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March 25 NauseatingI spent Thursday and most of Saturday on call in the casualty department. Friday I woke up with a sore throat - which isn't that surprising since a minimum of 23 sick people cough on you daily. Anyway - I placed myself on some government issue antibiotics - and yup, it's the cheap stuff. So the film coating that they use makes me want to hurl, just by looking at the stuff. My throat feels better though and since you're not supposed to just stop taking antibiotics to prevent resistance from occuring (and since Erythromycin is practically the only antibiotic I'm NOT allergic to) I will endure the nausea. I had to transfer a patient to another hospital yesterday. Natalspruit is located in Thokoza about 12 km from Germiston Hospital and about 12km from my parent's old home. The scary thing is that I considered it as a possibility for my internship starting next year. I think it's worse than Bara would ever be! I now completely understand WHY people we referred were SO absolutely reluctant to go there! I was nearly assaulted when I skipped the queue to open a file for the patient I escourted. BTW - what an experience that was. I had to drive behind this ambulance, who forgot that I don't too have red lights and sirens. He just drives and points come past - and then the rest of the world hoots and shouts obscenities at me when I also run a red light. I'm amazed I am still here in one piece! As for the emergency department (of pretty much any South African hospital) it was filled with stupid people. Yes, I do believe the human race is stupid. Perhaps not all of us, but the vast majority. We're stupid to get into cars - cause of accidents. We're dumb to play contact sports - cause it ends in fractured ribs and most of all, we're imbeciles for drinking ourselves into a stupor - in the end someone always gets whacked with a broken beer bottle or stabbed with a pocket knife. You'll be happy to know though, that at the casualty department there will always be an eager medical student just PRAYING for somebody to practise their suturing skills on... March 21 New BlogsOkay, so I should be studying tonight - got some hellish quality improvement project to do to make Germiston Hospital a better place. I've got to be honest, 2 weeks ago I thought it wasn't that bad. Then came Friday (and another weekly Doctor's Meeting). The DRC bunch (who hold about 80% of the MO posts) are getting to me, badly. They all seem to be out to destroy the place - never mind their lack of interest in the students. Okay, so that's not entirely new - a lot of qualified doctors treat us that way, it just feels worse now cause there's only 4 of us at the hospital and our interaction with them (since we're acting as part of the workforce) is much greater. When I say "part of the workforce" I mean, practically running MOPD. The doctors frequently disappear after lunch leaving us, and if we're lucky, one South African MO to run the joint. Which is fine, but I haven't committed the entire EDL to memory don'tcha know AND the pharmacist sends any script I sign (without a co-signature from one of the docs) as "Illegal script"! It's all a bit mad Nevertheless, I'm on call tomorrow (Thursday), Saturday and next week Tuesday (BUT then all my calls for the rest of the block are done) - perhaps I'll get down to doing some studying then? Having a bit of a scandal at work presently - which I'd rather not elaborate on. Also, I couldn't afford the insurance on a new Peugeot 207 (I'm in the market for a new car) - but Ford are offering free insurance on a new Fiesta till end of March. Yeah, so my mother may be right "Why would you want to buy the same car" - but I'd get a model up from the one I currently have (Trend 1.4) and it's still a brand spanking new car! (BTW to get to Germiston - since I am driving with a friend - a round trip is currently 110km!) - also with bloody fuel prices going up AGAIN next month it's a good thing I'll only have to drive there for about a week! I found 2 great blogs by 2 South African Medical Practitioners - check my custom list to the right for them, or follow these links Just Up The Dose - http://justupthedose.blogspot.com/ All Scrubbed Up - http://allscrubbedup.blogspot.com/ March 15 For the want of a cellphoneOnce you start working in a Casualty situation you soon realise WHY South Africans live in constant fear of crime. I have now been at a district hospital for the past 2 weeks. It's in Germiston - a small town in the east of Johannesburg - and it's "common" (with a capital K). There is tons of muggings though and inbetween putting up backslabs for fractures I have gotten a lot of experience with suturing (The other night I sutured a guys eye and man, it could almost have been the work of a plastic surgeon!) Today, however, I was confronted with a situation that most men fear! After hearing a story of a Swedish man who got totally pissed and cut of his own winky (to spite his wife) I should have known that the day would take a similar trend. From a woman who had a condom stuck to a man who put his cellphone in his pants and had his member almost torn off! Now that happened over a week ago, and he only bothered to show up to casualty today. Needless to say I was the lucky sod who got to see him... Seeing as the injury is greater than 24 hours it doesn't get ANY stitches - nevermind that his winky has about a 7cm laceration at the base (basically that's 70% of the circumference!) How ANYONE could walk around with that amount of pain is beyond me. The Nigerian doctor in casualty just shook his head and said - "give him a betadine dressing". Personally I was going to refer him to a urologist cause, DAMN it looked painful! On a more cheerful note - Mildred returned from surgery this week - and although I am pleased with the job they did, her last surgery was less successful. Her previous scar seems to have changed colour - which doesn't bode well for her resale value. Especially since I have my eye on a new Peugeot 207. I didn't think I'd ever drive a French car, but it sure has grown on me. My finance has been approved and I have finally found a reasonable insurance quote - but DARN the thought of making that amount of debt is just freaking me out! March 02 Music & LyricsI took off work tonight (instead of doing my usual Friday night stint...) I partly did it cause I thought I deserved a break after 6 weeks of gruelling gynaecology! Thankfully it all paid off in the end! I have passed another block, which is always a good thing. I have 36 more weeks of medical school if all goes well (that's 6 more 6 week rotations and 6 more block exams) - which is all doable. Randy and I went to go see "Music and Lyrics" tonight, it was hip-replacement-requiring stuff and a good laugh overall. Since I'm trying to fit 6 weeks of life into 3 days, we're also going to movies again tomorrow night ("Shortbus" a very controversial movie) and also going to see "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds" - okay perhaps not oscar winning titles but I'm looking forward to them (if you lead the hectic life I do, you'd also appreciate the small things!) I've ordered a copy of Windows Vista! I'm kinda excited (mostly scared, cause my 18 month old PC will most probably NOT take the transition too well) Anyway, we must move with the times! Hope everyone has a fab weekend! |
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