Week 1: Done!
I've survived a week in Canada! (That sounds ridiculous. Canada is beautiful).
I spent three days in an outpatient clinic (which in Canada occurs in a doctors office away from the main hospital) and two days on call in the main hospital. It's weird having outpatient clinics that run all day and don't involve 101 DNAs. The call shifts were very, very quiet- on Thursday I was the sole person responsible for diagnosing a cool infection and named the clinician in charge of a patient I then got to follow up on Friday. Today I got to sit on my butt for five hours because we had absolutely no consults- which is wild! I forgot how privileged I was to work in such a busy hospital in London. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate having time to see patients in full and talk to the doctors, but my preceptor going off for a nap in the middle of the day was quite unexpected.
Everyone so far has been really lovely. They all say that paediatrics on the East coast is much more intense- but I imagine most things would be, compared to this. They have a Starbucks in the hospital, I've worn my trainers every day, everyone has smiled and made conversation with me- it's lovely. I've had lots of baby cuddles, had high fives from loads of cute toddlers and been sassed by some fantastic teenagers. I'm feeling much more confident in my medical skills out here- I think probably because I'm working one on one with the doctors and there are no other medical students here to compare myself to!
I'm finding it a little bit difficult watching a lot of my friends go off on nice sunny electives where they spend the majority of the day on the beach, surfing or hiking or drinking. That's always going to sound ideal! I'm hoping when I'm working in central Vancouver I'll at least be able to get to the beach of an evening or go kayaking at the weekends. Here, I get to do a lot of hiking and there are some beautiful parks, but I'm limited by the fact I don't drive and this is a much smaller place with not a lot of public transport. I'm working my way through all the TV shows I missed over finals when it's not so nice out, and when it's sunny I'm trying to make the most of it by sitting in the parks with a book.
It's been weird spending so much time by myself. I'm not used to coming home in the evenings and not talking to anyone.
I spent three days in an outpatient clinic (which in Canada occurs in a doctors office away from the main hospital) and two days on call in the main hospital. It's weird having outpatient clinics that run all day and don't involve 101 DNAs. The call shifts were very, very quiet- on Thursday I was the sole person responsible for diagnosing a cool infection and named the clinician in charge of a patient I then got to follow up on Friday. Today I got to sit on my butt for five hours because we had absolutely no consults- which is wild! I forgot how privileged I was to work in such a busy hospital in London. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate having time to see patients in full and talk to the doctors, but my preceptor going off for a nap in the middle of the day was quite unexpected.
Everyone so far has been really lovely. They all say that paediatrics on the East coast is much more intense- but I imagine most things would be, compared to this. They have a Starbucks in the hospital, I've worn my trainers every day, everyone has smiled and made conversation with me- it's lovely. I've had lots of baby cuddles, had high fives from loads of cute toddlers and been sassed by some fantastic teenagers. I'm feeling much more confident in my medical skills out here- I think probably because I'm working one on one with the doctors and there are no other medical students here to compare myself to!
I'm finding it a little bit difficult watching a lot of my friends go off on nice sunny electives where they spend the majority of the day on the beach, surfing or hiking or drinking. That's always going to sound ideal! I'm hoping when I'm working in central Vancouver I'll at least be able to get to the beach of an evening or go kayaking at the weekends. Here, I get to do a lot of hiking and there are some beautiful parks, but I'm limited by the fact I don't drive and this is a much smaller place with not a lot of public transport. I'm working my way through all the TV shows I missed over finals when it's not so nice out, and when it's sunny I'm trying to make the most of it by sitting in the parks with a book.
It's been weird spending so much time by myself. I'm not used to coming home in the evenings and not talking to anyone.
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