semester 132
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Contents, uh duh ............................................................................................................................................................ Page 1 Message from the Dean(s) .................................................................................................................................... Page 3 AMSA Recap ....................................................................................................................................................................... Page 4 First Year Fears (and Fun!) ................................................................................................................................... Page 7 Life After Uni .................................................................................................................................................................... Page 9 Physical Recap ............................................................................................................................................................... Page 10 Global Health, I Dig It ................................................................................................................................................ Page 13 Embracing the Institute ......................................................................................................................................... Page 14 Introducing... BUSMS! ................................................................................................................................................ Page 15 History Taking Horrors .......................................................................................................................................... Page 17 Exam Survival Tips from your HMSA ....................................................................................................... Page 19 The Solomon Islands Program ......................................................................................................................... Page 21
Editorial I approached creating this semester’s Pulse feeling somewhat smug; against all odds I’d managed to pull together some semblance of a publication in 131, not without some serious teething problems I must admit. So here I was back for another semester, fat with all the knowledge and skills I’d learnt the hard way earlier in the year. Sem 132 Georgia was totally ready to dominate the hotly contested arena that is student publication editing at Bond (it’s kind of an underground scene, trust me it goes off...). However to quote my personal role-model Tim Minchin; “Pride comes before the fall/But in between the pride and the fall/There’s usually a bottle of Tequila.” Despite my vows of devotion and organisation, and an immediately post-Physical Week 6 publication date, the Physical’s postponement (and perhaps my natural tendency toward procrastination) swiftly transformed vows into gags. I soon found myself scuttling around like a demented crab in weeks 10 & 11 once more, finding myself alarmingly bereft of all the ingenious tricks I’d supposedly picked up last sem (that’s where I blame the tequila). I swiftly reduced myself to a twitchy nervous wreck (it’s amazing what 16 straight hours in the bat labs will do to a person). Enter Harrison Carr with his signature lack of sympathy, to slap me round and set me back on track (cheers bro) and out of the ashes of my mental self-immolation (#shitmypretentiousfriendssay) emerged the somewhat battered, but whole nonetheless, edition of Pulse I present to you now. Huge thanks as usual to all contributors, your input, often at short notice, is always hugely appreciated! xoxo gossiphick
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From the President
What ho! So here we are again, already at the end of another semester at Bond. First off, we are pleased to report that last semester saw a record attendance at the HMSA’s ‘Cram Sesh’, which stretched over two weeks. We were so delighted with the enthusiasm shown by the HSM students that we’re going to try to make it even better this semester (with more specialised tutors), and what perfect timing with the new intake of medical students. As most of you would know, we were forced to relocate The Physical to Don’s last semester, with only a few hours’ notice. Unfortunately, we have, yet again, been forced off the rooftop by a series of noise complaints as a result of some of the social events from earlier on this semester. Clashing with NUG and AMSA, The Physical still proved to be a great event this semester, and we’d like to thank everyone for who came out and had a great time with us (and a big thanks to those of you who kicked-on with us at Platinum Nightclub!). We did our best to hold a ‘Health and Med Day’, as a joint initiative with MSSBU (Medical Students’ Society of Bond University) this semester. Unsurprisingly, the weather did not permit this, so we are hoping that next semester will be the inaugural Health-Med day. We managed to salvage the soccer game, however, which was held before the Business v Law Rugby Match in week 10.
In another joint initiative, an event with the HSA (Humanities Students’ Association) and BURCS (Bond University Red Cross Society) occurred in week 8: Dining with Social Justice. This event featured some of the most well renowned humanitarian aid societies such as Red Cross and UNICEF. I personally had the pleasure of attending this event, and can highly recommend it to you for next year. We’ve postponed Careers Night, and will be holding it in week 3 of next semester, so stay tuned! But that’s enough with the formalities. For the few of you that will have read this rather drab report to the end, I wholeheartedly encourage you to read the rest of this publication, from the first article to the last! In semester 131, we made a big effort with Pulse to ensure that the articles were as interesting, humorous and thought-provoking as possible. With guidance from Georgia Hick, our hugely talented Publications Director, I’m sure that this edition of Pulse will be just as good a read, if not better. All the best for the rest of the semester!
Toodle-pip! Jake Bennetto, HMSA President
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From the Head of Health Sciences
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for interactions with the community and industry partners in health and sport professional education. The School is soon to grow with the commencement of the new Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics Practice and Master of Public Health Nutrition programs in May 2014 that will add further to Bond’s portfolio of health professional career pathways.
Roger Hughes
From the
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The start of Semester 2 this year has been a huge change for staff and students in the School of Health Science with the re-location of the Exercise and Sport Science, Sport Management and Physiotherapy programs to the state-of-the art Bond Institute of Health and Sport located in the Robina health and sport precinct. I’m sure students who have already participated in classes and labs in the new Institute will agree that this facility helps add to the student experience and creates great opportunities
Dean of Medicine
This semester has been an exciting time for the Medical School with curriculum innovations right across the 4 years and 7 months of the Bond MB BS program. The School of Medicine welcomed the 9th cohort of Medical Students into the program at the beginning of semester 132. For the first 8 cohorts of students the Medical School has been running a PBL program based on the University of Sydney graduate medical program. This year is special, because this cohort will be studying a fully Bond authored, integrated medical program that is being delivered for the first time. It has been a team effort by the academic staff to write a series of new cases and put in place a new structure that incorporates a midweek skills based PBL session to help the new medical students reinforce their learning across the week. The key Academics that have lead this effort include the Head of Curriculum, Associate Professor Hamlin, Associate Professor Gary Hamlin, the PBL Lead, Professor Michelle Maclean and the year 1 Lead Associate Professor David Wayneforth. There has also been innovation in Semester 6 of the program with Associate Professor Victoria Brazil developing the “Bond Virtual Hospital”, refreshing the PBL approach
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to learning clinical medicine and made the learning experience more realistic with the use of a special APP to allow the PBL groups to “manage” several cases at once. The move to the BUCERC campus at Robina Hospital has been well received by the students as representing the next step in their progress from being predominantly “Book learners” to learning via having the opportunity to experience and learn about real patient care. In final year our 6th group of students has just left to complete a placement in Kirra Kirra in Solomon Islands. The placement is formally being evaluated over the next few weeks and I am hopeful that it will be able to continue as a great clinical opportunity for the medical students and that as a Medical School, we manage to assist and help this very welcoming community in the process. This year for the first time, final year students have the opportunity to complete their GP placement in the rural town of Gunnedah in Northern New South Wales. It is a real pleasure to observe the students from each year of the program work well together and really appear to be enjoying their course and maturing into the next generation of doctors in the process.
Peter Jones
SA AM
This was a huge week and a half for the Australian Medical Students’ Association and Bond University!
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We kicked the week off with the MSSBU and Bond University hosting the National AMSA Council Meeting for the first time ever here at Bond! The AMSA Council is a forum where members from each of the 20 medical schools around Australia take part in discussion on policies on dealing with everything from local university representation to nationwide issues like the internship crisis. The Council also recognizes achievements from around the country with the annual AMSA Awards and the MSSBU is proud to announce that we won the Community Cup, an achievement for the best community initiative for our All Abilities Olympics that took place earlier this semester! Special thanks to co-convenors Tabrez Sheriff and Andrew Robinson for their amazing dedication and fantastic work Shortly after, what many describe as the best week of their lives, began with the Gold Coast 2013 AMSA National Convention! The world’s largest student-run convention, with a total of 1790 medical students from around the nation, converged at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre for a glorious opening ceremony complete with indoor fireworks and an amazing introduction to what was a wonderful week. There were a slew of academic events during the daytime with a stellar line up of doctors and academics speaking across four main themes: Future Med, Off The Grid, Med Ed and The Path Less Travelled; even our very own Dr. Barry Rigby and Dr. Victoria Brazil took the stage for some amazing presentations! The MSSBU were proud to display Bond’s largest delegation at Convention ever with 55 full registrations and almost double that with partial tickets! Bond’s presence was evident at the wonderfully creative themed Social Evenings including Intergalactic, Dark Twisted Fantasy, Rewind, Americana and Kapow at Movieworld! All of this culminated in what was a truly astonishing Gala Ball on the Saturday night held at the Convention Centre. It was a great time to show our Bond Pride, network with over 1000 medical students from all across Australia and New Zealand and overall, have an amazing time. We also collectively broke the Guinness World Record for Most People Spooning at One Time with a total of 1108 people!! It was a week to remember for the ages, and you would be surprised at how many registrars and consultants remember their antics at previous conventions! So if you missed out this year, get ready and excited for next year’s convention in Adelaide 2014! Thank you to all you Bondies who showed up to really make a name for us on a national level! We most definitely brought some ambition to life! MSSBU
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AM SA
: m i L a n o t u o g n i Go Facing First Year Fear
by Audrey Lim
In more ways than one, going to University signifies both the end of a chapter and the start of a new stage of life. Many of us leave the nest for the first time, eager for a taste of independence and hoping for dear life that somewhere along the way we’ve learnt enough to hold up on our own. Some of us move interstate or overseas to a new city with a completely foreign culture, while others start a course with new subjects and peers. As a first year medical student straight from high school, it was hard to know exactly what to expect from my first semester Bond. I was amazed and awestruck as I walked beneath the majestic sandstone arches of Bond University for the very first time (somewhat awkwardly
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across the one-and-a-half-step spaced stairs). At Bond we’re so lucky to have such a pristine learning environment and a great campus. My first impressions were favourable to say the least. I could not have been more excited to start medicine. Naturally, I was also quite nervous about the prospect of moving to a place where I didn’t know a single person. There were still so many questions running through my mind like will I be able to manage the workload? Am I going to cope with uni? Will I make friends? However, one of the things that really struck me about Bond was how friendly and welcoming everyone was, and not to mention how immaculately dressed they were in their crisply ironed Ralph Lauren shirts.
Starting in the second semester with a large intake being medicine students, orientation week was a great opportunity to meet everyone in our cohort as well as other new students. Despite the intimidation of starting a new chapter, it was a comforting realisation to know everyone was in the same boat. I had an amazing time getting to know everyone and the camaraderie of our cohort has only continued to grow.
studying was somewhat amusing, but at the same time all too true.
Personally, I have found the transition from year 12 to university to be challenging and rewarding in many ways. As Chelsea Reedman states “it’s a huge culture shock coming straight from high school but there are so many supportive networks at Bond that have made the transition easier.” The notion of self-directed learning, whilst overwhelming at first, Staying on campus has proven to has been great means of instilling a be a great experience and although sense of independence. The opporI miss a good home cooked meal, tunity to learn procedural skills and going to the Brassiere and catching interact with simulated patients at up with mates has its own unique such an early stage in the course has flavour. Here at the Blocks, one thing been a fantastic experience. AccordI’ve come to admire is everyone’s ing to Anushka Kothari, “ there are stamina and ability to party. With an a myriad of opportunities provided event on at least once a week, it’s for medical students, even us first no wonder Bondies are renowned for years, that offer us a wider perspectheir ability to balance both academ- tive about life as a doctor. It keeps ic and social aspects of life, which everyone motivated, reminding us Daniel Warren quite fittingly sumwhy we’re here.” marises as “pretty hectic; gotta love it.” In particular, the Med Eagle was a So although I’ve only been at Bond hit and a great opportunity to meet for a few weeks, this new chapter the medicine students in the cohorts looks like it will be full of unforgetabove. Hearing about our reputation table memories. There are bound to for being the studious cohort that be challenging moments but I can’t can always be found in the library wait to see what lies ahead.
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Words by Malcolm Hatfield Postgraduate and Mature Age Students Representative
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Life After UNI
o you finish your degree, you get out into the real world and you realise that it isn’t the career for you. What now? What do you do?
my passion was and that Sport’s Science was what I wanted to pursue, a field I had always found interesting and couldn’t be more different from my original degree. And so here I am another year later, half way through my It’s not the end of the world! If there is one 2nd undergraduate degree and I couldn’t be thing I’ve learnt being a mature age student, happier. Long gone are the days where you it’s that time is still on your side. For those of had the one career for life, many people have you still having doubts about whether you changed directions many times in their lives really should be in your degree or if it really and are better off for it. So don’t stress and is what you want to do, just realise that by don’t worry, enjoy your time at University the time you graduate many of you will only and realise that what you’re doing now may be 19 or in your very early 20’s (even you not necessarily be what you do for the rest Med students will finish by your mid 20’s). of your life and there is nothing wrong with Most of your life is still ahead of you. Take that. myself for example, I have a degree from Griffith (or Grif-tafe as many around these parts like to call it) in Multimedia and when I finished I ended up working for Bigpond. After a couple years I was looking at buying a house when my parents made a good point to me, I hadn’t seen the world and I was about to tie myself down in a field that I no longer enjoyed. Is that really where I wanted to be? After taking time to think about it, I realised that this may be the only opportunity to take off and do something that not everyone gets the chance to do. So I left my job, packed my bags and left for Europe. A year and a half later after having travelled all over Europe, Mexico, the US and Canada as well as trips all around Australia (including a visit to Ayer’s Rock) I realised coming back and sitting on my butt behind a computer screen for 9 or 10 hours a day was not where I wanted to be. I decided sport was where
HMSA’s The Physical;
Emergency Themed… How appropriate. Considering that it was my second attempt at running this cheap, booze infused party I thought to myself what could possibly go wrong?
four walls when building a white house. As a result the surrounding communities reminded us that although residents of the blocks may be convinced that Bond’s surroundings consist of So I braced myself for the ques- old, deaf retirees, we are wrong. tions that I was often asked This resulted in the location of leading up to the event date.. our event being moved from Unfortunately this preparathe rooftop to Don’s only to be tion didn’t help me at all. As informed that some maple syrup the standard questions were loving knuckleheads had booked disregarded and instead I was Dons for the hyped event ‘Canapproached by students who ada Day’. simply wanted to know if the Physical was going ahead, and So after the stress of moved where it would be held. Aldates and locations, we locked though very basic questions, it in Week 9 at Dons. Although our was painful to be the bearer of committee was disappointed bad news; informing students of that we weren’t providing the the post-poned event again and students with an experience in again. a different location, we moved forwards and stayed positive, The confusion of eager students with students showing enthuwas experienced equally by siasm for a great theme and a myself, with different authorfantastic afterparty location. ities informing me to respect my elders and say goodbye to On the day of the event, the set the planned week 5 event (than- up and organisation ran smoothkyou graduation). So we moved ly with committee members forward, ‘booking in’ week 7, helping through set up, ticket only to be approached by the sales and door duties. It was vice chancellor who informed all the great communication of FSA’s that although it may be the committee that enabled the easy, it is important to use all event to run smoothly.
The event ran smoothly, with students commenting on the decorations, music and theme of the event. The door duties were managed well by the committee members, meaning no-one was left waiting for an extended time period. It soon hit 11:45 and it was time to board the buses for the after party at Platinum nightclub. The music finished and the lights turned off. As usual, it was a struggle to get the students off the dance floor.. But after some aggressive encouragement by myself and security, we managed to have all the students on buses before 12pm. All in all, I am extremely happy with how smoothly the event ran. I would personally like to extend thanks to Joe McLachlan for his amazing music behind the decks, to Ben Thangkam for his amazing photography and to the entire committee for their efforts on the night and the week leading up to the even See you next sem,
Greggy Smalls
m a k g n a h T n e Photos by B
Global Health, I dig it. Hi, my name is Tina Riz and as established above, I am super into Global Health. For those of you who I haven’t been lucky enough to meet yet, I am a 22-year-old Bond student nearing the very, very end of my long ass, painful, emotional rollercoaster of an MBBS degree. #winner. My interest in global health began in 2007, when I was 16 and travelled to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar with the Australian Youth Development Program. Cool Australian organisation, the Director is a little bit kooky, but it’s a great program, I’d encourage anyone to look into! So, throughout this two-month expedition I got to teach children in schools and orphanages, set up a sports day, build desks and ain classrooms. (Not to mention defeated Kilimanjaro, which was just an added bonus!) It was on this trip that I initially became painfully aware of the stark contrast in the health and living standards of those in third world nations. This trip was a pretty defining moment in my medical career, you could say t was the clincher. A year later some sort of system glitch/divine intervention landed me a spot at Bond. In my earlier years at Bond I had a little stint as the Pres. of the Global Health Group, Making a Difference (MAD) and later the El Presidente of the HMSA. During my time on these committees I realised there was a serious lacking of global health education and awareness at Bond, specifically within the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty. What really stood out to me was that there was little to no (and I’m talking more no than little) opportunities offered at Bond
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for students to engage in overseas aid projects. Back then we didn’t have clubs like BAfrica or programs like the Kunnarra project or Iumi Togeda. I also realised that while I had fun heading up these teams, student politics wasn’t my jam, my passion lie somewhere else ([cough]Global Health[cough]). So, with my best friend, right- and left-hand man, Cassie Jeavons, we decided to make the opportunity for ourselves. Consequently in 2011, after about 14 months of hard work and planning, we created Bond-Aid. Bond-Aid, for those of you who don’t know, is an on-campus group targeted at educating students about global health, social justice and cultural sensitivity. Each year Bond-Aid identifies a different developing community and selects a group of 20 students to fund raise, create awareness and finally, travel to the location for one month to provide aid in the form of community development and medical placement. In doing so we encourage each group to take ownership of their own project. By design Bond-Aid works at the student level where our primary goal is to educate, encourage and empower students to take an interest and take action in improving health and wellbeing globally. We think it’s important to teach cultural sensitivity and equip students with the tools needed to implement community health, social justice and community development programs in the future The program has had its high’s and lows, there have been fun times and there have been tough times, but in doing something you truly love it really never feels like a burden. We have an amazing team on board now. Including the ever fabulous, Pulse editor herself, Georgia Hick! See, Bondies, ever tiring away, doing so much! So enjoy this Uni, get involved; there are a million clubs on campus for you to join and if it just so happens that you are into Indian snake charming or Mexican bull fighting and you can’t find a group that fits your personal aesthetic… CREATE IT YOURSELF! Peace out!
EMBRACING THE INSTITUTE by Jesse Green
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he institute of health and sport is the new campus for Bond students study- ing physiotherapy and soon for sports & exercise science students as well. Moving to the new campus for three of my five subjects this semester has been a step in the right direction by the university. The modern campus has plenty of learning space and classrooms, without compromising the sporty feel of the new facility. Although the new facility positioned separately from the main campus does pose a few issues for your everyday blocks dweller, tower rat or AC spacey. Avoid making the same mistake as me; don’t bring a packed lunch or any snacks that are microwaveable, there is currently no microwave in the new building and the last thing you want is to have an empty stomach and be in a three hour lab running through timing gates all afternoon. Furthermore, getting to the new campus if you don’t have a car can be a problem, but carpooling is always a good option, everyone loves those awkward car rides to Uni where you’re kinda but not really mates don’t they? But if all else fails, once you’ve solved the puzzling matrix of letters and numbers that a gold coast bus timetable puts on you, good old public transport is the way to go. For all the off-campus students reading, the train station is approximately one hundred metres from the new building, simples!
As previously mentioned, if you’re left stranded with an un-microwaved lukewarm lunch that seems to be growing a new species of bacteria then there is a small food court complex down the road with probably the best chicken teriyaki sushi I’ve ever consumed. The bakery next door is also a good option for that post-sushi chocolate donut that always seems like a good idea at the time but never seems to satisfy as planned. With plans of a new tavern to be built just a stone’s throw away, the new campus is positioned in an ideal place to… study on a Thursday afternoon after class. Lastly, if you are studying sports & exercise science or physiotherapy, you’ll love the new building. It boasts a sporty feel to it, enhanced by views of the massive Skilled Park just next door. My last piece of advice, if you enjoy female corporate attire, try to turn up at approximately 9am, the Gold Coast Titans have recruited some… friendly staff members.
Putting those minor issues behind us, there are more positives than negatives when moving to the new campus. For starters you get to say you’re now studying at the ‘Bond University Institute of Health & Sport’, which sounds quite prestigious wouldn’t you say? There is also the perk of running into Gold Coast Titans players on a weekly basis that all you Rugby League fans out there would froth.
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BUSMS
KICKING GOALS
words by James Coldham
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he Bond University Sports Medicine Society is a recently established group, formed with a goal of allowing those who share an interest in sports medicine to gain val uable experience, and is the first group of its kind operating in Australia. The brainchild of Gideon Ptasznik (President), the group aims to provide students with opportunities to learn about sports medicine from those who work in the field, providing workshops to give students the skills necessary to competently work with sporting organizations. In a larger sense the group aims to serve by providing sporting groups within Bond and sporting groups in the greater community with professional sports trainers who are competent in strapping, preventing and dealing with sports related injuries. While currently in its probationary period, there are already several events with planning underway for next semester. In the first month of semester 133 we will be holding a day long session for students wishing to obtain the Level 1 Sports Medicine Certification, usually a 2 day session, at a heavily discounted price. Once completed it is hoped that students can then volunteer at certain sports events and accrue enough hours to subsequently complete the level 2 Sports Medicine Certification. Events and sporting teams we are officially affiliated with will be the Bond AFL club, QAFL clubs, the Gold Coast Suns and other sporting organizations. We also aim to become involved in the Australian University Games and the Northern University Games as the official sports trainers for these events. Scholarships will be awarded to students to allow them to complete the courses.
“For its members, the club will provide heavily discounted sessions to obtain qualifications and skills sessions to broaden and improve clinical skills and presentations by working sports doctors, nutritionists, and physiotherapists.�
For its members, the club will provide heavily discounted sessions to obtain qualifications and skills sessions to broaden and improve clinical skills and presentations by working sports doctors, nutritionists, and physiotherapists. The club will also be a hub for all other sports medicine trainers, for regular updates and lectures about the sports medicine world. Barry Rigby, current Gold Coast Suns doctor, will hold routine sessions to allow students to review cases. At this point the club is exclusively open to medical students but in the future we are hoping to expand the program, getting students studying physiotherapy involved with the society. If any sporting clubs are interested in getting involved in order to have trained strappers attend their matches, or if anyone has any general queries they are invited to please contact Daniel Finlayson at daniel.finlayson@student.bond.edu.au.
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HISTORY TAKING A Med Student’s Worst Nightmare “Hi, my name’s Jake, and I’m a second year medical student from Bond University. What name would you prefer me to call you?...” And so begins 7 minutes of absolute agony and panic. Now, I’m no stranger to public speaking, but the thought of having to take a history from a standardised patient every second week fills me with a nameless dread. Over the last year, I’ve got to grips with the idea that there is literally nothing I can do to avoid history taking, and this acceptance has, fortunately, somewhat dampened my intense anxiety. All I could think of while watching the first-years going through o-week was, “I am so glad I’ve already taken my first history…sucks to be them”. Our parents’ generation of doctors tells us how lucky we are to be able to practise these skills on a regular basis, and sure, it sounds good in theory, but I can’t help but feel that the sheer stress brought on by history taking classes is literally shaving years off my life. No one forgets their first time. “Hi, my name’s Jake, what’s your name?... I mean… Hi, my name’s Jake and I’m a medical student. What name is it that you would like me to refer to you as today?...”. The tension is palpable, and the awkwardness of the situation literally causes one to cover one’s mouth as if to prevent the waterfall of stupidity from flowing out. You’re in your second week of med school, and having no medical training whatsoever, it’s hard not to feel like a phoney. I remember my first ‘SP’ reporting to me that they felt tired, and all I could say was, “I know how you feel”. I looked at the GP, and she looked back at me with a stare to end all stares. I continued the consultation, asking questions I didn’t know the meaning behind and feeling like the biggest idiot to
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ever step foot into a medical school. Finally: “Okay, thanks for that. I’ll just go through what you’ve told me, and you let me know if I’ve missed anything out” – cue absolute silence and the biggest brain-fart of all time. No words left my mouth for about 5 seconds. I finally blurted out some random facts from the consultation, thanked the patient, and immediately stared down at my feet. The GP criticised almost everything I had done during the consultation, and my classmates proceeded to give me pathetic and untrue compliments: “That was really good, you…um, you…seemed really confident…” You’ll be relieved to know that things have improved a lot since then. In fact, everyone gets better and better each week (despite a few hiccoughs here and there). After just over a year’s worth of history-taking classes, I’ve come to a couple of realisations… First-Years: It’s okay to be useless at history taking in your first semester. Just think, our parents’ generation of doctors took their first histories in their clinical years! Imagine how much better you will be by the time you start fourth-year rotations. Second-Years: By now, you are fairly competent in history-taking. In fact, you’ve moved on to learning how to break bad news and how to conduct a physical exam (both of which are a whole new horrible, painful and awkward ballgame). Be confident in what you know. We all know enough generic questions to ask when we can’t think of what to say next, so at least feel good about that! By Jake Bennetto
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Don’t beat yourself up about your mistakes, or your study habits earlier in the semester. To quote a great woman; “Nobody’s Perfect” -Miley Cyrus
Alex Hargrave- Vice President
I know its lame and said all the time - but go to bed early, get up early and exercise every day. Stephanie Rockett- Corporate Relations
EXAM Every osce station is a fresh start. if you screwed up one, forget about it before entering the next.
Ashwin Agnihotri- Medicine Representative
TIPS Don’t leave putting together your Faculty Magazine until the end of semester. My tip kind of applies to a niche market.
Georgia Hick- Publications Director
Set deadlines and stick to them and give yourself regular breaks (this doesn’t mean checking fb every 10 minutes!) to work towards.
Georgie Heddle- IT Director
FROM When it all gets to be too much, don’t be afraid to admit you need help. Sometimes all you need is a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on. You don’t always have to be everyone’s superman.
Jesse Green- Health Representative
If you are going to procrastinate, nap, it helps all the knowledge you have crammed in stay in Daisy Swindon- Academic Affairs
Jam Donuts. Increase dosage until desired effect is achieved. Failing that try fairy bread. Luck of the Irish doesn’t hurt either.
Niamh Ramsay- Treasurer
SURVIVAL You’re screwed no matter what you do.
Mariette Morris- Secretary
100 adderalls.
Greg Hall- Recreation Director
YOUR HMSA No-Doz up the wazoo.
Malcolm Hatfield- Promotions Director
Jake Bennetto- President
Don’t put off doing practice questions until a day or two before the exam. Do them while you’re studying the material! + For med kids specifically: same principle as above, except for osces don’t leave history taking/physical exam prep until the last day!
dining
with
social JUSTICE
the islands words by Justine Landis-Hanley with introduction by Sophie West
Dining With Social Justice, a joint venture of the Humanities Students Association, The Health Science and Medicine Students Association and Bond University Red Cross Society, was the hugely successful global aid awareness event that took place on Friday evening of week eight. The event provided a platform for 13 exceptional charities, both local and global, to present Bond students with the facts about their organisation, the need for social justice in their field and any opportunities for student involvement in the cause. Throughout the course of the evening’s dinner students enjoyed illuminating presentations from organisations in their particular area of interest, with feedback from all guests overwhelmingly positive. Organisations featured included International Red Cross; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service; Bond Children’s Holiday Camp; Micah Projects; Bravehearts; Operation Smile; Yalari; Unicef; AIME; Girl Effect; Medical Rescue; Making a Difference and Bond Aid. Maggie Munn and her sub-committee are to be particularly commended for their exceptional organisation and smooth running of the event, as are volunteers from HSA, HMSA and BURCS who collaborated to make it one of the year’s most memorable events. Be sure to look out for Dining With Social Justice when it comes around again next year, truly an unforgettable event for anyone passionate about making a difference in social equity and global health.
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2013 is the pilot year of the Solomon Islands rotations that 34 students of our graduating MBBS class have been lucky enough to participate in. Kira Kira Hospital is situated on Makira Island in the Makira-Ulawa provence of the Solomon Islands. The director Dr Rodney Talo runs the hospital, which services a population of ~45,000 people where he is the only doctor on the island. Students have been rotating over a period of 3-4 weeks in groups of four to assist with staffing at the hospital and so far have all had a fantastic experience. Final year medical student Anthony Brown said the lack of basic medical equipment at Kira Kira hospital forced the team to rely on the fundamentals of their medical training. “There is no imaging, no x-rays, no luxury of CT scans or renal functioning tests; none of the resources that we take for granted here,” he said. “It makes you think about the things that you can do well given the circumstances, and go back to the very basic aspects of medical training, like physical examinations.” A team comprised of final-year students Anthony Brown, Matthew Kelly, Jack O’Sullivan, Gregory Leeb delivered babies, mended broken bones, and treated tropical diseases under arduous circumstances. Anthony said the team had to apply their initiative and use improvised medical equipment to tackle critical medical conditions at the hospital, which serves around 40,000 residents. “In one instance, timber had fallen on a four-year-old girl, fracturing her leg - a significant injury,” he said. “We went over to the workshop and made up a wooden pulley, that we weighed down with bottles and tied to her ankle to realign the bone in a straight matter and avoid long-term deformities.” The mission was organized by new on-campus charity ‘Iumi Togeda’, founded by Bond University professor Dr Peter Fink.
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Dr Fink said he was inspired by his own medical missionary trips during University and wanted to give Bond students the same opportunity. “We can see things on the evening news and national geographic, but until you are over there, you cannot grasp what it is really like,” he said.“I never forgot about my own experience in Nepal. It sat in me and there was a great desire to do something like that again. [Trips like this] allow us to recognize how fortunate we are, and give us a perspective of what else there is out there.” Dr Fink said the local community was grateful for the assistance the young-medicos gave to the people of Kira Kira. “People were walking down the street as they left, thanking them,” he said. “It’s not just that they were value to the medical force, but I think their work was received as a good gesture of kindness.” ‘Iumi Togeda’ project coordinator and fourth-year MMBS student Sophie West says the charity has already sent a second rotation of medical students, with future hopes to expand the trip to multi-disciplinary volunteer groups. “We would like to submit a student aid trip to do basic repairs to the hospital, as there is no way it can house expensive medical equipment when the roofs are leaking,” she said. “We are reliant on student involvement, so our main goal back home is to generate greater interest in the project and get people excited about it.” For more information, visit the ‘Iumi Togeda’ facebook page at www.facebook.com/iumitogeda
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