I'm on track for semester two, having passed the semester one exams.
I'll start this post with a recap of the sport medicing opportunities I've had over this semester break.
The Tuesday following our last exam I had a change of scenery, this time
volunteering as a pitch-side medic (not at the clinic). The sport event
was the Dunedin Co-Ed school sports tournament organised by Sport
Otago. It was a freezing, fairly uneventful day until the very last
15min when, on the soccer field directly across from our medic tent, a
girl was struck by a soccer ball to her shin bone (tibia) and fell to
the ground. The girl was in a great deal of pain but I managed to get
her soccer boot and sock off, but the shinpad (with built in ankle
support) remained on. My co-medic and I put a splint on - given the
signs (and patient's level of pain) were indicative for a broken bone.
Everything was under control until the principal for that student
wandered onto the scene and, without consulting us medics, phoned 111
for an ambulence - this wasn't our plan A (use a stretcher and take her
to the injury clinic), nor was it our plan B (we had direct access to an
ambulence service which services the sport injury clinic when needed).
We reluctantly (having presented alternatives multiple times over that
time) waited just over an hour, in the cold, for the principal's public system
ambulence to arrive. I hope that principal would let sport medics
do their job in the future without unduely intervening. On the bright
side, the ambulence staff praised our splinting of the patient's
ankle/leg.
Sunday 'there is no predicting who will turn up' clinic was quiet over the break. We had a broken nose, observed concussion screening for return to play - that sort of thing. I haven't been attending the Saturday 'if it can happen, you will see it' clinic due to work on Saturdays.
Roller derby is a minority sport which appears to have as many officials as players on the track. I wasn't aware that this sport existed until earlier this year when I mediced my first derby. It's a weird and wonderful sport where teams attempt to get a team member around the track whilst blocking their opposition from doing the same thing - they possibly do this in turns - I'm not 100% sure... it's messy and a bit confusing to watch. Each team as an eccentric name, and players within the team have eccentric names e.g. Ruby Smash, Diva DemolisHER, Ana Phylaxism and OrKazzMic. It's a bit of an eccentric sport. The Dunedin team is for females only... actually, I think most of the teams in NZ are 'female only' - don't quote me on this. It's an elite sport and these teams fly to contests around NZ and AUS. Anyway, there are a few comical moments when these ladies fall over (? this might be the entertainment value) but thankfully there are very few associated injuries. The sport medics are well looked after. The last Dunedin match we had the Super15 Quarter final playing in our clinic for derby halftime viewing. We also got to take home the unsold savory pies!
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| Gallow Lasses of Dunedin beat Vagine Regime, 330 to 139 points |
As previously mentioned, we have an assignment for PHTY355 evidence based practice. It's due the first week back, so I'll mention it in the next blog post.
Many people take up a novel and read when they've got time to relax. I have found novels to be a bit of a 'hit and miss' with respect to engaging and becoming engrosed in their storyline. These holidays I went on another physio student blog expedition and came across a mixture of different healthcare student blogs! Here are some worth having a brief squizz at. Common themes include hard work and long hours.
- Physical therapy
- https://thelifeofadptstudent.wordpress.com/
- http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/pt_12/about.aspx
- https://physiowithsam.wordpress.com/ (A previous UoO student)
- https://mariansphysioblog.wordpress.com/ (I mentioned Marian's blog last year)
- Chiropractic: http://chiropractic-student.blogspot.co.nz/
- Osteopathic: https://howaboutasecondopinion.wordpress.com/about/
- Medical doctors:
With a (debatable) bit of free time up our sleeves, I went for a cruisey Friday bike ride around Dunedin's peninsula. With adventures and views like these around, there's no wonder why I enjoy studying at Otago! Having said this, the weather changed shortly after reaching my destination and I made my way home in the rain (I was prepared). Definitely riding this track again (perhaps in summer!)
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| Return trip: ~30km, ~700m elevation gained, ~2h biking, ~1100Calories. |
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