We found a house! Its just under 10 minutes to walk to campus fairly nice but very empty. Finding a furnished place was near impossible..... or crappy. We hit up a garage sale where some lady was moving to another country and bought up as much as we could. We have been scouring signs posted on campus and at bus stops for people trying to get rid of stuff. We have the two essential pieces: a bed and a fridge! Being able to buy groceries was a nice feeling. We still lack a microwave, blender, chairs for our ktichen table, couches, etc! So we are a long way away but nothing is urgent. We should have internet set up in a week. It's expensive. There was an article in the paper, where this Aussie who has been around the world, made fun of the Aussie internet setup. Apparently, the locals don't use the internet much because they don't know what it can do. Just basics like email. Anyways, in a program like mine, where they require you to have internet access for research it's semi annoying.
Speaking of my program, this paragraph is going to outline how its run. So if you don't care continue reading after this paragraph! They do what is called a problem based learning (PBL) model. Everyone is in a group of 10 for the year. (Actually mine only has 9....one guy never showed up!) They give us a problem with triggers, eg John, 58, complains of chest pain... And then as a group we have to figure out all the possibilities (Yes, Derek, we use a white board and its just like "House"). The one this week was a drunk 20 year old who crashed into a tree. He broke his leg which rupture his femoral artery and also has a leaking pulmonary vein. The lectures all correspond to what is going on. So we covered anatomy, physiology, etc of the cardiovascular system and the leg. And then we get a public health lecture on the toll of drinking. And the effects of alcohol on the body. It makes the lectures seem all over the place but apparently this is the way to do it. They also keep telling us to focus on 'breadth not depth'. And that they use a double spiral system of teaching and go over all the topics in first year and then, in second year go over all the topics again, but in more detail.
Random fact that I learned from the former Australian Surgeon General who went to UQ: The symbol of medicine is the rod of Asclepius, not the Caduceus. The Caduceus is the symbol with TWO snakes intertwined on a rod. Apparently this is wrong, despite being used by over 75% of practices (not the associations) in the USA (I wikipedia'd that fact) AND the US army's medical division. The rod of Asclepius is a symbol with ONE snake winding up a rod. It comes from Apollo and passed down through various people, at which point it was the symbol of Hippocrates - the guru of modern medicine. The Caduceus has a much less reputable past! It was the symbol of Hermes, the God of Messengers, who was also the patron lord of gamblers, thieves, tricksters and alchemists. In another random fact, the school of medicine's logo here revolves around the Victorian cross. Which the queen used for herself despite not knowing its past with the crusades. And has a skull on it! The skull is from Ashintosh Macopenjy who was the doctor aboard the Endeavour. That's the ship James Cook sailed when he discovered Australia and everyone in Aus learns about repeatedly. For some odd reason, the school of medicine has this guy's actual skull. He died in 1775. It's the mascot and sits at everyone meeting of the med society. It's very weird. They also named their charitable wing after him.
This past weekend was a long weekend! Saturday was australia day. Which brings out everyone's Aussie colours, friendly cheers and drinking hats. On sunday, me and my housemates hopped on the subway and took a ride to the Gold Coast. It is a fantastic beach! Once my arm heals (its coming along nicely by the way - I don't use the sling anymore), I'm eagerly looking forward to learning how to surf! While we were at the beach we visited with some silly wannabe teachers. Luckily, it was beautiful and sunny....because yesterday it rained all day. The aussies are still pleased (because of the drought). It's like they haven't had green grass for a decade.
Also, I'm probably going to become the Queensland Reds BIGGEST SUPPORTER! They went 1-14 last year...good for last place. It's only going up from here! That's the Rugby union team in the super14.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
It's Not Wrong, It's Just Different!
Gday! I've been in Brisbane one week and decided to give you a thorough update. I currently have two housemates and a cellphone but no house. Finding a home, is a slow process here. We are expecting to have a place any day now. House hunting is a great way to explore the near by neighbourhoods. So parts of brisbane are becoming much more familiar. Apparently, the drought and rains are ending. It's supposed to be getting even hotter! It was 33 today! Lookout. Of course, I'm sweating all through the day. It's good that I've come here though, because back home I'm the only one sweating, but here everyone sweats. Not classy, but there is nothing you can do. Profs do look quite funny speaking in a shirt and tie with huge sweat marks.....
On Friday night, I went out with a couple upper year med students. The connectiong is that my soon to be housemates are sleeping on their couches at the moment. On Saturday night, I went out with about 25 other internationals med students(mostly Canadians!). It’s fun meeting all the new people. Haven’t met too many Aussies though. The other programs don’t start for a month, so campus is rather empty. Speaking of which, the campus is amazing. I’ll have to find some pictures online and take some myself to show you. For now, I found this link, which shows a 360’ view of the centre of campus: http://www.uq.edu.au/about/images/great-court.mov (click and hold your mouse on the picture to move the view). There are trees everywhere, a lake, and it’s on the shore of the Brisbane River. The med school hosted all the internationals last week. The brought in a hilarious guy to give us a taste of Australian culture. It was themed “It’s not wrong, its just different”. For example, they don’t drive on the wrong side of the road, just a different one. Or eating spaghetti for breakfast, its not wrong, just different. The res I’m staying actually serves spaghetti for breakfast, which I ate before that talk and thought it was weird the whole time. And they put vegemite on toast, which might actually be wrong. I’ve been eating it every so often, but it can get tough! And today was the first day of orientation. Today, was exciting but got tedious. It consisted mostly of introductions and brief overviews and welcomming all the students to a special club! Here are some fast facts about the school. There are 37 000 students from 117 countries! It is a billion dollar operation. They receive 70% of the research funding in Queensland. And are getting additional money to setup more clinical schools in south east Queensland. The med school seems to put Canadian schools to shame. There are 421 first year students in med this year. 61 are from Canada – more than the Northern School of med accepted this year. They are continually finding more places for students AND winning awards as one of the best med schools in Aus. Including an award for best anatomy department, something that other schools seem to think is taught most effectively in small numbers. I don’t start any anatomy for a few months so they haven’t gone into much detail about how it will work. My first real lecture is tommorow in histology. Sounds boring already....just kidding. This week is filled with a few lectures, more intros and some fun. The med society (aka the student union/council, etc) is hosting a big BBQ on Thursday and various games and sessions on Friday. As well, they rented out the on campus bar for one of their 4 yearly parties. We were advised to consume a fair number of beverages now, before we have to actually get work in. But I’m sure it’s mostly just milk and cookies! And then Saturday, is Australia day! Which I hear involves another milk and cookie celebration!
The internet on campus is semi-limited. I’ll have to look into that. I’ll try and get back to all your emails! But without a house and the library not wanting me to go on hotmail, it is tricky. I can’t use skype in the library either, so that will have to wait until I get internet setup at my house. You can email me and wait (read: mom) or call me. You have to dial 011 61 405634417. Until then, the journey continues....
On Friday night, I went out with a couple upper year med students. The connectiong is that my soon to be housemates are sleeping on their couches at the moment. On Saturday night, I went out with about 25 other internationals med students(mostly Canadians!). It’s fun meeting all the new people. Haven’t met too many Aussies though. The other programs don’t start for a month, so campus is rather empty. Speaking of which, the campus is amazing. I’ll have to find some pictures online and take some myself to show you. For now, I found this link, which shows a 360’ view of the centre of campus: http://www.uq.edu.au/about/images/great-court.mov (click and hold your mouse on the picture to move the view). There are trees everywhere, a lake, and it’s on the shore of the Brisbane River. The med school hosted all the internationals last week. The brought in a hilarious guy to give us a taste of Australian culture. It was themed “It’s not wrong, its just different”. For example, they don’t drive on the wrong side of the road, just a different one. Or eating spaghetti for breakfast, its not wrong, just different. The res I’m staying actually serves spaghetti for breakfast, which I ate before that talk and thought it was weird the whole time. And they put vegemite on toast, which might actually be wrong. I’ve been eating it every so often, but it can get tough! And today was the first day of orientation. Today, was exciting but got tedious. It consisted mostly of introductions and brief overviews and welcomming all the students to a special club! Here are some fast facts about the school. There are 37 000 students from 117 countries! It is a billion dollar operation. They receive 70% of the research funding in Queensland. And are getting additional money to setup more clinical schools in south east Queensland. The med school seems to put Canadian schools to shame. There are 421 first year students in med this year. 61 are from Canada – more than the Northern School of med accepted this year. They are continually finding more places for students AND winning awards as one of the best med schools in Aus. Including an award for best anatomy department, something that other schools seem to think is taught most effectively in small numbers. I don’t start any anatomy for a few months so they haven’t gone into much detail about how it will work. My first real lecture is tommorow in histology. Sounds boring already....just kidding. This week is filled with a few lectures, more intros and some fun. The med society (aka the student union/council, etc) is hosting a big BBQ on Thursday and various games and sessions on Friday. As well, they rented out the on campus bar for one of their 4 yearly parties. We were advised to consume a fair number of beverages now, before we have to actually get work in. But I’m sure it’s mostly just milk and cookies! And then Saturday, is Australia day! Which I hear involves another milk and cookie celebration!
The internet on campus is semi-limited. I’ll have to look into that. I’ll try and get back to all your emails! But without a house and the library not wanting me to go on hotmail, it is tricky. I can’t use skype in the library either, so that will have to wait until I get internet setup at my house. You can email me and wait (read: mom) or call me. You have to dial 011 61 405634417. Until then, the journey continues....
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