Well that was an interesting week

The special supplementary exams for the appealing were this Monday and Tuesday of this week. Time was a bit tight with first semester due to start on Monday of next week. Apparently the markers were actually sitting there waiting to mark our papers as soon as we finished them. That was, all except one who took them home and didn't return then till Friday.

So at 1pm on Friday I didn't know if I had passed and was to be a third year in Bundaberg, failed and was to be a second year in Brisbane or failed and had to fight to get the school to follow the Dean's recommendation on a repeat.

I passed!

Exhale!

The amazingly efficient admin people in Bundaberg organized my accommodation in an hour and on Saturday I caught a train up. I start work on the medical ward 8am Monday.

Am I appealing to you?

I didn't do so well in the exams. It turns out you really can't afford to miss three weeks of classes in second year medicine even if your father is dying.

In mid November got a letter from the school saying (in more, but not much nicer, words) "you've failed, you're not getting a supplementary exam, have a nice life doing something other than medicine, if you don't like it appeal to the University Senate".

So first I had a little sulk. After that I did to things:

1. Wrote a letter to the school outlining the circumstances (though at least at the level of the second year people they were well aware) and requesting that I be allowed to have a supplementary exam
   
   Two days after the supplementary exams I get a reply saying no
   
   
2. Wrote an appeal to the Senate. I took my time writing the appeal because (a) it was important (b) it wasn't urgent - with all the steps in the Senate appeal process it would be too late for me to have a supplementary exam, I was really appealing for permission to repeat the year.
   
   It turns out I wasn't supposed to appeal to the Senate until I had first appealed to the Dean of Health Sciences and my letter was duly forwarded to him by the Senate secretary.
   
   The Dean processes appeals the same day (or at least did with mine). I was awarded a supplementary exam with a note that I probably would not have time to catch up and that he recommended I should be allowed to repeat if I fail.

But by now it is mid December and the supplementary exams are over. Special exams are organized for the five people who were awarded supplementaries on appeal.

At the procedural skills workshop

These are all dummy defibrillators. Occupational Health and Safety regulations require that we keep real defibrillators away from overstressed medical students.

Choices, choices

Telemarketing: You have to opt out and even if you do it doesn't count if the caller is a political party or a church or a charity (or, or...) and your opting out expires after a few years.

Organ donation: You have to opt in and even if you do it doesn't count unless your next of kin agrees at the time you die.

How to get sued

How to get your hospital emergency department sued for malpractice:

1. After people have been seen by the triage nurse (and triaged less than "emergency"), have them seen by a nurse
2. Have the nurse take a detailed history, record it in a computer system but not actually do anything
3. Have them seen by a doctor who does not have access to (or chooses to ignore) the computer system, takes his own history and diagnoses/prescribes accordingly

Any misdiagnosis which would have been avoided by the doctor having information which the patient provided to the nurse will be 100% on the hospital.

Yes, this is what at least one tertiary hospital in Brisbane does on a routine basis.

What being a med student does to you

Recent Facebook status from someone in the class of 2011 after the release of results for rotation three...

Results are out and since I haven't been contacted about failing, I have zero desire to check to see if I've done well... I've changed

Price setting

You've got to admire who ever it is in the ANZ bank who sets prices. They have the level of their fees at exactly what the market will bear.

Every year I look at their fee for "managing" transfer of points to my Qantas frequent flier membership, think "thieving, wankers!" and pay it anyway.

Urgent SMS

Got a text message yesterday

Semester 1 grades for student nbr nnnnnn, as at 6 July 2011, are: MEDI2006=IP
Academic Registrar UQ

Translation: As at 6 July 2011 second year medicine is still a full year unit and you aren't getting any actual results till November

Chicken little

By this time last year most PBL groups had figured out that it made much more sense to go though the whole case in our Tuesday tutorial and go over what we had learned on Friday rather than do half the case each day and let part of what we had learned either be reviewed the next week or just (more usually) fall in a crack.

The school found out and loudly banned the practice. The sky would fall if we didn't follow "the PBL process" to the letter.

This semester it is official policy.