Came back to Sale on Sunday night.  I went along to the med students tutorial on Monday.  We covered some common GP problems and  paediatrics.

Tuesday I spent another day in ED.  It was quite busy with many of the patients needing to be admitted.  At this time of the year bronchiolitis is quite common so we had a lot of babies presenting with breathing problems.  We also had a young boy who was having a migraine but had also developed a tic in his forehead which was potentially associated with the migraine, quite a new thing for everyone to see.

Tuesday evening I went to dinner at a local pub with medical students and some of the younger doctors.  They apparently do this each week on “parma night”.  Chicken parmigiana is a big thing in Australia so I was told I had to have it at least once.  It’s it basically chicken with cheese and ham on top.  Was quite tasty.

Wednesday and Thursday I went back to the general practice.  I had my own patients to see, about 1 an hour and again once I had seen them I called the doctor in, presented them and then we decided on management.  I saw a wide range of patients and learnt quite a bit. The patients were all aware that I would be seeing them first before arriving which was great.  They were all very happy to chat to me and let me have a go at a diagnosis before the doctor.

On Friday morning Rebecca (the NZ student in Barnsdale) went to Melbourne for a bit of sight seeing before we headed back to NZ.  We went to the Melbourne museum first which was a great place to visit!  It is a very well set out museum and we even go to see Phar lap the horse! We then went to an Aussie rules game which was great fun!  It was North Melbourne vs Carlton.  It was a very close game so the crowd was very on edge near the end! With each ref call half the stadium would be up yelling.  On Saturday we explored the Victoria markets which are quite large, we picked up some great souvenirs and gifts to bring home.  We spent the afternoon at some factory outlet shops getting some cheap clothes.

We flew out Saturday night but were unfortunately not able to land in Christchurch due to fog. We were diverted to Wellington and landed about 130.  We were given a hotel for the night and as we were the last to check in got to top floor suit which was very fancy!  We only had 2 hours to enjoy it though because then it was time to go back to the airport.  However I got home safe and sound if not a bit tired!

A great experience all round.  A great way to experience medicine in a different country.
Thanks 🙂