Aussie-Chinese Girl Reflects on Her Med Practitioner Journey

What better time to talk about concussion than the Footy Finals? (also, only barracking for the Pies cuz I still have pride as a Victorian LOL - open to who I barrack for the long term → only recently got into footy a bit) Also notice how we Aussies can't even be bothered to say Magpies, nope, its just Pies 😂 But back to health awareness topic of the day → CONCUSSION IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN HIGH- CONTACT SPORTS AND NOT TO BE JOKED ABOUT. Personally, I can no longer watch a rugby game in peace thanks to my experience as a sports medic last year and all the near misses and actual head traumas and injuries and concussions and don't even get me started w spinal cord injuries (SC inj) 💀 So what do we actually mean by concussion? - Medical def: altered mental function or level of awareness due to a head injury → considered a MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury), can be transient or more serious, +/- hosp px and admission - (My) layman's def: head knock → concerning enough for me ...

 One of the stereotypes of Aussie that’s actually true is our love for the beaches, pools and water parks - I mean who wouldn’t w our amazing WHITE SAND beaches (that was actually sold to Jeju-do from QSD 😂) and blistering summer heat. So w the summer approaching and an extremely tragic pt case seen this week, I thought I would do a post on water safety But first w the pt story:  21M engaged in a breath holding competition with brother in pool - did not resurface after 3 mins, family started to worry. Pt pulled out of pool unresponsive, CPR 10mins, O2 sat 50% when ROSC. BIBA, ICU admission. Loss of grey-white matter differentiation on MRI brain suggestive of global brain insult. Sedated ator, pupil equal, brisk reaction to light, limbs withdraw at painful stimuli. Intubated and one seizure episode day 2 of admission. Bleak prognosis.  Cannot even begin to imagine the psychological trauma currently experienced by his brother, family, and friends. Water safety tips - young...

 If you’ve read my very first post, you’ll know that I was struggling a hekking lot w life and med school in 2021 and was dx w adjustment disorder mid 2021 and took 1.5yr LOA before recommending 2nd year med this year. Well, it’s only since like mid year this year that I felt comfortable enough to explicitly say, yeah I had adjustment disorder, yeah I have a psych l, yeah I’m on escitalopram.  Apparently I’m a good “fake it til you make it” person cuz subject coord at Western clin school thought I was like totally ready and eager to come back from Feb when actually I was internally screaming, attending ward rounds just to hide in library or bathroom or anywhere else (no I’m not disclosing my secret hideout, everyone has to find their own in each hospital, and trust me everyone needs one) until last 2 weeks of Sem 1.  Also massive newly discovered pet peeve: don’t assume I’ve always been an extrovert and happy to start convo and be proactive and whatnot so I don’t struggle...

 “9yo not likely to have sexually transmitted epididymo-orchitis but maybe times have changed, I don’t know, I don’t tx < 16yo” “Pt usually don’t like suppositories, expect the French, but they’re a diff breed”  “You can get nephrostomy tubes w a string tied to it so pt remove it themselves by pulling on the string - not that pleasant but in Canada, completely public sys so no choice - they just gotta suck it up and get on w it” “[causes for blah are blah etc] and a whole bunch of other stuff” → dis why med students perpetually stressed 💀

 Today was the first time I was sat down and given feedback by a member of my gen med team. Previously, all feedback was given on the fly or as part of mini-cex (which varied in usefulness) and it made me feel, "damn, this is really useful feedback I can incorporate into the rest of my MD journey" and DIDN'T bury my self-esteem 6 feet underground (shocking I know 😆💀😥).  General brownie points   centralised feedback delivered by intern → less intimidating, more relatable face-to-face (yes, I'm old-fashioned)  dedicated time during lunch, had time to unpack and explore feedback, including regular check-backs on how feedback is being taken, any concerns I would like to raise etc. secluded area, no one walking around or sitting near to distract and overhear → reduce anxiety and stress asking about how I'm going so far, not to stressed, anything to raise about placement in general etc. Specific feedback done well   turns out sandwich style does work well 😅 → inte...

Reflection of the day: BRAIN FOG → Dis kid got overly excited over the 26 sunny weather in Melb and forgot about the cursed temp diff and landed herself w most likely the common cold (tested COVID -ve thankfully 😁), potentially bacterial infection secondary to viral currently (only now experiencing coryzal sx w productive yellow/green sputum 🤢). Last few days finding it difficult to concentrate on lectures and brain-intensive learning in general, so thought I would look into this common phenomenon known as brain fog.  So what is brain fog?  It is NOT an official medical term  It is used by pts to explain their sx of difficulty concentrating, focusing, performing daily tasks (e.g. taking much longer to do something than they normally do) etc Can be ACUTE or CHRONIC  What causes brain fog? One study conducted by Dr Ali Mazaheri (A/Prof in Psychology at the University of Birmingham) shows that inflammation is implicated in brain fog and directly affects attention Th...

 I was today years old when I found out that coffee round is a VICTORIAN thing. Ok, sorry all other states and countries, Imma stay right here in the coffee capital of the world (apparently). Apparently it's only a team dependent thing in other states (and St Vs????? what r u guys doing????) Coffee round is like THE team building exercise within a hospital, heck even surgeons will go for coffee rounds if time permits → it's what UNITES all clinicians and the first step of medical students feeling like they're part of a team and not just a pot plant...mostly 😅 Anyways, coffee round is soooooo important in Melb (and imma assume whole of Vic cuz come on, who isn't addicted to coffee and caffeine round here?) that during transition from pre clin to clin, older med students will give a COFFEE ROUND ETIQUETTE lecture to the naive newbies full of unadulterated excitement and passion for finally interacting with real patients (and I pray to god that they never lose it in the f...