Results are out and I'm still a B average student. That news is not necessarily disappointing as I got two B+ grades for PHTY354 & PHTY355, the full year physio specific papers. I'm actually quite happy to have passed and able to proceed with my last year of study. With no more formal weekly lectures or labs (and associated assignments or exams), I'm pleased to say that I'm ready to begin 4th year physiotherapy. As a placement year (and research) I look forward to spending more time making people's lives better. It's a shame we don't get paid to be on placement... apprentices in the trade industry get paid to be an apprentice... oh well. No doubt I'll try to find some casual hours of employment in Nelson for the year.
Here's a summer bulletin of what's happened over this summer.
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| All Blacks beat Australia 34 - 17 in the RWC final. |
Passing of Jonah Lomu, NZ Rugby legend.
Paris (France) bombings from Islamic extremists/terrorists.
NZ flag referendum.
TransPacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)
... news bulletins are always so depressing.
As alluded to in the previous paragraph,
I'm shifting from Dunedin to Nelson to
complete my final year of undergraduate physiotherapy. Therefore it's
appropriate that I share the road trip starting in Dunedin and
finishing in Nelson.
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| Nelson Street.... In Dunedin. Ha! |
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| Dunedin, the city with a country feel. Here's the view as we look back on the north bound highway. |
- Shifting flat gear back to my parent's place in Waimate for storage... and why not take a few pictures of the aurora while I'm there. So I did.
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| Aurora view from parent's farm in Waimate. |
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| Aurora from Waimate Shed on State Highway One. |
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| Went for a walk up Mt Studholm, Waimate |
- Running around in a new car as my previous car's motor died [sad face]. Brought this vehicle off a newly graduated physiotherapy student.
- Caught up on some new release movies, like Everest (2015). A film about New Zealand mountaineering guide, Rob Hall's tragic and heartfelt last ascent of Mt Everest. As it turns out, my mother worked with him at Mt Cook in NZ before he left to guide people up Everest. Great guy, an excellent tribute, a must watch.
- Trip to the stunning scenery and tourist magnet, Milford Sounds, to chill out having brought a discounted tour of the Sounds a month ago. Milford sound is actually a fiord.
- Heck, why not do a bit of tramping whilst we are there.
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| Lake Marian. |
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| Earland Falls, Routeburn track. |
- I went on a few other photography "expeditions"
Catlins, New Zealand!!
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| Sunset over Tunnel Beach, Dunedin. |
- I attended the South Island Sevens tournament as a sports medic on the 27th November '15. It was a full day of Rugby Sevens action held at Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru. The weather was hot, gusty and I got sunburnt. I was working alongside South Canterbury Sports Medic, Andrew Stratford. A couple of teams had a team physio which made the day easier for us! Between Andrew and I, we saw around 20 patients. One point of interest for me was seeing how many officials / referees needed treatment.
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| Alpine Energy Stadium, Timau. |
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| Team benches, officials and SkySport... pitch-side view from the medic tent. |
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| Scored a free cap for volunteering! |
- Employment over summer is important too...
"It's about who you know, not what you know"
... Then again, your work environment may leave you with a few health problems. So here's a quick case study: "Asthma-like attack without actually having asthma".
Background: After only three days of starting a new job (two days working with the product) I checked myself in to the emergency department. I was working in a factory with fine powders and spores / fungicides. I had been using an industrial face mask in the high risk areas. I was having trouble breathing on the night of my second day of work. I felt much better in the morning so I rocked up to work and increasingly became more short of breath, so much that by 3pm I bit the bullet and told my boss that I was having breathing problems. I was at a panicking stage and I felt claustrophobic in the mask. Any mild physical exertion left me even more short of breath. I would rip the mask off, even in the higher risk areas, just to calm myself down. We did the first aid thing, letting me sit down in some fresh air for a while. It became apparent to me how necessary our lungs are for speaking. After a few mask tests and practising some relaxation techniques, I was able to help out a little bit to finish off the days work. Then I checked myself in to ED at the Hospital around 5:30pm thinking I was having some allergic reaction to the spores.
Emergency department: The hospital staff are super friendly and I was admitted without any waiting around. They had processed around 120 people, since lunch, on my arrival (nb. it was only Wednesday)... busy bunch!! I gave them the run down between gasping for air. They had a listen, pushed some fluids (IV line), hooked up 12-leads, took some bloods (AGB), and a picture (CXR) as well as dosing me up from a few different inhalers.
Shortness of breath, HR 145, RR 20, BP 135/79, few fine crackles R) base.
ABG: pH 7.61, PCO2 21, PO2 53, HCO3 21, lactate 1.8, O2Sat 93%
CXR: increased interstitial marking R) base.
They weren't completely sure what was going on, but explained that they would like to keep me under observation and do a few more tests. By this time I was feeling much better but thought it was the best option. So I was admitted as an inpatient. That night I was woken up every few hours... to be fair, I wasn't feeling very sleepy after taking Prednisone before bedtime. One of those times I was awoken during the night was to produce a urine sample, so I did. Whilst in the bathroom I realised my face was looking very dark and dusty - no better time for a quick face wash before filling up my specimen container. In the morning I enjoyed breakfast and a few yarns with the three very sociable gentlemen sharing Ward 7A. One of which had attended the School of Physio Chronic disease exercise class at Unipol on Wednesdays - we had a good chat about that. Later that morning I done some spirometry tests (albeit a struggle to complete without coughing) - got a good refresher on the procedure and using a ventilator from the respiratory physiologist taking me for the test. I then came back to a cooked lunch and was discharged an hour after that.
Pre-Bronchodialator FVC 96% predicted, FEV1 91% predicted, FEV1/FVC 79% predicted.
Post-Bronchodialator ~1-2% change (nb. I wasn't having any shortness of breath at this time).
I was diagnosed with a reactive airway dysfunction syndrome... obviously my lungs weren't too happy about the air quality at work. I'm feeling pretty good now apart from a very persistent dry cough. Now what? Oral medication for 10 days (prednisone) followed by flixotide inhaler twice daily for a month, then a check up with the respiratory specialist in Nelson and I guess I need a new summer job. ...So that was an interesting experience. The good team at Dunedin Hospital made me feel very well looked after from admission to discharge. My aim throughout my career is to give my patients that same high level of care.
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| 12 Lead ECG setup! |
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| Arthurs Pass (en-route to Hokitika for Xmas) |
- I spent Christmas with family in Hokatika. Whilst there, I went on a tramp to Newtons Hut, went sea kayaking (a play around in the surf), biked to Lake Kaniere and Lake Mapua (swam in Lake Mahinapua), done some greenstone carving with my uncle (at the Mahinapua Hotel) & generally chilled with the family.
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| Morning bike ride to Lake Kaniere |
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| Nelson Lakes (Eels under the jetty... we fed them chicken bones) |
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| Nelson Lakes |
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| Sunset on Nelson Lakes (Lake Rotoiti) |
- Many of the fourth years were selling and giving away their physio uniforms. Their banter was as good as last years 4th years. Here are a few messages to sell their gear.
Last year I coded each post Y3S1W1 for Year:Semester:Week. Medical students refer to their years as M1,2,3,4.. so I'm going to call
my final year P4 (physiotherapy, 4th year)... copy cat, right?! For my final year, because we won't have semesters, I'm going to be coding each blog post as P4R1W1 for Year:Rotation:Week. There should be 6 weeks in each rotation, and a professional studies week(s) before each rotation - for me, this will be in CHCH.
My expectations for Nelson?
- Friendly people.
- Excellent placement opportunities.
- Stunning beaches and tramping opportunities.
My expectations for P4?
- A mix of fun, hard work, expanding my comfort zone, applying knowledge to real world situations, being independent and meeting new people.
- A long year, long hours, after hours study... but to take time for myself too.
- A few road trips with peers to CHCH... probably getting lost in Christchurch.
- Get along side the supervisors to get good grades.
- Be prepared to be on a baking schedule/roster for each placement... apparently the quality of baking will contribute to overall grades too haha!!
My expectations for myself?
- Get to know the Nelson culture. A previous colleague from Knox Rehab jokingly suggested that Nelson was a place for hippies... so we humoured the idea of cultural competence needed to be successful in Nelson. We concluded that Yoga, acupuncture, aromatherapy, meditation and bottled manipulation energy preserved in water (possibly could be diluted to a 1% solution) and topically applied were the most appropriate methods. Shoes would no longer be necessary. And "gardening" would be the single most common patient goal. So I might need to brush up on physical demands of using hydroponics! Haha! All jokes aside, I will need to fit in with the community - whatever they're like.
- Join a club or get a part time job.
- Go for day walks and explore nature.
- Get a letter of recommendation from each of my placements to add to my CV
- Pass the year and graduate in December.
My expectations for my peers?
- They had better visit me in Nelson! Lots of tramping to be done!
- Pass all the modules to graduate with me in December 2016.
- Have their phones and computers ready for some catch up time and problem solving conversations.
The next post will cover prep for P4 (more forms, about Nelson and my flat hunt)
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