Sorry for the long time between blogs I have been having such fun I lost track of the time. I have been learning so much in freezing cold Victoria (colder than NZ!!!). Over the past two weeks I have been primarily based in the Heyfield GP clinic. Here I have my own consulting room and take part in parallel consulting which I have found an incredibly valuable learning experience. I take the history, examine patients and produce a management plan (e.g. write prescription, order investigations) which I then present to the GP supervisor. Here at the Heyfield clinic I have feel like I have been a valuable member of the team which is really positive as you can often feel like a burden as a medical student. I hope to present some information when I return to NZ about the teaching techniques used at this practice as I feel it could enhance our RMIP program in NZ.

During the past 2 weeks I have also spent three days in the ED at the base hospital in Sale. This has also been a very positive experience particularly in getting more practical skills based procedures. Here I was able to suture and insert i.v. cannulas, which are both skills I need practice in. During my time in the ED I was also exposed to some interesting conditions such as ophthalmological pathology which I had not previously seen in NZ. I am very thankful for the opportunity to come over here and I feel like I have learnt a lot in a very short period of time.