semester 8 exams

The first exam was today, it was a 45 multiple-choice exam (MCQ) worth 0% of our total mark, that ran for an hour. The questions were taken from the subjects done in both semesters 8 and 9, so technically half of the content of the exam was things that we hadn't done yet. I think I did quite well - well enough to pass, and I'm feeling very happy about how it went. Obviously it's a little too early to say what my actual result was, but I'm feeling pretty positive about it. I think what helped the most is that the questions were very clinically focused, so I could relate the situation on the paper with situations I have experienced in the ED, and often felt fairly confident about my choice for "what test would you order?" or "how would you manage this patient" etc.

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When do you start and finish each semester?

The university website has all of that info in a pdf file at medicine.unimelb.edu.au/docs/Sem8-12Dates2008.pdf.

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when are you next visiting pakky?

I'll be coming back for the ANZAC day weekend, and working on Ranch Rules 3 - The Musical. So I'll be around, but probably also fairly busy.

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(last updated 12/4/08)

Are you still in Wangaratta?

I was in Wang for semester 8 (second half of 2007) and have moved to Shepp for all of 2008. I will be going back to Wang for some of 2009, though I'm not sure what the exact dates will be.
Click here to see where I'll be each semester.

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(last updated 12/4/08)

Are you still in Shepparton?

I actually only just started in Shepp this year. There was a brief stint during the orientation week when I was here with all of the other rural students in my year, but then we each went our separate ways. I'm beginning to settle in here in Shepp, and am enjoying it more and more as the semester goes on.

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(last updated 12/4/08)

why did you choose rural?

I chose to go rural because there is/are:

• Better access to patients
• Better access to educational staff
• An environment that is more conjusive to study (I'm at the hospital now - it's a Sunday afternoon)
• More enthusiastic staff in general (the admin staff, the doctors, the nurses, the theatre techs are all glad to see you coming out to the country, as they hope that you might come back)
• Beautiful scenery. If you don't believe me, review some of the photos on my blog.
• Better roads. How many minutes does it take you to drive to work? I can count them on one hand - and I'm not talking about the patient who has polydactyly.
• Cleaner air
• A very friendly community. You can feel very much at home here, even if you've only just moved to the area.

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why did they send you to the country?

I asked to study in a rural area. The Rural Clinical School was my number 1 preference of clinical schools. They didn't have to force me to go rural, so I wasn't sent per se.

So the question should be "Why did you choose rural?"