As a doctor, you have to learn to ask questions which in other (social) situations may otherwise be somewhat of a faux pas...
Examples include:
"How old are you?... Really!"
"Have you ever thought about killing yourself?"
"Have you ever tried to kill yourself and how?"
"Do you take illicit drugs? Or have you ever taken illicit drugs?"
"Do you hear or see things that other people may not see/hear?"

Today in I learnt a new one...
"Are you in any way related to your partner?"

Yes, today a lebanese couple brought in their baby who had a congenital eye condition. Causes are usually inherited and genetic.
Turns out the parents were first cousins. (!)

*Oh yes! For once the photo is coincidentally related to the post!

I friend who i've known since year 2 is getting married.
It's very exciting! She asked me to be her bridesmaid.. so this weekend i flew over the
sydney to try on the bridesmaid dress..
In total, i spent about 24 hours in sydney.
Now i know how business people feel.. jet-setting around the place for work. Only for a few hours/days at a time.
It's more tiring than it sounds. I spent the whole flight back sleeping. (And being periodically woken up by a sharp nudge courtesy of the old woman behind me.. Perhaps she has Huntingtons??)

Anyways, it's onto the next rotation tomorrow: It's opthalmology. *fingers crossed* it'll be good!

Huzzah!
I like unexpected things/objects/events which suddenly spark a cascade of memories in that deep dark chasm which is my memory.
This photo is one i took during the last few days in Waikerie. In my backyard, I was continually getting swooped and chirped at by an angry father-to-be. At one stage, I couldn't hang up my clothes at that corner for fear of my life*.
Well... It wasn't my idea that you should build your little nest on a corner of my clothes line!

This is the picture of the nest and proud mother-to-be. The father was, if memory serves me correctly, swooping around my head dangerously close to clipping my ear.
The nest seems to be made from washing machine lint.. Stranger strange!

*Perhaps this may be an over exaggeration of the amount of danger my life was in.. But the bird was fierce!

Life for me at this time evolves around going to hospital everyday- just like people go to work. However, instead of being paid in currency, I get paid in "experience".
So, my experience begins with sitting in traffic, of which is takes 10 mins to cross 40 meters of highway. Once past that, i arrive at the ward to be greeted by an scotsman with an jaunty- if not intelligible - broad accent, and a 6ft tall doctor, 2 helpful interns, and 2 unfortunate 3rd year medical students. At approximately 12 mins to 8, we go on a lightening ward round seeing 25 patients in 1 hour, throughly examining each and every patient of course!
Then I ask my interns what could i do to help? So the morning consists of taking blood, (I did my first ABG today), putting in intravenous drips, and occasionally chatting to patients who were confused about what the scotsman and giant mumbled during the ward round.
After that, usually i wander around to surgery, or to outpatient clinics, or just mill around the hospital trying to look busy.

Hmm.. where's the learning?
I guess it's learning about the everyday happenings in hospital. What an intern actually does.

You get to see some sights as well. Like ulcers as big as my head on the calf of a woman. Or seeing a leg amputated in surgery. Or helping a surgery trainee to do an unplanned full thickness skin graft.

I'm sure my next rotation will be different again. But I don't think I'll ever get rid of that distinct smell of pseudomonas* permeating through the ward from an infected ulcer.

*Smells like rancid fish mixed with sulfur.. Yewerpthhhh!

No photo I'm afraid.
So uninspired and irritable lately.
Because of a number of things.

But lately, I'm beginning to think that maybe i have a personality disorder. Which is bad.
Or paranoia. Which is worse.

*breathe in*
I just HATE when people take things you do for them for granted. A thankyou wouldn't go astray. And when people are inconsiderate of others. Selfish. Gragh drives me mental!
*sigh*
It's all in the past.
Forget about it.

Perhaps it might be time to go back to Sydney after this year.
Change of scenary and all that?
Maybe i'm just running away.