Med School Unplugged

Your Present Is Not Stolen

2009-01-06T06:30:00.000+10:00

So as many Uni students do over the holidays I'm working. Basically I need the cash, and if I have nothing to do I get pretty crazy and hard to deal with (according to a very honest friend of mine). Luckily I have a previous degree, a skills set, and some good contacts to fall back upon when in need of some cash.

So I'm working in the corporate sector (I hate the corporate sector). Although I quite like my current job, it's with a small firm and a boss who has employed me previously. The good thing about small companies is that they always have really good atmospheres and staff morale (in my experience).

This small company has an unusual policy of hand delivering scotch to their best clients every Christmas. So being the new guy I got to trek across the CBD with many bottles of scotch in the 34 degree heat. (I now enjoy scotch much less that I used to)

Several of the bottles had to be delivered to Barristers working up near North Quay. One particular barrister (a Queen's Counsel actually) I delivered a bottle to happened to be standing next to his secretary when I arrived. He politely thanked me and we shook hands and exchanged small talk. He than removed the bottle of scotch from the box and to my horror the electronic anti-theft tag was still attached to the bottle (Not one of the small ones eithe but a dirty great big one with a locking metal ratchet to go around the neck of the bottle).

Luckily all he said was, "That's rather unusual". To which I decided to feign ignorance and claim that, "I have no idea what that is". After some conjecture on the identity of the offending device I beat a hasty retreat. Upon inspecting the other undelivered bottles of scotch I discovered that all of the bottles still had their anti-theft tags attached.

Although despite the obvious potential for disaster this all ended well. The remaineder of the scotch was delivered with the antitheft tags in place, since removing them would damage the bottles and they don't prevent one from opening of the bottles. I also had a good laugh about this with some of the more senior guys at the office. They seemed to think it was pretty funny.

Less Than Brilliant

2008-11-23T19:43:00.006+10:00

I'm back. After several weeks in exile from technology to study and recover from study (Drink like a fish). Additionally part of my absence has been enforced by a loss of power and clean up from the several storms that have ravaged Brisbane over the last week.

Although I return with an amusing story if anyone still reads this thing. So I'm at the gym the other night and I'm listening to my i-POD. So the right ear phone falls out and I go to put it back in but it feels like it's still in. I take a closer look at it and realise that the damn thing has broken off and part is stuck in my ear canal. So I go see a medical colleague of mine who lives not far from the gym to see if she can firstly visualize the thing (It was wedged quite deeply in the external auditory meatus) and secondly if it could be removed (without the use of shiny pointy instrumentation near my tympanic membrane).

I needlessly point out that these attempts at visualization and removal failed. Thus late on a Saturday night I presented to a after hours GP clinic to have the piece of plastic in my ear. I had trouble explaining my presenting complaint to the secretary behind the desk in a way that didn't make me sound like a complete tool, philistine, troglodyte, moron (take your pick). I was then asked by the doctor exactly how this had occurred and upon quick inspection he was overwhelmed with mirth. Although he did mention that this wasn't nearly the silliest thing he had ever seen, and more a case of poor circumstance. I felt reassured by what he had said and decided to remember this way of presenting circumstances to a patient, it seems likely to come in handy.

Towards the end of the consultation the doctor asked me what my occupation was I admitted to being an medical student. This resulted in the eventual upside of being bulk billed and avoiding the $70 fee that the clinic has multiple signs up in the waiting room to warn patients about the fees.

Nutty Professor

2008-10-06T22:49:00.004+10:00

So we had a lecture today from a professor of Gynecology and he was a complete nutter. He was one of the most offensive people I've ever come across. Now I'm not too fond of the new PC culture, so I'll tell you an idea is stupid if I think it's stupid (Diet water for example). However, I'm not a small minded 1960's throw back who believes it's appropriate to tell a patient that they're "disgustingly fat".

Now in the space of two hours this doctor managed to offend most people in the room by uttering the following gems of political correctness:

You people don't learn any anatomy or physiology so I'll have to explain the menstrual cycle to you before I can give the lecture I'm supposed to. [Proceeds to arrogantly review material from last year and frustrate many students]
Running after little children is pretty good exercise for women
Large beefy women rarely fall and break their hips because they've got such strong muscles from carrying around all that beef
You've never heard of evidence based medicine before but you'll soon realise it's pretty important. The current buzz word!
You should always check if she has a mustache on physical examination, it's a good indicator of hirsutism
Women's cycles always seem to sync-up if they live together, so you have to feel sorry for a guy living with his wife in two daughters on the day before "the menstruation".
others I can't remember (I'll listen to the podcast and add them sometime or not).

All I can say is that if this doctor is like that with patients his malpractice lawyer must think he's the best thing since sliced bread.

Perceptions of Smugness

2008-09-28T13:08:00.005+10:00

The week before I was to start medical school I was getting some documents certified by my neighbor who is a JP and also a RN at one of the major metropolitan hospitals here in Brisbane. Whilst we were going through the paper work and discussing a variety of topics she said to me quite bluntly “Always think before you say anything inside the hospital”. This is pretty good advice to give someone like me since I seem to say what I think and consequences be dammed. To further explain this piece of advice she further explained a conversation she and her colleagues had overheard between two medical students where they denigrated the idea of working in a public hospital any longer than necessary. This apparently led the nurses to regard these medical students as arrogant, ignorant morons who were motivated predominantly by their hip pocket. Such an attitude I daresay would lead to less than a friendly working relationship between the nurses and these particular medical students, and deservedly so. Her wise words reminded me of an encounter I had once that gave me naught but the greatest dislike of medical students, and their perception of their place in society.

I was working over the holidays after I finished school to get some cash together before I started university. I wasn’t too excited with the job (making coffee) or how much I was getting paid ($ 8.60), but it was the best/only job that I’d been able to land. I had decided to take that job and work there while I kept looking for another job (I didn’t have to wait long). Now for whatever reason, either because the owner was old fashioned or because he wanted to keep dodgy books, this particular job paid in cash. So every week I’d walk up Queen St to the head office of this small company and collect my hard earned envelope of cash (I always counted it twice before I left the premises). As an aside, being paid in envelopes stuffed with cash does have the distinct power to make someone feel decidedly nefarious. After checking that the envelope was sufficiently plump I would then head to the bank at the bottom of Queen St where I’d deposit my hard earned cash.

Now one particular day I was depositing my money into the bank when I ran into someone I used to go to school with. Amongst the generally inane pleasantries he asked me, “What are you doing here at the moment?” “Just depositing my pay”, I said, and indicated the envelope I was carrying. “Where are you working?” He asked with interest aroused. “Just a coffee place”, I said being nonchalant and trying not to think about work. “What are you up to today?” I asked trying to move the conversation on from my uninteresting income stream. “Well you know, I’m just getting some finances in order before I head to Sydney tomorrow. I’m starting Medicine next week.” He said positively beaming and looking at me like he expected some kind of medal.

After further discussion I was getting ready to say goodbye and go peruse in a bookstore across the road when he said, “So you realized that university isn’t for you then?” All I could manage to say was “Huh?” I was simply floored by the insinuation from this little asshole that I wasn’t “cut out for the rigors of academia”. He was going to study medicine, so what! That didn’t make me a moron, nor give him the right to treat me like one even if I was. I might have a different opinion if he’d won the Nobel peace prize and the Field’s medal, but he hadn’t. Therefore all I could see through the rage clouding my vision was an arrogant little prick, just another little legacy who’d followed on his father’s coat tails and gone into medicine. As far as I could see his aspirations towards medicine were based solely on the potential remuneration (he wanted to be a radiologist) and the perceived prestige of being a doctor.

“No, I’m just working to get some cash and fill time till I start X [technical math/science based degree] in March” was my witty retort [I was far too polite back then]. “I’ve got to go [looking at my watch to feign urgency], I’ll see you around”, I said. “That seems unlikely since I’m heading to Sydney. So have a nice life.” He said to me with an ample serving of snide contempt. I was suddenly acutely aware of just how arrogant this guy had become in the month or so since we’d left school. Apparently his acceptance into medical school had given him the self-perception of being intellectually and culturally elite, and therefore superior to all other people.

Over the next few years I completed my undergraduate degree and worked a plethora of weird and wonderful jobs like most students do. During this time I came to the realization that I wanted to work in the biomedical sciences sphere. When pondering how I could affect such a radical career change [As my choice was dubbed by my colleagues] I realized that I had only two options. I could either complete a PHD or go to medical school. The PHD I seriously considered until I realized that I would end up as a researcher working for a drug or medical device company. I have always liked to see the results of my work, therefore a position where my efforts may never see light of day was not going to provide a satisfying career. Alternatively going to medical school and becoming a doctor would provide me with a challenging and altruistic career, with the additional personal benefit of very tangible results. That essentially clinched it for me, come what may I was going to medical school.

When I started medical school I made myself two promises. The first was that I would never be such a smug bastard as this former acquaintance was. As a segway I’m slightly horrified by the thought that he’s graduating at the end of this year and may potentially be my supervisor/boss at some point in the future. I then told my self that I would never denigrate the doctors and nurses in public hospitals (administrators a fair game though!), and I would avoid the filthy private sector in any way possible (It seems wrong to be paid more to deliver, presumably, the same standard of care).

People that bug you

2008-09-26T18:50:00.003+10:00

So I'm sitting trying to study and next to me is a second year psychology student who is making it really hard for me to be a reasonable person. I'd say something to her but I'm leaving for dinner with some friends in a minute so what's the point. Instead I'm going to forever immortalise her as a douchebag here in my little corner of cyberspace.

Firstly there's the constant throat clearing is as if she disapproves of something, then there's the awful third rate heavy metal music she's listening to on her laptop. Despite the fact that she's using headphones her awful taste in music is broadcast to the entire library. I feel bad for the poor abused hair cells in her cochlear.

Then we come to this woman's sheer arrogance. If you're going to spread your stuff out across three spaces at least have a decent amount of work otherwise you look like you're trying to appear important. This just makes you appear arrogant because you actions imply that you feel you deserve extra space at the expense of other people who might actually need it.

Driving Like an Idiot

2008-09-15T21:30:00.001+10:00

Everywhere I go lately I seem to come across motor vehicle accidents. The other night I was leaving a BBQ at a colleagues house and happened to pass an ambulance loading an injured motorbike rider into the back. This by itself was not particularly remarkable. However, I was quite amazed when less than a kilometer down the road I saw the full accident scene with the firefighters and ambos extracting someone from a car that had rear-ended a bus. From the damage it apparent that the bus whilst stationary had been hit by the car going full throttle.

Once again this was far from one of the most unsettling things I've seen lately. Whilst on holiday in another state some colleagues and I were driving along a winding road through the snowy mountains. When all of a sudden an ambulance came screaming up behind us on that narrow stretch of mountain road and passed us like we were standing still. Further up the road we reached a horrific accident where one car had crossed the centre line and been T-boned by an oncoming car.

The accident was a heap of twisted metal and broken glass pretending to be two cars. The front of the oncoming car was completely destroyed and parts of it littered the road. However, the worst part was the car that was hit from the side. The impact was centred upon the front passenger's door which had been pushed into where the centre console would sit. Surrounding this abomination of twisted steel and glass were all the emergency services, paramedics trying to stabilise the occupants of the car, firefighters trying to free the trapped occupants and police diverting the traffic and trying to keep the voyeurs moving.

As soon as our car cleared the area controlled by the police and rounded the bend we were being tailgated by a ute. The driver of which proceeded to overtake us on the wrong side of the road as soon as the first straight stretch of road appeared. This amazing act of idiocy caused all four budding doctors in the car to remark on the callousness of this person. This individual was able to witness such a horrific accident and then drive with a flagrant disdain for the safety of either themselves or other road users.

These events have got me wondering how many road deaths occur in this country not due to fatigue, driver error or mechanical failure but simply due to idiocy. Although I believe that idiocy needs to be defined in a driving context. Thus I define driving like a moronic troglodyte as any instance that includes the following:

Driving callously at either excessive speed or with maneuvers that show a reckless disregard for life and limb. [Think drifting through suburban streets or riding a motorbike in a prolonged wheelie past other vehicles and pedestrians. We get it you've got a motorbike and you're a tool. Congratulations!].
Driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs/oral sex. [yes that last one does happen]
Ute surfing [In this case the guy in the back is technically dumber than the driver, but they're both aiming for Darwin awards].
Driving a car that is exceedingly unroadworthy [I'm not talking about a broken tail light, more along the lines of the driver's seat being a milk crate and having a snorkel system hooked up to a mask (think fighter plane style) because there is and exhaust leak that fills that passenger cabin]

I just don't comprehend how some people fail to think that what they're attempting is a bad idea. Do they have no concept of danger? Do they just not think about the potential consequences of their actions, or are these "brilliant" individuals more concerned with the potential bragging rights that certain stunts may afford them?

In all fairness my motor vehicle record is far from sparkling. I have once been ticketed for speeding, and have once crashed my car in a single vehicle MVC. Although the MVC was due to driving in dangerous conditions (Massive rain) and was shortly after getting my licence. As the police put it, "You just weren't ready to be driving in this kind of weather yet son." Sure I made an error in judgment. I thought that I could drive in extremely heavy rain, which was fine until there was water washing across the road. At that point I think my driving skills were fine but I was severely let down by my boating skills. It would appear that I lack the ability to sail a car, which I found out in the split second between having no connection between the tyres and the road and having a street lamp make itself my new hood ornament.

Whenever I see an accident these days I wonder as to the cause. What was the catalyst for this potentially fatal chain of events? Was this the regrettable product of idiocy fueled by alcohol, drugs, testosterone and teenage arrogance, or something more benign but equally tragic? Were a young man's last words, "Hey guys check this out", as he obliterated himself and his friends? Or did a tired/inexperienced driver make a simple control/judgement error leading to a tragic outcome?

Regardless of the cause of an accident the ambulance officers, nurses and doctors provide proper care and attention to all accident victims. I just wish they didn't have to deal with as many accident victims and the families of these victims due to the significant number of people who fail to think.

Falling Standards at ACME SOM

2008-08-22T08:01:00.003+10:00

So I've recently become rather acutely aware of the marked decline in academic and professional standards that ACME SOM seems to require from its students. How do I know these standards are falling, I hear my 4 readers ask.

Well recently ACME SOM has introduced a program which allows the students to set 25% of their final examination questions themselves (Capt Atopic has previously mention a similar/same program here). Additionally all of these student generated questions and the model answers will be available to students prior to the examination. This laughable program has been given an educational grant in order to test the hypothesis that "if students generate their own questions they will ba be less stressed and perform better". Well ofcourse students will feel less stressed and perform better if the answers for their exams given to them. Really, it just seem obvious doesn't it?

Ironically this isn't the funniest research grant I've heard of in Australia, but it is the stupidest. Several years ago a grant was issued for research in the shearing industry to determine "the forces involved in dragging a sheep across various surfaces" (here). Although unlike the ACME SOM research, this somewhat hilarious project actually has a genuine use. It enabled improved ergonomic design in the Australian wool industry, thereby improving productivity and potentially reducing the future burden of injury. The author (Dr John Culvenor, Phd) also won an Ig Nobel prize in 2003 (here). However, this ACME SOM study makes me wonder if I could get some kind of educational funding to test the hypothesis that "If one cheats their way through medical school they will have more free time and feel more relaxed".

I guess that anyone reading this post is wondering why I'm so down on a concept that may make medical school easier for both my colleagues and myself. Additionally, some other medical students may feel the green monster on their back, and believe I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth. I may well be taking a new advantage for granted, but I believe that this development goes against the best interests of the society our graduates are meant to serve. I've begun to question the admission and teaching standards at ACME SOM since my encounter with Nipple Guy (mentioned by Capt Atpoic here, and myself here). More recently these doubts were strengthened when a colleague of mine overheard the following statements/questions from someone in our cohort (a 2nd year at ACME SOM):

What's the difference between morbidity and mortality?
What's the periosteum [I'm pretty sure this was covered last year, several times]
Constipation is when you can't pass urine. [then what the hell do they define as anuria?]

So now I have nightmares about graduating medical school and having to practice with a bunch of interns who are completely incompetent. I have visions of working with hordes of doctors akin to Bongi's "blind chicken boy", a true horror and hilarious at the same time. I fear it's only a short time till the grading standards at ACME SOM become akin to those at Texas highschools, where apparently a student's average GPA can only go up, according to new policies. This truly moronic system is debated and suitable denegrated for the festering turd it is by Tiny Shrink (here).

I apologise to anyone who has read this "link heavy" post. Ultimatley I hope that someone of significance and intellignece at ACME SOM reads this, and realises that they're flushing the future of a once fine institution down the toilet.

The Voice of Reason.

Caffeine

2008-08-21T20:45:00.003+10:00

I'm a caffeine junkie from way back, but I think that most of my habit is attributable to doing undergraduate design projects (I didn't do a Bachelor of Science majoring in biomedical science like it seems my entire cohort did). Some of these projects were awful, you'd be there 4 nights a week till the wee hours. Despite this masochistic approach to the task, more often then not the project would only be finished on the day the damn thing was due around the same time the local bakery was opening (Some time around sunrise).

So as a result of this altered sleep-wake cycle (Although there was litttle sleep some weeks so maybe it was a wake-wake cycle) I'm now a fully fledged caffeine addict with all the associated paraphernalia and idiosyncrasies. As far as paraphernalia goes, most medical students, doctors and professionals (engineers, IT nerds, lawyers etc) would have the same stuff (coffee machine, coffee grinder, several travel mugs with integrated plunger etc) so I'm not going to discuss that. although I haven't gone as far as a former colleague of mine and started roasting my own coffee beans on a weekly basis.

However I recently (less then 3 hours ago) purchased two four-packs of sugar-free Redbull. Mostly because the price for two was just too good ($16 awesome). So now I have 8 cans of Redbull, and I'm certain they will be consumed over weekend if not sooner. This leads me to wonder just how bad my addiction is getting, and whether I should do something about it?

Although, it's not like I'm pounding a box of no-doz every two days (I've seen it done though). Seriously I can stop anytime I want. No really I can, it's just that when my blood caffeine levels start dropping so does my productivity, and my attention levels, and my tolerance for any of the following:

Conversation (See previous post here)
Those really happy perky blonde people who think everything is super (you know the ones I mean)
Study (It's hard to study when you're asleep and drooling all over Harrison's)
Lecturers who just read off their slides (Seriously I could do that why are you here)
Incompetent PBL tutors and the morons at ACME SOM (You know who you are!)

Actually I think maybe I should stay addled on caffeinee like a junkie (sorry kidneys), from the looks of things I might technically be somewhat functionally imparied without my friend, my precious, caffeine.

Technology - Newer and Dumber Blunders

2008-08-14T14:50:00.000+10:00

So ACME SOM is still having teething problems with their new portal. Although using the word "new" may be stretching it here, they've had this system for 8 months and still can't get it to run correctly. This week after begining PBL we find that once again the triggers don't work and we get the error message with it's jargon so cryptic I swear it's in Russian. My theory is that the cyrillic characters have simply been exchanged for normal latin ones so the software vendor could pawn off some obsolete Russian missile guidance software from the cold war onto the unsuspecting ACME SOM (Previously alluded to here).

Apart from the fact that they didn't post the right triggers the SOM also posted the Wiki for the wrong week. But not just a different week in the same block but the wrong block all together. Now that may amoun to little more than an incorrect title on a blank user environment intended to aid in student's collaborative learning, but I see it as symptomatic of a much deeper problem. I see it more akin to the finding of splinter haemorrhages, of little consequence to average joe but of great concern to his GP if he presents with concomittant fever. Thus I see these small problems (of which this is just the latest to get up my nose) as indicative of a much larger problem which has the potential to really cause some damage.

What is this problem I hear my 4 readers ask. Beaurecrats! The ACME SOM has a beauracracy so bloated, inefficient and malignant that centre link actually looks like a model of Swiss efficiency by comparison. Although the ACME SOM has nothing on QLD health and I hope it never does. The list of their administrational failings is as follows:

Lecture material put up late despite being submitted ontime by lecturers, at least 1 per week on average
Lectures that are recorded may be posted when someone gets to it (time varies but usually measured in weeks)
Unable to access the triggers in PBL at least once every 3 weeks
Scheduling lectures and clinical coaching to clash (Every week for some people)
Unable to providde students with time table more than 1 week in advance (Yet the academics admit that they can get it, what's the deal here?)

All I can say is that this kind of bungling only seems to be tolerated in Government departments and universtites. In a past life I worked in the private technical sector and failures of this magnitude were not tolerated, people have been fired for less. I swear a good efficiency audit by an external consultancy would liven things up. There's nothing like a razor crew in charcoal pinstripe suits with a steely look in their eyes and a cold love of efficiency, to get people to do their job properly. Just a pity that the university and government mentality seems to be that better management requires more administrators not simply a more efficient system and less cogs to run all the work through. In simple mechanical terms, a smaller system should have a reduced transit time. Thus, just like a malignant bowel, a malignant administration is best treated with a scalpel and a few deep cuts.

Vaccination

2008-08-12T04:00:00.000+10:00

I've recently been looking into the anti-vaccination lobby groups just to see what they have to say. Not much, it seems. I have never read such mindless drivel with no scientific basis and no evidence being touted as the truth. Their logic is akin to me claiming that Harold Holt (former Australian PM who vanished while in office) is alive and well as a pool hustler, and that I know this because I once lost $20 on a game against an old guy who gave me a Harold Holt vibe. This vibe being (ofcourse) definitive proof that this elderly pool hustler is former Australian PM Harold Holt.

So what about all the evidence for vaccines reducing the incidence of infectious disease and improving health standards across society. Apart from clean water and sewerage, it's the most effective public health measure ever. The anti-vaccination lobby argues that these innovations and a cleaner society are the reasons why we have fewer infectious disease in the western world. They're partly right I guess, clean water and sewerage have pretty much eradicated Cholera and other water borne diseases.

However, as far as society being cleaner as a whole I seriously doubt this, just the other day I saw a guy walking out of a university bathroom halfway through eating an apple, he was just munching away. This bathroom is one most students avoid unless there is a real emergency. I have previously walked in there only to see feces on the wall. Not usually the squeamish type this was sufficient to cause me to turn tail and I haven't been back there.

I have no problem with people who don't vaccinate their children. If they believe that it's not in their child's best medical interests, that's fine. However, if everyone refused immunisation then the herd immunity would reduce and only those who have been vaccinated would be protected in the event of a pandemic. I do however have a problem with those people who spread unfounded rumors that vaccination causes autism, is intended to cause cancer, or my favourite of all that vaccination is a population control measure. If by population control they mean that the eradication of small pox has saved countless lives, then yes it is a means of population control. However, they're actually claiming that vaccines are intended to cause sterilisation, and thus are a means of population control.

A comprehensive Danish study has shown conclusively that there is no link between MMR and autism as previously believed, New England Journal of Medicine (2002;347:1477-82). However many opponents of vaccination cannot be disuaded, despite the weight of evidence against their claims. I guess all I have to say is please don't spread unnecesary fear and panic if the facts don't support you.

ACME SOM

2008-08-08T04:40:00.000+10:00

Previously I've alluded to my medical school and simply called this fine institution ACME SOM. Why have I called it ACME SOM I hear all 4 of my readers ask, well the answer is really simple. Because this particular SOM is a lot like the fictional ACME company from the road runner cartoons. When Wile E Coyote needs some weird gadget or contraption he simply sends some money to ACME and they send him whatever her ordered from them.

However in the case of my medical school the order for a small army of GPs was placed by the Federal Government. Thus ACME SOM felt obligated to take the Government's money and expanding the number of places in the MBBS course. The only thing is the government was playing low ball it seems, either that or the money went on a faculty bar tab, as well as on old soviet cold war era technology. Regardless, the SOM was ill prepared to handle the massive increase in cohort size and admin has been playing catch up for the last 2 years, so resources are stretched to the limit. Additionally forward planning seems to be non-existent with in ACME SOM. I believe the oficial SOM problem management strategy is to deal with large fires deemed toi be of signifigance (Basically when enough students complain about a problem) and only handle the smaller blazes when the become significant (When the become larger and enoungh student complain about them).

Procrastination... The Enemy of Learning

2008-08-05T13:05:00.000+10:00

I realise the irony of this post given that I'm procrastinating about procrastination. Does that make this second order procrastination? Anyway, of late I've found my motivation levels flagging (Actually they're declining faster than the American dollar), and I've developed methods of procrastination that I believe have never before been seen. In my desperation to avoid woirk I have resorted to the following:

Writing this blog
Reading medical blogs
Looking online for gear for a trip I'm taking soon (Yay skiing)
Filing my tax return
Reading medical books unrealted to what I'm supposed to be learning
Watching mind liquefying rubbish on surfthechannel.com
Taking 45 mins to make a sandwhich (It was a great sandwhich, but still)
Making the perfect cup of coffee to study with (This includes grinding the beans)
Going to the gym (I like exercise, but I like not studying more)
Backing up the hard drive on my laptop to my desktop
Look for possible jobs to earn money over Christmas

But alas I have run out of excuses and with that trip I alluded looming bright and shiny on horizon I really must get stuff done. Although everyone I speak to at ACME SOM seems to have the same lack of motivation and sense of apathy. Maybe we're all depressed. Now onwards to study (I hope).

Technology

2008-08-01T12:53:00.001+10:00

So my medical school, ACME school of medicine (ACME SOM), has recently dropped a huge wad of cash on some fancy new software to host the learning resources and to enable us to collaborate online in order to enhance our learning. That sounds like a great idea, the only problem is that the system never works.

The system has a very flashy interface but I keep getting the feeling that the actual source code, which is proprietary (such a joke), is left over from a cold war missile system. I reminds me of the texas instruments (TI) calculators, their main product is missile guidance systems. Although in all fairness the calculators may be a spin-off technology, but they are one of the better products on the market (I love my old TI-83 plus). Conversely the system that ACME SOM paid for needs to be updated and maintained more than a piece of MATLAB code (If you don't know what that is then be glad, because your computer has never made you cry). For those who haven't been technerds in a past life imagine the amount of maintainence needed for a car you bought for a carton of beer.

The most hilarious part is that there is an open source competitor in the same niche market that, according to all reports, outperforms the ACME SOM software choice across the board. So basically in their infinite wisdom ACME SOM paid money for an inferrior product based on the advice of an IT consultant they hired. Wow, way to burn money and create more problems

Nipple Guy (The Sequel)

2008-07-30T18:51:00.000+10:00

Several months ago Capt Atopic posted a piece about a person he dubbed "nipple guy" (NG). Read about these incidents here before you continue.

I must say that I was present at the second incident (No, I am not Spidergirl), where I witnessed what can only be described as the pinnacle of sheer awkwardness and social impotence. For me to be able remark on NG's people skills implies that he has a severe defecit. I myself am not exaclty a super happy people-person. In fact I'm often very far from personable, with a minimum 2 coffee loading dose required to give me any kind of social ability in the mornings (This makes 8am PBL very painful some mornings). Prior to a sufficient blood caffiene level my lexicon resembles that of a troglodite, and a typical exchange in such a state would occur as follows:

Person: "Hey Voice of Reason? What do you think about that we had lecture last night?"

Me: "Gnrrrgh, unnnngh! Is coffee cart open yet?"

Person: "Not till 8:30. Are you ok?"

Me: "Nrrrgh, need coffe! Gnrrrgh" *Passes out*

After a long winded segway we now return you to you're scheduled broadcast. I believed that a person with people skills worse than me at my worst couldn't have any other flaws. Regrettably I was Wrong.

Today I was among a small group of second year medical students who saw a coroner's autopsy, and so was NG. I was kind of interested in seeing how this process worked and wondering what the difference in appearance was between the preserved cadaver in an anatomy lab and the unpreserved corpse we were to see at the pathology centre.

However, despite my academic leanings I found my interest was rapidly tempered with some guilt and sadness as well as a little emotional discomfort. The realisation that my learning experience came at the expense of a previously healthy person dying in unusual and unexpected circumstances was rather harrowing. Additionally the corpse looked far more alive the those I had previously seen in the anatomy lab, and if it weren't for the small amount of lividity I would have expected this "corpse" to sit up and ask for some clothes.

Unfortunately, these considerations were either not apparent to NG, or he simply discarded them. I have never seen someone so excited by the concept of death. I was actually a little scared of him, he was almost smiling during the procedure and I felt a sense of barely controlled excitement coming from him. I honestly couldn't tell if he really wanted to be a pathologist or was just excited by the process of an autopsy. Watching a cadaver laid bare on a slab being reduced to a hollow shell was academically interesting to the scientist in me, but rather burdensome for the human in me as well. The realisation that the person was now both physically empty and absent of the spark of humnaity, that silent passenger who resides in all of us, was a chillingly ominous reminder of the temporary status we all have. This gave me very little cause for excitement.

I'm just hoping that NG really wants to be a pathologist.

Something Rotten This Way Comes

2008-07-28T16:47:00.000+10:00

The current QLD government promised the voters a "World Class" children's hospital to be constructed near the Mater Hospital in south Brisbane and all the other children's hospitals would be closed and their services relocated to this new site. This is a great idea in theory however the QLD government has reportedly made the following mistakes.

The government has already blown the budget. Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Chris Davis said the original cost of $800 million was now estimated to blow out to $2.5 billion.
They have strated to put all the clinical staff offside, with 2,000 clinicians having signed an open letter to the government calling for a rethink of the plan, and a survey found 64 out of 81 departments at the RCH believe closing the neighbouring children's hospital would have a negative impact.

However the health minister (Stephen Robertson) believes that this plan should be continued because "There was a great deal of support for this decision". He was also quoted as saying that, "If people are suggesting we now walk away from that election commitment - you don't do those kinds of things easily - there would need to be extremely compelling reasons for us to have a different view."
Mr Robertson I have a very compelling reason as to why this plan should be seriously reviewed from the inital stages, or even scrapped if a better alternative presents itself. Here it goes, are you ready?

Because you and your cronies over at QLD health fucked up.

You may have a good idea with the need to improve the delivery of pediatric health services. However, the failure to release documents that would have proved contrary to your claims despite being in the public intertest seems negligent and unethical. The fact that these had to be "leaked" form the consulting form E&Y suggests that only one preson in the whole planning process has either a brain or conscience.

Additionally, when faced with oposition from healthcare workers (who I would wager know more about the provision of healthcare and the shortage of services in QLD than you do) you talk about the need for a compelling reason for revision of plans for the new childrens hospital. This implies that direct oposition from medical and healthcare workers has little impact on government policy. I also wonder how a person with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and no experience in the healthcare sector was given the most important porfolio in the state.

Why this is here

2008-07-22T14:09:00.000+10:00

This blog exists so that I can give my opinion to anyone who cares to read it. I guess the question needs to be asked, "what do I actually have an opinoin on that's worth reading?".

Well I intend to expound on the state of medical education from a student's perspective and what I believe this will equate to when the current cohort of students finally graduate. I'm also going to offer my opinions on public health policy and planning in the state of QLD.

However, this isn't going to be some kind of pseudo-political diatribe. I'm going to say what I think about an issue and justify my opinions, but I fully intend to be as blunt as a brick in the way I express my opinions.
Finally if you don't like what I have to say, then remember this is just one person's opinion, you don't have to read it.