Discipline of Rural Health - Faculty of Health Sciences - The ...

centre. This does not include back-pain work-cover, but if you present one of these patients you are
really scrapping the bottom of the barrel. However, there is a stack of patients in the GP placements
that have previously undergone rehab, will have correspondence to the GP and the relevant people
can easily be contacted
How to stay calm under pressure.
− Breathe, focus and know that you will always have some form of safety net from your supervising
doctor in hospitals
− In terms of your exams, I’m not going to pretend to tell you how to study by 5 th year. You just have
to go through the same motions you have in every year beforehand and just do it.
− A great way of unwinding and also getting to experience your community is to try and take one day a
week (usually on a weekend) do nothing med, and try and see something new. There will always be
those local tourist type things to do and will add to your experience
− Try to sit down at the end of every day with the students you live with and talk through the
interesting, the unknown, the hilarious and the difficult things you saw. Its amazing how just talking
through things will make it all seem a little easier.
− Even better, try and sit down every night as a group and eat dinner together. This may not always be
possible, but its a great way of unwinding, cooking less nights a week (take turns may mean you only
cook one or two nights a week) and eating something you would never think of yourself
−
How best to plan your year.
− Try to figure out what events in the city you really want to attend. Plan to go back for those. Be
reasonable and remember you cannot attend everything.
− But also make a little wiggle room for just needing to escape back to your family and friends every
once in a while. This may mean you will need to take a trip or two more than you will be reimbursed
but it’s worth the extra cash. Also, share the driving with others who may want to go back too
− Take time for yourself. Medicine may be the main thing in your life, but it shouldn’t be the only
thing.
− Join a local sports team: you will meet people outside of the usual student circle, and get to know
the city a little more. If you are in Whyalla and want to play soccer, the Whyalla Wanderers are a
great bunch of young guys (but be prepared to lose).
− Use Facebook and stay in touch with your friends and family. Even if you cannot attend everything,
you can at least do a little ‘face-stalking’ and see the fun people are having.
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Notes about 5th year:
- the geriatrics cases are not as scary as they first appear. The rehab one does not need to be followed for
months on end, the main work is in the initial assessment and then you just find out how they're going. 6
weeks follow-up is fine, the city students only follow theirs up for 5 or 6 weeks max. In terms of finding
someone, ask the GPs to keep an eye out for someone for you (and keep reminding them!), also keep an eye
on who's in the hospital. The physios are a great help too!
- expect to take a few days (or even a few weeks) to settle into a place. It takes a while to work out how
everything works, on 6 week rotations you can find you just settle in and it's time to leave. But don't worry,
you will settle in eventually
- the nursing and admin staff can be your biggest help, be nice to them and don't be afraid to ask them for
help, they usually don't mind and understand that it's tricky being new and inexperienced. They also
love cakes and bikkies and muffins so it's a great time to practise your baking skills!
- read through all the course info early in the year so you know what's required, when the tutes are, what
assessments there are etc sooner rather than later
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