Phileosophie

I had a thought today about a possible research/public health project that could be pursued in some form here in Launceston. I was recalling the days in New York where I noticed that a certain patient group was so different from that normally seen in a clinic. This was not just because they were incredibly wealthy, but notably, because their doctor provided such excellent preventative care that they were so much healthier than other patient groups. I wondered if we could create some sort of a 'model city' here in terms of preventative care which perhaps could be duplicated elsewhere if it works here. after all, this is a small city (seems much more like a town) with the hospital being the largest employer in the vicinity. There are not too many GPs, so we would probably be able to coordinate/standardise care or interventions through these GPs and then at the end of the project we could have a look at pre-determined parameters to see if the inhabitants of this city are healthier

It has been a smooth transition for me, from being a student to working as a doctor. There is not too much work to be done on the Stroke Unit, unlike the other units which have the interns flying around and coming in over an hour before they need to and clocking way more hours than they are paid to do. I think it is testament to how well the multidisciplinary team works in this setting. The Stroke NUM, physios, speech pathologist, occupational therapists and dieticians spend most, and sometimes all of their time working on our patients. We have a pharmacist, who covers all of this ward (so not just the stroke patients) and then there are the doctors. The allied health people, coordinated mainly by the dedicated Stroke NUM communicate every morning about our limited number of patients. By the time the doctors are in from our morning handovers the NUM is able to update us and let us know about any pressing issues. Then there are admissions, and tests to be ordered, but when everything

As I pour over the endless volumes of patient notes, in search for that elusive patient who might meet the criteria for a retrospective study that I am hoping to carry out, it occurs to me that I really enjoy being a part of this tradition. The stacks of paper go back years, sometimes decades, and some are yellowing, and in the most dated formats ever, hand-written, or typed out on a typewriter! But the way we have investigated patients remains the same. The Presenting Complaint, a Past Medical History, a Family History and Social History, a list of medications and their allergies. It seems like it has always been that way, passed on from one generation of doctors to the next.

I'm back to my old ways - harvesting data and working on my research projects till the wee hours of the morning. These are the moments when I feel most like myself. Me, youtube and a mountain of data to sort through. I think research and conferences are the highlights of one's medical career. They're the 'big events' that I look forward to, instead of all the balls and gala dinners that others may enjoy. It's been good getting into a bit of research. It helps me miss Sydney less and keeps my eyes on the prize. This is the condition in which I feel most comforted. Oh, and I'm heading back to Sydney next weekend! So looking forward to that.

A number of things have occured in the past year, that have reminded me to keep the right perspective on life. When I was in New York I remember telling Dr Fuster, that I wanted to be like him. I wanted a career like his, I wanted the impact he had. Those are all good things, but it's important to keep the right perspective. Today I spoke with one of the older doctors. He looks like he might be in his 50s and he says he was a fully qualified surgeon back in his home country in the Middle East. However being in Australia has meant that he has been unable to work as a surgeon, and instead, has been working as a surgical registrar for over 10 years. When he finally decided to apply for registration, he was offered a contract by one of the hospitals here, only to have certain promises broken when he finally arrived. "When I got here, I was enthuasiastic. I did research. I loved surgery. But they have broken me." He said. I offered him some words of consolation, but nothi

This is usually what you see when you look out of the windows in Launceston. This is my 6th day in Tasmania and I've sort of settled in well. The first night was tough, having had close to no control over the circumstances through which I ended up here. But the hospital administrative and clinical staff have been incredibly nice and supportive, much more so than in Sydney so I am beginning to have more optimism about this year. I think the hardest thing about coming here has been leaving all my friends behind in Sydney. Despite the many times I've tried to convince myself that even if I were in Sydney we wouldn't be seeing that much of each other anyway, it still doesn't really feel the same - being unable to just call up Sarah to see if she'd like to meet for a meal the next day, or receiving random texts from Candice when she happens to be close to POWH. It's been less than a week here and already one Canadian girl has dropped out of the program to re

I may be leaving for Tasmania tomorrow! It is nice to be starting work, and being away from Sydney for a year will probably be good for me but as always, it is hard to leave friends behind. I've been talking to/hanging out with Zubair (and Kaiv) a lot over the past month and I don't know how friendships can develop so quickly but I will miss those two a lot in Tassie.