Here I sit, in a medical clinic in the boonies, in a town called Fraser Lake. Fraser Lake is about 2 hours west of the thriving metropolis of Prince George. I am here for a two week elective in rural medicine and so far, rural medicine looks pretty damn exciting!! The clinic has four docs, a nurse practicioner, nurses, a lab tech, an x-ray tech, a small ER...and the list goes on. The doctors here took this place from a run down hole in the wall, to a beautiful looking and beautifully functioning facility over the past 7 years. I have seen some pretty interesting patients and have had ample opportunity already to practice some new skills.
As for the weather these days, I do believe that two days ago it was -35 C here. Not my idea of a good time. I really am much more of a fairweather kinda gal. I must say though that the snow is beautiful. You just can't really get out to enjoy it when you're fingers freeze in 15 seconds if exposed!
I can't believe how fast this first part of the year has flown by. I have another week here in Fraser Lake then I am back to PG for a week of Dermatology followed by a week of Opthamology. After that, two weeks for Christmas and then back at it until another two week break in August. I will be living at the hospital for some time to come.
My rotation in Psychiatry was fabulous and I did enjoy my rotation in Obstetrics, although those babies are really not familiar with my schedule. They tend to put their mother's into labour at all hours and decide to come at ungodly hours in the morning. I'm not sure if obstetrics is on my list, as I really do need my sleep!!!
I will write more when I get back to civilization.
L xo
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
My First Blog
Hello out there!
I thought that writing a blog would be a great way to reach the masses as well as a way to relieve my guilt of not emailing/calling to keep you up to date individually.
When there is a break from the hospital and the day to day things that have to get done (ie. clean underwear and some food are usually a good thing), sleep usually seems to trump all else. Propping your eyes open with toothpicks while trying to take a detailed history from a patient often doesn't go over well (I'm not sure why?!?). Yes, it is the year of the patients, let the fun begin! Finally, after all of this waiting, we get to the part where we start to play "kinda real doctor". This year consists of several rotations over 48 weeks spent in the hospital. We are officially called "Clinical Clerks" this year. Luckily, being that we are in Prince George and not in Vancouver with a million other students, that doesn't mean that we fetch coffee for the real doctors. No glorified gopher in these here northern parts! Most days this is a good thing. On the days when you haven't slept, it might be nice to be a gopher.
I have completed my six week rotation in Psychiatry, which I loved, and I have just completed the end of my second of six weeks in Obstetrics and Gynecology - all about the ladies and the babies! Of course, there are the dreaded exams at the end of every rotation so it's the day/night in the hospital and then hitting the books. I happen to be having one of those "where has my life gone" moments. For the most part it's fun (and exhausting at the same time) but there are days when you're not sure what day it is and what you're supposed to be doing because you've been up for a couple of days. The call for Obs/Gyn is 1 in 4 and let me tell you, those little babies often choose to either come late into the night or keep their mothers labouring all through the night. Those little creatures are not at all cooperative with my need to sleep ;o)
At the beginning of September, before most of the craziness set in, Layne and I got away for what we like to call our "cheesy weekend" in Barkerville! Yep, we spent the weekend in Barkerville, the Gold Rush Town a couple hours south of here, and went back in time for the weekend. They have actually converted two of the original townsite homes into B&B's, complete with your hostess dressed in period costume. Quite funny! We went to a "court session", bought candy from jars at the "General Store" and checked out all of the old medical paraphenalia in the Dispensary.
I'm hoping that we will be able to get out on another little mini-adventure sometime soon. I have a feeling that it will entail snow as we have already had a couple of days of snow up here. There aren't any leaves left on the trees, things are starting to become covered in white and the mornings are cold and dark. I'm looking forward to more snow so that we can break out the snow pants and crazy carpets and surf down the snowy hills at top speed!
I hope this finds you all well and I look forward to reading your comments. More to come as I find time and funny anecdotes!
Love Laura
xox
I thought that writing a blog would be a great way to reach the masses as well as a way to relieve my guilt of not emailing/calling to keep you up to date individually.
When there is a break from the hospital and the day to day things that have to get done (ie. clean underwear and some food are usually a good thing), sleep usually seems to trump all else. Propping your eyes open with toothpicks while trying to take a detailed history from a patient often doesn't go over well (I'm not sure why?!?). Yes, it is the year of the patients, let the fun begin! Finally, after all of this waiting, we get to the part where we start to play "kinda real doctor". This year consists of several rotations over 48 weeks spent in the hospital. We are officially called "Clinical Clerks" this year. Luckily, being that we are in Prince George and not in Vancouver with a million other students, that doesn't mean that we fetch coffee for the real doctors. No glorified gopher in these here northern parts! Most days this is a good thing. On the days when you haven't slept, it might be nice to be a gopher.
I have completed my six week rotation in Psychiatry, which I loved, and I have just completed the end of my second of six weeks in Obstetrics and Gynecology - all about the ladies and the babies! Of course, there are the dreaded exams at the end of every rotation so it's the day/night in the hospital and then hitting the books. I happen to be having one of those "where has my life gone" moments. For the most part it's fun (and exhausting at the same time) but there are days when you're not sure what day it is and what you're supposed to be doing because you've been up for a couple of days. The call for Obs/Gyn is 1 in 4 and let me tell you, those little babies often choose to either come late into the night or keep their mothers labouring all through the night. Those little creatures are not at all cooperative with my need to sleep ;o)
At the beginning of September, before most of the craziness set in, Layne and I got away for what we like to call our "cheesy weekend" in Barkerville! Yep, we spent the weekend in Barkerville, the Gold Rush Town a couple hours south of here, and went back in time for the weekend. They have actually converted two of the original townsite homes into B&B's, complete with your hostess dressed in period costume. Quite funny! We went to a "court session", bought candy from jars at the "General Store" and checked out all of the old medical paraphenalia in the Dispensary.
I'm hoping that we will be able to get out on another little mini-adventure sometime soon. I have a feeling that it will entail snow as we have already had a couple of days of snow up here. There aren't any leaves left on the trees, things are starting to become covered in white and the mornings are cold and dark. I'm looking forward to more snow so that we can break out the snow pants and crazy carpets and surf down the snowy hills at top speed!
I hope this finds you all well and I look forward to reading your comments. More to come as I find time and funny anecdotes!
Love Laura
xox
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