What I’ve Learnt Working in an Emergency Department for a Year

December 3, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

As a student, I loathed working in the emergency department. It felt chaotic and noisy and bloody and overwhelming. There was a constant stream of patients being wheeled in; crying in pain, moaning in confusion or bleeding from some or other wound. I wanted to faint every time I saw a patient being stitched (never […]

The Vulnerability of Being a Patient

February 10, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

Medical school teaches us many important things. The anatomy of the brain. The physiology of the cardiovascular system. Which antibiotics to give the patient with sinusitis. We were also taught things that weren’t so easy to put into diagrams and mind maps. How to break bad news to a patient. How to encourage a patient […]

Dear 2016

January 29, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

Dear 2016 Thank you. Thank you for giving me a community service post that was not at all what I had anticipated. Working in the clinics for a year was so challenging, and there were probably hundreds of times when I felt like I was ready to throw in the towel. Many tears were shed, […]

Let’s Talk About Mental Health

October 10, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

In medicine, we accept that both diabetes and schizophrenia are diseases which require a multi-faceted approach to treatment. Whether you have hypertension, a stab chest or bipolar mood disorder, you attend a healthcare facility for treatment. We accept that diseases of the mind are equally as important as diseases of the body, and we treat […]

Embracing Your Inner Rebel

September 1, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

Do you remember how, as a child, nothing would hold you back from having a good time? You would happily run through the sprinklers and play on the beach, not caring at all what your body looked like. You would stand up in front of friends and family, telling them all of your great ideas, […]

Destination Addiction

August 26, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

Destination addiction: the idea that happiness is in the next place, job, partner or moment. Isn’t it funny how most of us spend our lives wishing and waiting for the next best thing? I know for me when I was studying I longed for the day when I could start internship. Then when I started […]

August Reflections

August 23, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

So here we are, nearing the end of August 2014. Remind me again how we got here? It’s cliché, I know, but it doesn’t feel like January was that long ago. Yet here I am, nearly two thirds of the way through my first year of internship, and everything before this has felt like […]

Happy. Thank You. More Please.

August 18, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

I spend about two hours in my car every day, driving to and from work. To pass the time (and keep me sane) I listen to podcasts. In one such podcast, the host spoke about a new concept she was welcoming into her life. Every time something happened that she felt grateful for she would […]

Different. Not Better.

August 10, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

I hate to admit it, but I spend a lot of my free time on my phone scrolling through Instagram and Facebook. Although social media is far from social, it seems to have crept into all aspects of our lives, and now it seems that whenever I have a spare moment I’m clicking on that […]

Being an Introvert in an Extroverted World

July 27, 2016.Reading time 6 minutes.

When I was an awkward teenager, I thought that being an introvert was a bad thing. It was at that age where you just want people to like you, and surely people will like someone who is fun, outgoing and ‘extroverted’? I was the shy, quiet girl who preferred a good book to a night […]

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