One Slice of Pie Down

We have successfully made it through ¼ of our externship year here in Australia!! I am proud to say that – and wow! How fast it has gone!! It is incredible to think how much we’ve learned so far – not just about radiography, but about each other, and about ourselves!! 3 months. Where did it go?

I mentioned switching to PM shifts a while back, and that’s how we finished out the term. It was the first time I have ever had to do a PM shift, and for me it was absolutely EXHAUSTING! Week 1 was great – a bit slow for me, but a good exposure to a different pace, and a different atmosphere of the ED in the “after-work” hours. Week 2 started with me getting a bout of Gastro. I don’t believe I have ever had this before, and I couldn’t believe how quickly it swept in, and kicked me on my butt!! I left work quite early, and it took the rest of the week to start feeling better. Ironically, the Gastro bug has been being passed around since a few days before I got it, and is still going!

By week 3, I felt awful – not because I was still feeling sick, but because I was tired of PM’s. Let’s just say there is a reason that employees ROTATE through PM shifts, and don’t do 3 week marathons like we did!! I tried my hardest to keep myself in check, but I couldn’t help but whine a bit about how tired I was, and how ready to go home I was since I started my shift. Shame on me, I know.

Chad on the other hand has had his fair share of PM shifts in his life, with all his military years. He seemed to handle it a bit better than me and did a good job continuing to maintain how much he was enjoying it.

We both really enjoyed seeing a bit more trauma; I got to see some severed toes, some shattered bones, some hand-tool injuries, and some crazy chest x-rays and broken hips and femurs. We learned there really are people drinking and driving on the week-days, and that the monkey bars and footy (football/rugby) are the two most dangerous things at school.

As our PM stretch ended, we also got to take a ‘lil trip over to the Repatriation Hospital (RGH), where Chad and I will be heading for the next 4 weeks. A “Repatriation” Hospital is the equivalent of our “VA” Hospitals stateside. We have been quite excited for this month, looking forward a yet another new environment and the chance to learn new types of equipment and become proficient in handling a new category of patients. Whereas at Flinders, we get all types of patients from premies to bariatrics to geriatrics, the Repatriation Hospital mostly deals with geriatrics, and war Veterans who may have other types of life-long injuries or disabilities.

Thankfully, we get to enjoy a 3-day weekend to try and readjust to waking up at normal hours and going to bed at a decent time before making our first impressions at RGH!