After the interview: Approaching the end of a chapter.

Yesterday I had my interview at ANU for medicine. The journey was quite the roller coaster ride. I have been through joy, despair, periods of confidence and times of nerve wracking self doubt.

Thinking about it, the process of getting into medicine for me has been like a marathon race. It began from GAMSAT preparation in January, sitting the GAMSAT in March, receiving GAMSAT results in May, applying for med school via GEMSAS (the next day), receiving offers for interviews in August, preparing for interviews and attending the interview in September.

Osteoporosis, available treatment and ONJ

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a systemic condition characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of the microarchitecture of the bone. This can lead to bone fragility and the increase risk of fractures.

Figure 1 Comparing the microarchitecture of bone in normal vs osteoporosis patients.

Preparing for my ANU interviews (Work)

My first med school interview at the Australian National University (ANU) is coming up in a few weeks on the 24th September.

I've already taken time off work, booked my plane ticket and my accommodation. I'm ready to go and impress some strangers!

Wrapping up my first patient

In the pharmacy today I was called out to help dress the wounds of a patient. The patient was an gentleman in his 60s who fell over in his garden whilst gardening. He landed on a brick and grazed his forearm.

A prickly situation

While at work today, my colleague took in a bag full of used diabetes needle tips from a patient. He didn't bring them in a yellow sharps bin, instead put them into a brown paper bag. Whilst my colleague was putting the tips into our large needle bin, a needle broke through the bag and pricked her finger.

An unexpected reading

While at work today, a pharmacy assistant calls me to assist a gentleman. She tells me that he brought in a blood glucose machine and seems to have problems with it.

The gentleman has not been using his monitor for a few months, and wanted me to have a look at it to see if it was still working fine. As he did a test, instead of displaying a reading, his meter prompted: "HIGH KETONES".

Hmm...

As I looked through his previous test results (done earlier this morning) I see that his readings were 27.8mmol/L! As a reference, blood glucose readings above 10mmol/L could be counted as uncontrolled. This patient was OFF THE CHARTS!

After asking the patient about his diabetes medications, I find that he has not been taking his medications for a while. He was constantly experiencing dryness in his mouth, and has also been going frequently to the bathroom. I guess those were signs that his body was telling him his diabetes was out of control.

I tried to reinforce to the patient the importance to see his doctor and get it under control. However the patient had his excuses and reasons why he didn't take his medication and why he doesn't want to see the doctor yet.

While it is my job to look out for the patient's well being, there is only so much I can do other than give him suggestions.

In the end, the patient went on with his daily life. I doubt he would have gone to see his doctor.