A Nice Little Surprise... $150 Gift Card for Medical Supplies

I got a letter in the mail from the Australian Medical Association (AMA). Turns out I won a $150 gift certificate from a drawing I entered a couple of weeks back during O'Day at UWA...!

I can use it at any Australian Medical Association supply store I want to buy any medical supplies, books, tools, software, etc. I might need.

I don't exactly know what I want to buy or how I am actually going to get it back to the States, but I think I may buy myself a new labcoat and maybe a medical book (similar to the MCAT book). Either way, I'm happy that I won it!

Planning My New Adventure… A Medical Internship in THAILAND!

Typical me… I can never just be satisfied at where I am in life… I am always looking for the new thing to do or experience… always planning ahead for the NEXT phase in my life.

As mentioned before, I am only going to stay a semester in Australia. It is absolutely wonderful, but I just cannot stand being away from home for a year… Six months is good enough.

Anyway, my original plan for the summer was to head to New Zealand and then home to the US, but to be truthfully honest, I am kind of sick of traveling around, living out of bag, moving from hostel to hostel, and just wasting my free time when I could be doing something worthwhile.

I really wanted to do a medical internship this winter in Mexico (after being a year in Australia), so I could work in a hospital and shadow a doctor... BUT since I am going back home early, I just decided to move the internship up to this summer!

I just recently applied to a medical internship in Chiang Mai, Thailand through Experiential Learning International (ELI) volunteer program.

The program seems absolutely wonderful… The program fee is for 4 weeks, which includes housing, food, airport pick-up, etc. The only thing I need to worry about is airfare from Perth to Thailand, airfare back to the US, immunizations, traveler’s insurance, a VISA, and personal expenses... but I think I will be alright. I am going to find a job here in Perth, and I am also going to start fundraisng to try to raise money via donations.

Through this program, I will get the opportunity to work in a hospital & shadow a doctor in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It looks like a great way to get some one-on-one clinical experience, yet at the same time, experience a country that is completely different from the US & AUS. Plus, I think it will look great on a medical school application because I will get to see healthcare from an international perspective.

I’m excited, but at the same time a little scared… It’s going to be in a country that is nothing like the US. Australia was very similar to America, but now I will be in a place with absolutely no Wal-Marts, IGAs, or Walgreens...

I'm going to be completely out of my comfort zones, but I’m all about taking chances and experiencing something new & exciting. I will never know unless I try it, and I know I would regret it if I never tried to go.

I am applying for four weeks, so I will be there from 06/22 – 07/20, but I might want to stay an extra week. I’ll probably be home something like July 27th.

The new adventure is currently in the process, but I will definitely keep everyone updated. Check out more information at…

http://www.eliabroad.org/

Picture of a temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand (compliments of wikipedia.com)

More statues in Chiang Mai (compliments of eliabroad.org)

First Week of School

If there is one thing I am really enjoying about my experience in Australia, it is the education. I really do like all my professors and the way they teach my classes. They just seem very professional and prepared. Plus, EVERY lecture is recorded and posted on the internet just in case you cannot make it to class. It’s not such a big deal over here if you don’t go to class; they just put all the responsibility on you to learn everything you need to for your class.

I’m just a little taken back though… It’s so different over here. There really isn’t any homework, assignments, quizzes, tests… There are just major final projects/exams. Take for instance my cognitive psychology class… We just have one exam the entire course at the end of the semester and it is worth 60% of our grade. And the entire exam is 4 essay questions… EEK NERVOUSNESS! The other 40% is from a paper we have to write in the lab/tutorial part of the course. It’s pretty crazy… and I am kind of lost as to what to do. I don’t know whether I should start reading/studying. I’m so used to having constant papers to write, assignments to do, exams to study for, but now I just find myself with nothing to do but study in preparation for the final week of school.

Overall, I absolutely love my university here in Australia. It’s huge… the people are really nice. And the student life seems to be very unique. The only drawback to my first week is that 3 of my classes are off campus… And not just walk 10 minutes off campus… I have to take a BUS to these classes, which means I have to miss the lectures before them to make it to THESE classes. It’s going to kind of stink because I’m going to have to watch those classes online, but I cannot complain.

University of Western Australia... "Seek Wisdom"

More Things about Australian Culture

• You will never hear anyone say “You’re Welcome” when you thank them. You just get a “No worries.”
• Everyone wants to know about Obama. They want to know if I voted for him and what I think of him. Aussies love OBAMA and hate BUSH… not so different from the US.
• Australians love American culture/politics. It’s so crazy because when I arrived here, I thought I would experience a completely new array of musicians, TV shows, movies, etc., but it isn’t like that. Everyone in Australia looks to America for entertainment. Just like the US, we all watched the Oscars and gossiped about who was wearing what (haha).
• I don’t know if I mentioned already, but EVERYTHING closes at 5:00 pm… so if you don’t stop by the grocery store before work ends, you aren’t eating for dinner.
• The weather is very similar to Albuquerque in the summer, except the ozone is a lot thinner over here, so the severity of the sun is 10 x worse. I look like an idiot everyday because I am the only loser walking around with an umbrella to block the sun from my face.
• I cannot say all Australians… but for some reason, most of the people that I encounter don’t wear deodorant. It’s not such a big thing here, and I don’t understand…? Even at the pharmacies (called “chemists”), there is a very limited selection of deodorants.
• People smoke and drink like crazy over here. EVERYWHERE I turn, there are people smoking and drinking… Poor livers/lungs…! This is the only place I’ve ever seen where it’s not uncommon for people to start drinking by 1:00 pm!

O’ Day or “Orientation Day:” Carnival-like Fun at School…?

O’ week or “orientation week” was a couple of weeks ago (February 16 – 20), and it was a very interesting way to start off the semester.

I showed up to the last day (O’Day) where all the student groups/organizations were tabling to recruit “freshers” or freshmen to their groups. It ended up being something of a huge circus or carnival… There were jugglers, waterslides, pools, people in full body paint, water guns, balloons, games, etc.

Here are just a couple of pictures I snapped while walking around the place.

It was pretty outrageous, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching people make fools of themselves. One student said that UWA has one of the largest and most extravagant O’ Days of all the Australian universities. I also got a ton of free food and had at least 7 or 8 free energy drinks. Plus, I got a free $10 gift card for iTunes… can’t beat that!

Pool party

Dirrrrty pool

Green man

Water slides

The Aussies like their drinks