Week one

The week of inductions and orientations. Isn't Week one just wonderful? You are technically at work or school but you are neither working nor learning. Instead, you are discovering where the coffee machine is or where the closest bathrooms are, you are saying hellos and making small talk to new faces, you are gathering a folder full of course outlines and what not paper, but most romantic of all, you are aspiring to perform marvelously on the work that lies ahead of you. Week one is made of handouts and dreams. It's tough work but it has to be done.

My week one consisted a lot of, "So, why did you pick Indigenous health?" It was tiresome and redundant to give the same spiel of, "Well, I find the culture and the people and the history so fascinating and sooo blahblahblah"

I couldn't truly tell you why I chose Indigenous health even if I tried. The natural attraction I have to the field has not one concrete reason, but it has formed from a mixture of my perceptions on life, people, humanity, world, peace, love etc etc. Perhaps, its the colour of my own skin and how it has implicated my life that draws me to such a field.

I know very little about the Indigenous people of Australia - apart from textbook or newspaper jargon. I, Komatosed in Week one of third year aspire to get a first hand experience in the community + learn some medicine over the next 8 weeks!!!

Deflowering the blog

Here goes the first ever entry. I suppose I ought to make it special - you know what they say about first impressions. First times are special - like your first kiss, remember? Well mine was special indeed- as if I had kissed a dog, all complete with slobber and a drag of drool to finish it off.

We put too much pressure on the first time when really it's the journey from there on that counts. I prefer to keep the bar low, the only way to go is up from here on right?

Wait, there is more to this piece of ramble than just a sarcastic induction. Actually, I have been wanting to do this blogging thing for quite sometime. I am a person of few words - and there is a good reason for that. Somehow, I have managed to continuously surround myself with people who think and reason quite differently than I do and hence I am looking for solace somewhere in this world wide web. This is especially important at this juncture in my life as I transition from being a "medical student" to a "student doctor". Cheesy wordplay I think, but my preceptor insists that I think of myself as a "student doctor" now that I am entering the clinical years of med training. These exciting times of finally getting your hands on diseased patients come with moments of fatigue, self doubt, and sometimes down-right profound trepidation. Hence, the conception of this blog - a new coping strategy.

Saw a vaginal delivery? - blog it!

Got your first cannula in on the first time? - blog it!

Third year student and still can't take a history? - blog it!

Performed your first Digital Rectal exam/pap smear? - blog it!

Consultant makes you feel worthless? - blog it!

Boyfriend driving you mad? - blog it!

Dog ate your stethoscope? - blog it!

So with that being said, from here on in, I shall blog it!