Y3S2: Mid-Semester Break-ing Bad.

"The burden of research" pertains to the participants in the research. Occasionally minority groups are subject to research participation more than other groups, and this can be seen as a burden on these groups... but over the break, I  felt there was a burden on us to transcribe the interview because it takes a very long time to transcribe an hour and a half of interview! Luckily we could split transcribing the interview up within our group.

From the interview transcript (see last weeks blog post for info on what I'm talking about) there are two assignments.

• The first is a group assignment where we discuss the meaning of 'quality of life' and 'empowerment' for the volunteer that we interviewed, then to discuss the role of the physio in maintaining functionality and wellness (based on volunteers experience). In addition, we hand in the questionnaires and interview transcript with it.
• The second assignment... well... I can't remember where the instructions for it are...

I was up Signal Hill, which looks over Dunedin and the harbour, for sunrise on Sunday.

Sunday was then spent at the Sport Injury Clinic for there was a year 9/10 netball tournament which had athletes from Christchurch to Invercargill competing. It was quiet on the injury front, leaving only three knees and two ankles to strap between 9am and 3:30pm... again, it was a quiet day in the clinic.

I'm on placement next week at Dunedin Hospital. I'll be up on the 7th floor (ward 7A: respiratory, and ward 7B: coronary care). The placement description suggests we will be seeing inpatients whom have had elective or emergency cardiothoracic surgery, and respiratory conditions (COPD, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis etc). In preparation for this placement we have to complete a small online wiki and group case study... so I done that over the break. We were also asked to do some reading around anaesthesia, cardiac and respiratory conditions to refresh our memories and to help us with our line of subjective assessment (questioning) for these patients.

The University of Otago, and School of Physiotherapy have scholarships available for third year undergraduate physio students. One of the scholarships currently open for applications is the 'Sheila Consuela MacDiarmid Scholarship' valued at $1500 to be awarded to a student with an interest in further studies in the MSK area (with a strong academic and a developing professional standing). Sheila was a graduate of the Dunedin School of Massage in 1928 (now School of Physiotherapy) whom had a particular interest in orthopaedic work. I decided to have a quick search about Sheila, and discovered that she was a registered physio in the same year that she graduated (nb. the first physiotherapist to registrar in NZ was in 1921). I couldn't find any more info than that with a quick Google search. Anyway, I will add my application to the mix and hope to get an interview (the second part of the application process).

By now you'll realise that I enjoy the challenge of finding new spots to capture the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) around Dunedin. Over the break there was a big display that was unfortunately washed out by a full moon. I still joined the chase and captured a small glow (which would have looked magnificent if it weren't for the moon). 

Aurora Australis, Waldronville (South of Dunedin)