming week. Hope it'll be as fun as this week was.