I have apparently now been a (currently holidaying) junior dr for just over 24 hours! I also did that super geeky silly thing of booking tickets (to Sydney Zoo!) under my new prefix earlier. The novelty will wear off very soon I'm sure. Also really hoping (for them and me) that on the 25 hour flight I'm taking tomorrow from Canada to Australia, no one is taken ill!! That would be a true test of my skills that I would rather postpone for now. The pain from the last set of exams is still raw!
This week with my grandparents has once again flown by (clearly we've been having too much fun!) but I'll see them soon enough at my pre-graduation ceremony back home in June :)
For now, am going Down Under!
P.s. The night after I wrote that last post did end up being preeeeeeeeeetty long! I slept badly and woke up at 1am, 3am and then at 5:45am which was just as well as the results were released around 5am! I looked at my phone, ready to again be disappointed that nothing had come through, but saw a Whatsapp message from a friend saying something along the lines of "phew". I thought "argh!", checked my inbox and there were those four glorious letters. Not f-a-i-l, but p-a-s-s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Thursday, 10 April 2014
The longest night of my life?
...Is probably tonight! In a few hours I find out whether or not I managed to prove that after six (sometimes happy, sometimes less so!) years I have accumulated enough knowledge to be bestowed the priviledge of being a junior doctor.
One hopes that one has, but there is always that element of doubt...
I am sure that my entire year group, despite being scattered across the world, is feeling the same way. We ended our last exam just about a week ago and have since embarked on our "electives" = 2.5 months to gather experience in any healthcare system you wish. There is also some time to relax :) and so currently I am with my grandparents in Calgary, West Canada.
Though I only had three short days to sort out my life (!) after my last exam and coming here (I had essentially been a hermit for about 2 months), as soon as I hopped on the plane I felt completely relaxed. That feeling of not having deadlines, endless to do lists, a slither of stress in every footstep... Basically that everyday life that we carve for ourselves, is the feeling I seem to endlessly crave and one which only when I am "on holiday" do I truly remember exists. The best medicine for any illness :)
The funny thing was on the plane I was reflecting on the first time I had travelled alone on a flight, pretty much exactly 6 years previously on my gap year. That time, I had just embarked and probably within about 10 minutes burst into tears (much to the dismay of the lady next to me.) Whilst I was certain I wanted to "travel", all of a sudden I had realised how many unknowns lay ahead of me that I hadn't really thought through... Would my travel buddy really meet me at the other side? How was I going to eat when I didn't really know how to cook? What if I fall ill? Small, silly things that seemed perfectly sensible doubts then! I laughed at myself when I recalled my fears. Now I almost relish
those unknowns... And the exciting encounters and experiences that come with the unknowns.
For example, going back six years again, you'll be glad to know, I did stop crying once I became engrossed in a film I decided to watch to distract myself. At the end of it, I plucked up the courage to talk to my neighbour, who turned out to be a cardiologist from Sao Paulo where I was headed. She, very sweetly, denied she had seen me crying when I tried to explain my peculiar behaviour. 4 months later when I transitted via Sao Pulo en the way home, I met with her in SP and she took me to lunch and to see her hospital. It's encounters like that that you never forget :)
In a few days I travel to Sydney to meet with two old friends, and then on to New Zealand and South Africa with my sister (the actual work bit!). Memorable encounters certainly await!
Fingers crossed in a few hours, I am greeted with the news that life's adventures can continue without a hiccup!
One hopes that one has, but there is always that element of doubt...
I am sure that my entire year group, despite being scattered across the world, is feeling the same way. We ended our last exam just about a week ago and have since embarked on our "electives" = 2.5 months to gather experience in any healthcare system you wish. There is also some time to relax :) and so currently I am with my grandparents in Calgary, West Canada.
Though I only had three short days to sort out my life (!) after my last exam and coming here (I had essentially been a hermit for about 2 months), as soon as I hopped on the plane I felt completely relaxed. That feeling of not having deadlines, endless to do lists, a slither of stress in every footstep... Basically that everyday life that we carve for ourselves, is the feeling I seem to endlessly crave and one which only when I am "on holiday" do I truly remember exists. The best medicine for any illness :)
The funny thing was on the plane I was reflecting on the first time I had travelled alone on a flight, pretty much exactly 6 years previously on my gap year. That time, I had just embarked and probably within about 10 minutes burst into tears (much to the dismay of the lady next to me.) Whilst I was certain I wanted to "travel", all of a sudden I had realised how many unknowns lay ahead of me that I hadn't really thought through... Would my travel buddy really meet me at the other side? How was I going to eat when I didn't really know how to cook? What if I fall ill? Small, silly things that seemed perfectly sensible doubts then! I laughed at myself when I recalled my fears. Now I almost relish
those unknowns... And the exciting encounters and experiences that come with the unknowns.
For example, going back six years again, you'll be glad to know, I did stop crying once I became engrossed in a film I decided to watch to distract myself. At the end of it, I plucked up the courage to talk to my neighbour, who turned out to be a cardiologist from Sao Paulo where I was headed. She, very sweetly, denied she had seen me crying when I tried to explain my peculiar behaviour. 4 months later when I transitted via Sao Pulo en the way home, I met with her in SP and she took me to lunch and to see her hospital. It's encounters like that that you never forget :)
In a few days I travel to Sydney to meet with two old friends, and then on to New Zealand and South Africa with my sister (the actual work bit!). Memorable encounters certainly await!
Fingers crossed in a few hours, I am greeted with the news that life's adventures can continue without a hiccup!
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
I'm done!!!!!!!
My last (fingers and toes triply crossed) ever medical school exam was completed today! Feels a bit anti-climactic if I'm honest when after all the hours and hours and hours of reading you do only a tiny fraction comes up, but unfortunately that's just how it works!!
Now I have three lovely days in London to catch up on all the things I've been missing... see all those exhibitions I've been eyeing up, chill with friends, watch a film (!), go sit in a park in the sunshine, read a FICTION book (WHOA) and maybe also start packing my bags....!
Off to to see my wonderful grandparents in Canada first, then Sydney with my old first year roommate (who is now based in Hong Kong) - will also see 3 people there I haven't seen in years(!), then it's New Zealand and South Africa for my "elective" / break I've been waiting for for far too long! So actually I'll plenty of time on planes for reading and watching films, so maybe I should scrap those off my list for now!
Cannot wait. ;)
Now I have three lovely days in London to catch up on all the things I've been missing... see all those exhibitions I've been eyeing up, chill with friends, watch a film (!), go sit in a park in the sunshine, read a FICTION book (WHOA) and maybe also start packing my bags....!
Off to to see my wonderful grandparents in Canada first, then Sydney with my old first year roommate (who is now based in Hong Kong) - will also see 3 people there I haven't seen in years(!), then it's New Zealand and South Africa for my "elective" / break I've been waiting for for far too long! So actually I'll plenty of time on planes for reading and watching films, so maybe I should scrap those off my list for now!
Cannot wait. ;)
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