BrainGenie for a non-scientist

I'm struggling through some of the science disciplines in my medical degree.  This is most likely due to the fact I did not do any science past grade 9 in high school except for a tiny bit of intro to biology and physics in my first year of my paramedic degree, and my terrible attempt at self-study for the GAMSAT.

Seeing as I'm working on becoming a doctor, and the USMLE Step 1 has some of this stuff in it, I thought I better learn what DNA is etc. Scary thought, isn't it? A doctor that doesn't really understand much about DNA and genetics.  Luckily, I only need a fairly basic understanding of these things and I came across a gem of a website called BrainGenie.com . It seems to be for primary and secondary school students but it is FREE, and has good quality, clear lectures.  I'm currently going through some of them now, and I might even refresh on my long division while I'm here.

The BrainGenie lectures wont be enough to do well in the Step, but it's a good starting place before moving on ad adding more detail.  I believe one needs a good foundation to build on.

I also have a "5th-pass theory". I heard it somewhere and kind of butchered it a bit.  It might even be a real theory of learning.  But my theory goes something like that the "first-pass" or first time you see a new piece of information, your brain is thinking "I've never seen this before. It is completely foreign to me. Scary". The second-pass you brain says "I think I've seen this somewhere before, but I can't remember what it is exactly". The third-pass "Oh this again, what is it again?" Forth-pass "Yep, I know what this is" and finally the fifth-pass your brain says "Oh! This old thing! Yeh, that's easy!".

Sometimes the first-pass needs to be gentle...

Back to reality

I'm well-and-truely back to reality - I'm back home, back at work, and back into studying!

Today is the last day of 2011 so I'm having my last McDonald's breakfast hehehehe.

On today's agenda - at work, so normal work duties which are minimal, but I would like to clear out my locker ready for the new year. We have new Clinical Prctice Guidelines and I was waiting for my new copy to turn up but it might be weeks so I will look at the electronic version instead.  There's my Masters readings and I can even do the first two assignments for one subject if I wish, presuming they haven't changed (much) since my first attempt.  Then there's the molecular biology I threatened to learn about of before next term (which starts on the 9th of January) and my academic advisor keeps asking me about but that is going down like drinking nails. I hope to find some good YouTube videos on that subject because my textbook is about the most boring thing I've ever read in my life.

That's about it.  Oh yeh and making my home gym more gym-like and less laundry-like and getting good, healthy food ready for my New Year's resolution.

Samoa skips a day

My medical school is based in Apia, Samoa. Tomorrow, they will skip Friday altogether and jump straight to Saturday, therefore jumping into Australia and New Zealand's date/time line/zone thingy-me-bob.

Samoa changes time zones


The picture above crudely shows the line that separates today from yesterday.  It 's just "Samoa" Samoa (formeryl known as Western Samoa) jumping forward into the West towards New Zealand, not American Samoa which makes it a little confusing. 

I see the logic that Samoa does a lot more business with New Zealand than it does American Samoa, nevertheless it would make a confusing short journey from Pago in American Samoa to Apia in Samoa.

Whew.

Just two years ago Samoa changed to driving on the left sid eof the road instead of the right.

They are going through a lot of changes atm as they move forward into their development.

Flying home

Just at the lil' airport on my way towards home for a wedding tonight.

Vineyards

Tasting too many wines at theocal vineyards....it is definately the weather for it.
Can recommend Goaty Hill...

ATVing

Just had a lovely afternoon on Dad's ATV on my parents property. There are heaps of butterflies and wallabies....very nice indeed.

Gone on holidays...

This is the view from my Mum and Dad's house.

Today is beautiful weather. Yesterday was my xmas and I got to eat lots of yummy food and drink too much champagne!

My flight was delayed for four hours from Melbourne due to a nasty hail-storm but I managed to make it by 3am!

Time for an afternoon nap me thinks....

Xmas and work - wow

We had a massive 24-hours at work - there was so much work, and big jobs too, going on around the area and of course we got sucked into that vortex.

Very sad jobs too - sometimes this time of year can really suck.

Last night we got sucked into Melbourne and had trouble getting out due to, as per usual, there not being enough ambulances to meet the demands.  I did, however, get to do my first heroin overdose! We almost never see them out in the country.  We see pissed people that have hurt themselves.

It was such a stereotypical job too - at the top of public housing flats, many hands on-deck - police, fire, security, us.  Very different to what we're used to and quite a novelty.  Our patient was also stereotypically ungrateful for having his life saved.  It was just as it appears in the movies.

We were ramped (suck in the hospital triage with our patients on our stretchers waiting for a free bed) with our ungrateful OD and another crew brought in a drunk man in business attire who was virtually unconscious, and five weary ambos standing, waiting, and one ambo said around midnight: "It's Christmas now.  Merry Christmas......" and there was about five minutes of silence as we looked at where we were and who we were with.  This is our life.

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Tonight when I finish my shift I get to get on a plane and fly to Tasmania to see my Mum and Dad. I cannot wait :D

Tight-ass home-maker tips

I just managed to score some curtains, railing, and rod from the local op-shop.  I'm so impressed.

The "good" op-shop (the big one with furniture) is only open 11am-1pm Fridays and Saturdays. If I'm passing by I often stop in to have a scout around.  I'm convinced that if you have a small wish-list in the back of your mind it's easier to wait for what is suitable/affordable than trying to find it straight away.  It's easier if you can accept that you can live without curtain netting until you find the right stuff.

All my windows came with blinds but I put up curtains in the bedrooms to block light creeping in through the cracks on the sides.  They were very cheap, light-weight ones from the cheapie shop ("The Warehouse"), in just simple charcol and gold.  In Cambodia, I picked up two matching massive king-size bed sized silk fabrics which I converted into curtains and look great. 

I've had my eye out for some netting for months. There are three windows in my house that could use netting for privacy but it seemed so expensive from the shops.  I found some that were acceptable in design/colour (not too old granny), were in good condition, and the right width and length.  Excellent.  There was also a good rail I got for $2, and I asked and they managed to find my a curtain rod tucked away in the back. Excellent.  Everything cost me a "donation" as they are moving locations - so I just gave them $8.

I'm currently washing the curtains and I look forward to putting them up when I have some time. I'll put up some photos when they're done.

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Edit: If you have trouble deciding what looks crappy old op-shop and what looks ok vintage, try looking at modern versions and think about what you like about them.  For example, my dear friend has top-of-the-range netting curtains at her house. I was checking what made them look modern and expensive, compared with the granny-flat ones I see at my patients houses. Some things to consider are:

• Colour - some colours look more tired than others, for example some cream colours can look like white that has yellowed with age, but some whites can look cheap too. Complimenting the rest of the room is a good way to have things fit well into a room.
• Texture - I'm really into the tweed-like textures atm. Consider whether a finer or coarser texture would look best to you in the different situations.
• Natural or synthetic - one of the best things I like about the bigger netting I just bought is it appears to be made from natural fibres, ie a wool/cotton blend.  This gives a sense of luxury and can be a real find in op-shops as it was the preferred material a few decades ago. Now it's all cheap nylon and synthetics.
• Pattern - a modern or classic pattern can be a world of difference from a daggy 1980's/90's one. I'm really into the deco era and shudder at the sight of anything I had in my house when I was growing up.
• Less is more - A few op-shop pieces, even curtains of furniture can looks good if they are maintained in a good condition. Having your whole place decked-out like students accommodation where you display everything you have every owned gives a slightly different feel. 
• Condition - as above, a well-maintained item is essential.
• Be brave - so what if your $4 curtain doesn't look so good when it's up? You only lost $4, not $240. Unless you're expecting a visit from Home Beautiful magazine this week, try again, get creative, express your artistic side, and try again.

Good luck.

Xmas to ambos

This is what Christmas looks like to ambos:

• Drunks
• Domestic and other violence
• Intervention orders
• Lonely old people
• Lonely people in general
• People awake causing trouble when they should be asleep
• Hoons
• Car accidents
• Emotional manipulation
• No time off/missing out on the festivities
• BBQ burns
• Food poisoning
• Alcohol poisoning

And that's just the ambulance staff!! hahahaha

When your life is not on hold

Wow. It feels so relaxing to only be working full-time on-call, without (mandatory) study.

It's amazing how many things in life can occupy your day when you have the space for it to do so. It's not all bad. Some of it is necessary in order to maintain a certain standard in my house and personal appearance, and to be able to help out friends, catch up on my Star Trek dvds (I'm going through the Enterprise series atm), and then there's that thing I really think is important called "sleep". I did a few things at work like organise my in-tray and catch up on some paramedic clinical stuff. I slugged on myself today also on some beauty products just for a treat.

I didn't study at all today. Tomorrow is Friday already. I've given myself until the end of tomorrow to sort out my house, as I'll have to pack on Saturday ready for Sunday's flight. Although I don't need all day to pack, I need to leave plenty of buffer-room due to my work. I am predicting this weekend might be busy due to the warm weather we're having and that it's a mega-long weekend and Christmas and all.

Today I probed my group manager about the possibility of part-time paramedic work and job-share in the region.  He was fairly optimistic about it which is a great reaction - quite polar from the attitude when I started.  I'm about two years off (in my conservative projection) from ceasing full-time work to complete my clinical placements in medicine, but I thought it might be nice to sow a few seeds early.  Two years can go fast in the paramedic world thanks to shift-work and people being on annual leave all the time, up-ward relieving, and so-forth.

Anyway, off to bed to try and keep this adequate-sleep habit going...for now.

Australian bureaucracy

ABC Radio Australia News:Stories:Australia blocks Pacific doctors from training programs

A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors

A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors

Masters

So I'm doing some reading for my Masters subject, which doesn't commence until late Feb, but as you may recall I dropped out of this subject about a year ago and I retained my hardcopies of the first 5 modules and their readings, and my first assignment.

I'm also looking at the new cool educatin portal work has put up. It has learning packages in the forms of videos and quizzes. Well, actually it only has two videos at the moment, but that is where it is growing to.  Our new Clinical Practice Guidelines have also been released and I can't wait to get my new hard copy soon.

This is my classroom

My study is all tidy and vacuumed ready for another round.

Another new med school in Aust

Rob Oakeshott delivers new medical school | The Australian

People just don't get it

I don't know how many times I've tried to explain my work situation to people. They just don't get it.

I love the look on people's faces when I describe my roster: utter disbelief.  Try explaining it to my university lecturers - the word "excuse" has been thrown at me a few times, and it happened again today, soI'll try and break it down again, as an example week - this week.

Monday - off during the day, overtime tonight 1830-0700
Tuesday - off during the day, perhaps sleeping depending on how busy Monday night was. Start on-call at 1830.

Tuesday 1830 - Sunday 1800
I'm on-duty 0700-1830, and on-call 1830-0700. That's 24 hours of the day, continuous for a week.  I go into the ambulance station during the day when there is one computer and Elluminate, Skype, and other programs essential to my study are blocked and cannot be un-blocked.

During the night I go home with the ambulance and pager. I can do what I want within an 8km radius of the ambulance station, providing I can be ready to respond from the station within 10 minutes of receiving a page. This means things like swimming, running distances greater than 3km, cooking a roast, having a glass of wine, dyeing my hair, etc are all very difficult to do whilst on-call.  There is very little within 8km of my station. No restaurants, no cinema, nothing except my house and a small supermarket open until 9am during Summer trading.

What happens if you work all day and then get paged all night? Generally we keep going. I have worked 24+ hour days before Not such a good idea when you're diagnosing and treating life-threatening emergencies without back-up, working in an unpredictable and sometimes dangerous environments, and, oh yeh, driving an emergency vehicle sometimes at high speeds in all sorts of traffic and weather conditions.

Fatigue breaks are a life-saver. Fatigue breaks are 10 hour breaks where we cannot be disturbed, paged, or contacted. This is the "bali" or "mercy"  signal. The "I cannot go on any longer" call. It's just enough time to go home, try and switch my adrenal glands from "stress" to "relax" maybe have a shower and something to eat, maybe feed my dog, and try and sleep for about 8 hours while they are building a house next-door, pray to God nothing happens int he town while I'm off, and then get up and find a new uniform and do it all again.  It's really great when I've been up to, say, 7am, tried to sleep during the day until about 3 or 4pm, go to work for a few hours, then come back home and try and sleep at night when my body clock is out.  I often can't sleep that following night for ages (I wonder why) then I still have to be up and at work on-duty at 7am. My circadian rhythm says: "Hey! You had me awake until 7am the day before and now you want to get up at 7am!? WTF!?" It can switch like that, back-and-forth, for the week.

All of this, and it's completely unpredictable which nights I'll work all night on call-outs, where and when my fatigue breaks will be, when my down time will be, which nights I'll finally get to eat a home-cooked meal etc.

So that is how my roster is. This is why my academic advisor can't understand why I can't give her an exact day and time to call her on Skype when I can choose anytime this week. This is my life.

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Good things about my roster:

• We get paid well for having no life. Call-outs are at double time (double rolled-in rate, actually, which includes penalties etc) and even when we're on a fatigue break, we still get paid.
• Most times, we only do about 3 jobs a day. "Jobs" take about 3 hours each, with leaves us with 15 hours in the day of "down-time".  It is best when the down-time is during the day as we get paid single time for the day shift anyway, and nights are busy where we get our double rolled-in rate.
• There's always overtime going due to dropped shifts and fatigue breaks.
• I live <1km from my work. I often walk there when I can.
• I have a  work vehicle (the ambulance) when I take home. My private car does little kms.
• During my down-time I have few work duties. We have a cleaner, sometimes we put away stores, we clean the ambulances when needed  - the rest of the time I can study medicine.
• I get 10 weeks annual leave a year.
• I don't do actual "night shifts" so if I'm fatigued at 1am, I can stop working at 1am for example. 
• Rosters like mine are often in small rural towns where the work is much better quality, i.e. the cases are genuine - the patients are actually in need of our services and not wasting our time.

I love my job - there is no question about that. But my roster is sometimes a killer, and it's difficult to explain to people why I can't commit to a Skype session.

The aftermath

Trying to get my life back on-line.  I have half a day off now to organise the other areas of my life that got neglected and de-prioritised while I was studying.

Today's goals:

• Groceries shop
• House work
• Mow lawns (unlikely)
• Take a look at finances/tuition fees
• Print boarding passes for Tasmania

This week's goals:

• Finish off and print out final (post-exam) revision notes for endocrine system and store for final pre-clinical exam in 2013
• Clear cupboards in guest room and second bathroom for new house mate
• Hang newly framed picture of Potala Palace
• Make a study plan for Summer break (Masters, microbiol, PT, neuro)

Results

Well I've spoken to two other classmates and 75 seems to be the going mark for the exam. 75 is the new 85. I feel I deserved an 85 in my mind but it is some-what comforting knowing it was the exam and not me.

It's my work xmas party tonight which should be fun.

Endo over

I just did my two quizzes and final endo exam.  The two quizzes wen really well. I got 90% for each. Then I did the final endo exam. I thought I'd done ok, maybe my normal around 85% but I only got 75%. I don't know why.  I felt way more confident than that seeing as for my quizzes I averaged around 83% and had done heaps of revision and a lot of the questions were repeated except for, maximum, 5 questions on reproductive hormones I didn't know very well but think I got at least one or two of those right.

So, I've calculated my overall module score should be around the 80% mark which is, depressingly, my lowest grade yet.  Even lower than biochem.  I was thinking I'd get my highest grade.  In fact, I'm so shocked at how bad I went I've emailed the curriculum coordinator to double-check all my answers were recorded.  I can't believe it.

A little bit down now but glad it's over.