This is the last week of my medical clerkship up in the Sunshine Coast. I have had a marvelous time; beautiful scenery, wonderful staff in the clinic and in the hospital, basically nothing I could complain about. I now see why the university sends us away from the main city to do this clerkship; I have had opportunities here that I would never have if I was at a huge hospital like VGH. For one, there aren’t many students here, so my classmate and I are first in line when it comes to participating in certain procedures.
Yesterday, I got to be a “surgical assist” for a cesarian in which fraternal twins were born. That meant that I was right in there, all gowned up in sterile gloves, gown…etc. helping the surgeon by holding instruments and retracting tissue. The nurse warned me not to jump back if there was a gush of fluid, and I’m thankful she did because as the surgeon opened up the uterus and punctured the first amniotic sac, thereby ‘breaking the water’, a flow of fluid came rushing out, and then the surgeon pulled out the first baby- a girl. The same thing happened when the second baby came out (since these were fraternal twins, they each had their own sac of amniotic fluid). My classmate and I even helped with the suturing of the last layer of skin!
I have also developed a close and certainly unexpected friendship with my landlady from whom I’m renting my garden suite. She is technically retired, but has managed her finances well and keeps herself busy looking after the multiple properties and rentals she has. She is very lively, with a wicked sense of humor, and TONS of life experience- in men, in business, in realizing your own definition of success in life…you name it! So it’s been great to have someone, a woman, take me under her wings and mentor me in things that very few people around me can mentor me in …we’ve had conversations about everything- men, my career, my family’s situation, men and men =) She is certainly someone I will be staying in touch with for a long time.
I have come out of this experience with new friendships, and a few extra life and career skills. It feels good to know that I am making progress- slow, but sure progress towards where I want to be.
IMAGE CREDIT: here.
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