I joined the anesthetic team there. Thanks to all the staff for their dedication to undergraduate teaching, for I gained valuable experience in this specialty. For the first three weeks I spent a lot of time in theater. I had the opportunity to insert IV lines, assist in bagging and masking, introduce laryngeal masks, and intubate patients. During the course of surgical procedures, I was to monitor patients' vital signs and also to adjust the amount of volatile anesthetics given. On completion of the anesthesia, I accompanied patients to the recovery room, where they received close medical supervision for a period of time.
Some would describe Anesthesiology as a specialty in which nothing happens 95% of the time, and everything happens 5% of the time. I guess this is true to an extent. Fortunatley none of the cases I was involved in culminated in the exciting, adrenaline pumping scenarios we see on ER. Hence in between giving more thiopentone, propofol or sevoflurane, I received pharmacology, physiology, and emergency medicine tutorials from the registrars. They really homed in on the clinical aspects of these disciplines. Oh, there was even time to amputate a toe!
There were also opportunities to attend Anesthetic Outpatients and Pain Clinics- they were about the only times I had real patient contact. I had wanted to chat with the members of the Alice Springs community, since I had very little knowledge of Aboriginal people and their culture. Unfortunately, however, there just wasn't enough time to have social chats.
Alice Springs Hospital offers medical students the chance to join the Royal Flying Doctors Service for a day. I was told that this would be an unforgettable experience... But I missed out because it was getting close to Christmas and the RFDS pilots were granted leave. If you have a chance- GO! So... instead of taking in aerial views from a Cessna plane, I took a hot air balloon ride over the MacDonnell ranges. Absolutely FANTASTIC. The ride was smooth and atmosphere was serene (when the fire torch was not ignited). I was floating.
Because of the Christmas holidays, the elective surgery lists were temporarily suspended. My consultants therefore gave me a week off. I joined Kathy (our 4 wheel drive expert from Adelaide), Kelly from Sydney, Andrew the commercial jingle song-bird , and Lucia the Swag-Woman on a Central Australia trip. Some of the places we visted were Henbury's Meteorite craters, Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Kata Tjuta (Olgas), King's Canyon, and West MacDonnell's including Glen Helen, Ormiston Gorge, and Standley chasm. You'd be driving on this unpaved, bumpy desert road for ages and ages, with nothing except sand, rocks, blown tyres and spinifex in view. Then- these majestic landmarks, complete with water, vegetation, and life form, pop out of nowhere.
We were all incredibly fit! Some did the 9km walk around the base of Ayer's Rock in 2.5 hours, some climbed the monolith.
Ormiston Gorge was, in my opinion, the most beautiful place I visted on that trip. Surrounded by harsh and arid land, Ormiston Gorge was welcoming. The birds chirped, the wallabies hopped, and the water flowed. It contained life. Lying there I really was amazed by the majesty, the warmth (literally and figuratively) of this oasis, and the Creator who made all this.
To all those who are traveling there in the future, here are some tips:
Do bring a lot of water (I think we went through 60L in 4 days between the five of us)
Do have good company (so you can play charades under moonlight)
Do sleep under the stars (although some might argue that you wouldn't be able to see the stars while asleep anyway)
Do not be afraid of dingoes. We did an experiment. Some of us slept out in the open where dingoes were supposed to roam. Nobody got eaten.
And, most importantly, do not sleep under trees. The mozzies are vicious. Two of us (Dot and Spot) had over 100 bites on our faces and arms overnight. Despite the fact that half a can of Aeroguard was applied to the mat, the sheets and body surfaces. Those red dots looked atrocious! (No names, Kathy!)
