Phileosophie

************************************************ Note: Special thanks to BestPractice for the information in this post. This post has been written by a medical student . This website is a collection of my reflections on life and on medicine. The target audience is technically myself, and perhaps my family. This website includes information on things I am interested in and am learning about. The information here has not been verified and should not be construed as medical advice in any way. If you are sick you should contact a local doctor for advice and management. ************************************************ Cough - it's such an simple thing, and yet, it's always so important to get the simple things right.  The wife of a good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with scleroderma following a long period of dry cough. It had been mistaken for asthma for a long time and I do not know the details about the case but it has made me determined to unders...

This is what Time Square looks like right now ! From time to time I check in with my beloved city and today was wondering why it was so empty when I realised it's only about 630AM over there. :-) Hi New York! Hope you'll have an awesome day!

I've been receiving a high number of hits on my post on Brugada Syndrome lately and I'm not sure why. Is there a Brugada conference happening at the moment? This makes me wish I had a more in depth piece of work to offer all of you but in truth all the post said was that I loved cardiology. oh well. After my exams I might try work on something to post up. Anyway, I was at a Thai place today and it really reminded me of this Asian restaurant Duey and I visited when we were up at White Plains. I really miss New York and would love to be back there, though that would mean me leaving Hillsong TV which is a big deal to me. We received our volunteer passes in the mail today and I'm so excited about it. I love the fact that I am going to be a part of conference and am glad I chose to do this despite it being final year in med school. I may never get to do this again.. depending on where I end up next year and knew I would regret it if I didn't volunteer with TV this year...

I used to post these photos on Facebook or Twitter but I think I'm going to start putting them up here instead because I don't want to annoy anyone by flooding their feed with food. LoL.. I kinda like my meals looking pretty. This was dinner for tonight - pan fried quail (with spiced & caramelised vinegar), risotto and roasted vegetables. I think the roasted veg is one of the prettiest sides I've ever made! I've been experimenting with these heirloom vegetables for a few weeks and in this meal have used the red radish in both the roasted veg as well as raw and pickled under the quail.

Stanford commencement speech by Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Another example of the type of person I would like to become! I think it's sad that at the end of my 6 years of university education I feel that the only thing of value I have received (or will receive) is my medical degree. I wish that I could have been part of a community that I am truly proud of, a community where fond memories of my 'college days' were made and a community that teaches me about the important things in life and not just about how to fix up patients when they are sick. I think this is where education in Australia fails. If I could do it again, I'm not sure if I would come here. As beautiful and stable as this country is, I cannot feel its soul. And I do not feel inspired.

I love how medical researchers tend to name their studies or protocols so that they fit into a memorable acronym. It's just a bit of entertainment I suppose, for what could potentially be quite a dry body of work. Today I was reading up on the use of anti-emetics in children presenting with acute gastroenteritis. Ondansetron is the only type that is acceptable for use in Australia though it is very costly since it is new and still a brand name drug. Other drugs such as metoclopramide have been found to result in unacceptable side effects in children, such as dystonia or tardive dyskinesia. One of the articles I came across ( here ) noted that "patients were discharged... and continued standard oral rehydration at home with the introduction of a bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (BRAT) diet after the first 24 hours." haha

So Adelaide today has been a little nasty and essentially has said that I won't be entered into their allocation pool because I don't meet the 'Standard' for English requirements. I tried to reason with them and offered to sit for the test but they want it by June 29th and the next possible test date is June 30th. I asked if they would be happy for me to sit for that test and send it in, they just read me the 'Standard' again. Unyielding. I called the Medical Board of Australia and they did the same. I was a little bummed at first - I mean, not getting a job after graduating from med school is unheard of in Australia but you know, I've always said that sometimes God closes unsuitable doors. That's fine. Adelaide was a backup.. an option.. it was another door I was looking at and thinking.. maybe? I'm not saying it was necessarily a stepping stone because sometimes you go somewhere and it changes your direction. You can find your future in places...