Yeah!!! I found a place to stay alr.. After 3 weeks of house hunting I finally found a place and I am going to move in this Saturday. It is going to be another 2 weeks without Internet so I think I better update this before I move over.
My 8 weeks of psych rotation is coming to an end. One more week to go. Just had my observed interview with my consultant today. Although this only carries 25 % of the whole psych's assessment, this is the assessment that freak me out the most. It is really daunting to do an interview in front of this consultant because he is so experienced and knowledgeable.
Actually he is a really nice consultant. For the past 7 weeks I really learnt a lot from him. He totally changed my view to the world of psychiatric. I was scared and had some degree of stigma toward these psych patients but after this rotation, I find that psych is really an interesting field. He spares time for us, give us tute even though he is not obliged to do so, spares time for us to do presentation to him every week and most importantly he made us feel the sense of belonging. He always emphasised that we are part of the team and not the little insignificant plankton that float around in the ward. He includes us in every ward round and family meeting. Quite grateful and fortunate to have him.
Today again he amazed me. I had my worst history taking ever today in front of him. I was so anxious and nervous before i went in the interview room because this is the 1st time he actually sits in with me for an interview. We usually do the interview by ourselves and after that just present the case to him. which means we can pull our way through even though we missed out some part of the important history but not this time.
I knew I would be having a hard time when he told me which patient i was going to interview. This patient is a really poor historian and he can never get to the point and answer the question. He will just go on and on and on and go off track. As predicted, after half an hour, all I got from him was a vague picture regarding his life and his presenting complaint.
My consultant stopped me after that. The 1st question he asked after the patient went out of the interview room was " how do u think about the interview?" Then a silent from me... Then he said he thought it was all right if only I were given more time. Then he started to tell me that my role there is to do an assessment of the patient and not to be a social worker. haha.. but all these while i was told to "ask open question, build rapport and show empathy"
After all the " grilling" and constructive feedback, I still looked puzzled. I understand all the things that he said but....how to do it when you don't want to make the patient feels that he is being interrogate and you want to build a good rapport with the patient? I just dunno how to do it and I think from the way I look he knows I need help .Then to my surprise, he offered. He said " let me show you how to do it!"
He brought the patient in again. This time he did the interview. The only word that I can describe the way he structured the questions is WOW.. He guided the patient so well that in 4 minutes the whole picture of why the patient was brought into hospital become so clear. Then he also managed to illicit the clear psychotic features on the patient. Just as I was getting so amazed by him, he looked at me and give me a 'winner's grin' ..Yeah.. that is why im still a 4th year and he is a consultant..impressive!!!
How I wish i had a recorder to record down the way he did the interview. It was so nicely done that he got all the information he wants without pissing off the patient with endless question. After he ended the question. He said. " see how i did it? I got all the information and how's my rapport with the patient? I didn't spoilt the rapport did I ?" haha.. then another winner grin from him, a bigger and broader one this time. " You will get there some how. I have confident in you and I would love to see you coming back to us in your 6th year psych rotation!" How encouraging these words are. It really helps to brighten up my day :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Stop mourning and start moving
Just as I thought life is getting better in Perth and I am pretty much settling well in this foreign land, I received a bloody news from my housemate last wednesday.. THE LANDLORD WANTS BACK THE HOUSE!!!!!
The first thing crossed my mind was she must be joking.. I just couldn't believe this kind of thing will happen to me at this point of time. We are only given 60 DAYS to find a new place and move!! Where the hell am I going to find a house that is suitable in such a short period. What add salt to the wound is me and my housemate both are having exam soon. Sigh...
The saddest bit is to move out from this house that I currently stay. I really really love this place. It is so convenient and so comfortable to stay although I know it is a bit pricey. But after 4 months of living in this house, me and my housemate already settled in quite well. We still plan to stay here till we graduate.. Just want to live happily ever after in this place :P
Maybe to a lot of the others moving house is not a big deal and no matter how frustrating and sad this is the fact that I had to face. But for me, Im this kind of person that I really hate to move out from my comfort zone when I start to established one. 4 months since I came Perth I had slowly settled down and already feel safe and comfortable living in this place. Now out of a sudden I had to move out from here to god knows where in such a short period.
Although I know by kicking such a big fuss about it wouldn't change anything and therefore I should just keep quiet and start looking for a place.I still find it is so unfair and I am still finding it hard to accept this fact.Having said that, I thought I deserved at least a few days to mourn over my 'lost', which I did.
And now.. I think is the time to stop mourning and start moving. Got to think of a way to get some compenstion from my inconsiderate landlord. Starting a new house need to pay for so much relocation fees. Have to pay for all the termination fees for the electric, phone and internet that we had just set up less than 3 months. Another thing is most of the house now is unfurnished which means that we have to spend a boom to get all the essential furnitures. What a pain in the neck.
Life is never a smooth sailing.. how true the saying..Just the same day when I received this worst news ever, my psych consultant was asking me how am I settling in coz he just knew that Im a transferred student. I still happily told him that everything is fine and I am settling well here. how irony. Well, let's just hope this is another blessing in disguise. Pray hard that I can find another place and settle down asap before my mid year exam... sigh...
The first thing crossed my mind was she must be joking.. I just couldn't believe this kind of thing will happen to me at this point of time. We are only given 60 DAYS to find a new place and move!! Where the hell am I going to find a house that is suitable in such a short period. What add salt to the wound is me and my housemate both are having exam soon. Sigh...
The saddest bit is to move out from this house that I currently stay. I really really love this place. It is so convenient and so comfortable to stay although I know it is a bit pricey. But after 4 months of living in this house, me and my housemate already settled in quite well. We still plan to stay here till we graduate.. Just want to live happily ever after in this place :P
Maybe to a lot of the others moving house is not a big deal and no matter how frustrating and sad this is the fact that I had to face. But for me, Im this kind of person that I really hate to move out from my comfort zone when I start to established one. 4 months since I came Perth I had slowly settled down and already feel safe and comfortable living in this place. Now out of a sudden I had to move out from here to god knows where in such a short period.
Although I know by kicking such a big fuss about it wouldn't change anything and therefore I should just keep quiet and start looking for a place.I still find it is so unfair and I am still finding it hard to accept this fact.Having said that, I thought I deserved at least a few days to mourn over my 'lost', which I did.
And now.. I think is the time to stop mourning and start moving. Got to think of a way to get some compenstion from my inconsiderate landlord. Starting a new house need to pay for so much relocation fees. Have to pay for all the termination fees for the electric, phone and internet that we had just set up less than 3 months. Another thing is most of the house now is unfurnished which means that we have to spend a boom to get all the essential furnitures. What a pain in the neck.
Life is never a smooth sailing.. how true the saying..Just the same day when I received this worst news ever, my psych consultant was asking me how am I settling in coz he just knew that Im a transferred student. I still happily told him that everything is fine and I am settling well here. how irony. Well, let's just hope this is another blessing in disguise. Pray hard that I can find another place and settle down asap before my mid year exam... sigh...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Enjoying life in Psychiatric!!!
Im now doing my Psych in Fremantle..A holiday city with heaps of cafe, shops and of course people. But now Im meeting more than just ordinary people..Im meeting all sorts of 'interesting' people everyday ...
Finishing my 3rd week in Psych now. Have heaps of fun here. I am so luckly that I was assigned to a really good team with a helpful registrar and easy going consultant. Nice people in the ward and of course lots of interesting stories everyday that made my life more fun.
We always joke about how life is good in psych. Everyday all we do is jus talking.. Haha.. As usual talking is never a hard job for me, it will only be hard if i dont get to talk:P Saw some really intereing character who are floridly psychotic, we met with jesus, allah, buddha every now and then. Everything is just extraordinary, we even have a brown bread that will 'talk' to the patient in the ward. But of coz, despite the fact that some stories are amusing and interesting, they are all sad stories for the patients and their family. I met a 16 year old boy who just become psychotic suddenly and no one is able to make any sense of what he is talking about. Sad case indeed for a young boy like him.
Another thing that I enjoyed a lot is PBL. Don't feel that Im a psycho as well but this round the PBL is much more fun because we had a 'weird' facilitator. The 1st impression I had for him is he is exactly the real life version of Dr House. Eccentric Agentina man. Apparently he is a world known neuropyschiatrist who has a lab in a 'dungeon' in fremantle hospital. He obeys to no rules. He says all the PBL trigger are bull shits and we can just skip his session if we want to. But he is so good that he is able to drawn our attention to everything that he says. From him , we learnt about the wonder and depth in psych. Good experience I would say for everyone of us who are so new in this area.
Life is getting better because Im not that busy now as compare to when I was doing Gen Med. The only thing that trouble me is my stupid internet that had not been working for 2 weeks now. I wonder when can I get back a new modem. Sigh..hate the fact that I had to go to library everyday after hospital to check my email and stuffs. I feel so socially impaired now. OMG...
Finishing my 3rd week in Psych now. Have heaps of fun here. I am so luckly that I was assigned to a really good team with a helpful registrar and easy going consultant. Nice people in the ward and of course lots of interesting stories everyday that made my life more fun.
We always joke about how life is good in psych. Everyday all we do is jus talking.. Haha.. As usual talking is never a hard job for me, it will only be hard if i dont get to talk:P Saw some really intereing character who are floridly psychotic, we met with jesus, allah, buddha every now and then. Everything is just extraordinary, we even have a brown bread that will 'talk' to the patient in the ward. But of coz, despite the fact that some stories are amusing and interesting, they are all sad stories for the patients and their family. I met a 16 year old boy who just become psychotic suddenly and no one is able to make any sense of what he is talking about. Sad case indeed for a young boy like him.
Another thing that I enjoyed a lot is PBL. Don't feel that Im a psycho as well but this round the PBL is much more fun because we had a 'weird' facilitator. The 1st impression I had for him is he is exactly the real life version of Dr House. Eccentric Agentina man. Apparently he is a world known neuropyschiatrist who has a lab in a 'dungeon' in fremantle hospital. He obeys to no rules. He says all the PBL trigger are bull shits and we can just skip his session if we want to. But he is so good that he is able to drawn our attention to everything that he says. From him , we learnt about the wonder and depth in psych. Good experience I would say for everyone of us who are so new in this area.
Life is getting better because Im not that busy now as compare to when I was doing Gen Med. The only thing that trouble me is my stupid internet that had not been working for 2 weeks now. I wonder when can I get back a new modem. Sigh..hate the fact that I had to go to library everyday after hospital to check my email and stuffs. I feel so socially impaired now. OMG...
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