The Kiwi-ERDoc love fest continues

[ERDoc]

Roger, go at throttle-up, mate.

[Kiwiology]

One night I was out back with some people who were having a smoke at work, one of them looked at me and said "you know mate, there's some place I'd rather be, this is killing me..." as the smile ran away from his face, "I am sure I could be a movie star if I could get out this place" ... "true" I said "but you know, there is a reason for living, it's like why we sit in the moves until the closing scene ... you're just one of the dreamers, so am I, we're looking for the happy ending, because work has become a routine you can't stand, sure, this place can be heaven, or hell, but we are all prisoners of our device, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ... there sure is a place I'd much rather be, perhaps not far from the Texaco, only a couple of miles from east to west, north to south, with spanish moss on the welcome sign where people are nice and always stop to ask hows your day, where there is a white house with a picket fence and cable, a place where your troubles can't find you meaning one does not travel at twice the speed of life, I'm not really sure how it goes but I think I knew when I wore some different clothes ... buggered if I know, but we're all too young to feel this damn old"

Edited June 15, 2012 by Kiwiology

[ERDoc]

That was awesomely poetic.

[Kiwiology]

Busted my ass off this week making it through three rounds of selection for a cash cow job that pays buckets of money

Went to their GP for a quick bend and squat and cough and poke to make sure I wasn't going to die at work and we got talking while she was poking around

Turns out back in the bad old days she had to repeat [first year medicine] as she failed organic chemistry

Now, upon mentioning I was finding general practice (family practice) more and more appealing over emergency medicine out came the pen and tick tick tick I was made to look good (cos I am an ugly bastard).

We both agreed the burgeoning trend in Australia of "graduate only" medicine replacing the traditional Commonwealth five and six year undergraduate medical degrees is very concerning as it may in fact deny medicine to some otherwise suitable people and that there is no value in a Bachelors Degree being mandatory prior to entry to medicine as it offers no substantial advantage over the traditional undergraduate medical programs which are the norm in every country in the world (except Canada, US and some programs in AU) and that the "MD" programs being introduced are most likely simply a flash marketing gimic

Hopefully my ten months of massive yo-yo depression and getting wasted on valiums in between trying to figure out how to off myself has come to an end. It's not been easy going from the top of the world to the depths of hell and loosing people that I cared about very much and would have sold my soul for, that whole twenty years of being molested in the noggin by my fucked up family hasn't helped any ... but what the fuck ever, at the end of the day shit happens and hey if I learn what a proton is I might just get my ass a bright orange helicopter jumpsuit with "DOCTOR" written on it mwahahaha ... hey, I might still go to bed desperately soul crushingly lonely and die unfulfilled but at least I will have my jumpsuit

You know, I'd even let Chris be my flight nurse, it's hot all year round in New Arizomexas and that's just ace, cos I am so pale I once got picked up by the cops for being an escaped corpse .... reminds me of watching COPS when they were out with the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office in ABQ (must have been in the mid 1990s) and they found some narc OD in his car, they called "Rescue" so two fire trucks and a huge Freightliner ambulance turned up (cos you know ten people are needed for one patient when two or three will do), they dragged the guy out onto the ground and naloxone'd him back into reality only to strap him back down when he woke up ...defeats the purpose of waking him up if you ask me

Edited June 23, 2012 by Kiwiology

[Richard B the EMT]

"you know mate, there's some place I'd rather be, this is killing me..." as the smile ran away from his face, "I am sure I could be a movie star if I could get out this place"

Piano Man

this place can be heaven, or hell, but we are all prisoners of our device, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave

Hotel California

I am sure I missed other music quotes. Why the music quotes, anyway?

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

The Bible/Pete Seegar/The Birds

[chbare]

Sorry mate, my days of flying are pretty much over. Unfortunately, I've developed somewhat of a fear of flying.

I do find your assessment of undergrad degrees prior to medical school interesting.

[ERDoc]

I have to agree with you on the bachelors. I've known several people who made awesome doctors but had to go to some great lengths to get there because they didn't do so well in undergrad. As my residency director said, "I screwed up in undergrad, that's why I am a DO. I stands for Do Over."

[Kiwiology]

A mandatory undergraduate degree offers no true advantages over a traditional undergraduate program of five or six years duration

I have seen mainly three arguments for mandating an undergraduate degree first

1) Pre-req subjects typically bio, chem and some places want one or more of English, maths and/or physics: These classes get taught in first year of an undergraduate medical degree so a graduate degree offers no advantage here. English and maths are compulsory right through until the final year of high school in most places, certainly in NZ, so there's your English and maths covered.

2) Study skills: I have an undergraduate degree and my study skills are certainly only a fraction better than when I was at high school, certainly my essay writing and critical thinking are greatly improved but when it comes to note taking and studying for exams I am still pretty shit. You go to university to learn how to become a doctor and along the way you learn how to study. Medicine requires you to cover a lot of information but its not rocket surgery.

3) Life experience and maturity: somebody who has been in an undergrad program then applies to med school might have a little bit of part time work exp behind him or they might have learnt how to pay the bills from living in a drunken student party flat. So what? yes, somebody who has genuine life experience in the big wide world dealing with people is going to be better prepared for medicine but the typical university graduate has little if any of this experience as they have been wrapped up at uni for three years. The undergraduate medical programs know they are taking in people with little life experience and they are designed around this to slowly introduce you to the finer points of patient interaction and critical thinking

Now let us consider that an undergraduate degree costs about $30,000 when you factor in tuition, fees, living costs etc and if you do a three year degree then a four year medical program thats seven years, most undergraduate medical programs are five years and some are six so it is shorter to do an undergraduate program.

Flexner advocated for two years of pre-medical education in science not an undergraduate degree; the undergraduate medical programs offer this in their first one to two years.

[Kiwiology]

Driving all night, giant truck stop coffee to keep me awake, blaring redneck music, snow falling on the highway as my brain turns to mush

Chasing the dream, oh look its truckers choice valiums mmm num nums!

[ERDoc]

I don't know if thoz valiumz r the best thing if u r trying to stay awake. It's like drinking more alcohol to help you sober up quicker.