In My Skin

Well, clinical placement at Westmead is now over and I have around a week of relaxation before I got back to the university grind. At first, I didn't think it would be useful. BUt I was dead wrong.

Clinical gave me more confidence. Performing even basic x-rays was at first intimidating, but I got used to it. It might seem obvious but there is a big difference between a mannequin and a real person. I thought it would be easy to give someone one a basic x-ray like a chest. But there all these other factors that come into play. My lecturer was talking about how some people see us as button pushers, but there is also a human element. We meet with people every moment on the job. And that makes us more than button pushers. We are often the first to see the bad news. Cancer in a person shows up quite clearly on an x-ray for example.

Anyway on the last day, it was quite boring. Definitely not as exciting as the others, but just as interesting. I followed a radiographer on mobile duty. Basically, some people are just too sick or fragile to make it down to our department, so we go to them. There's a mobile x-ray machine that's powered on batteries and that's what we use as our source of x-rays. The rest of the day had x-rays that I couldn't do, but I helped as much as possible. Mainly the paperwork, of slotting the x-rays into the folders, putting on the appropriate stickers and giving them to the doctors to diagnose.

I was going to do one chest x-ray before leaving, but the patient was a Muslim woman, and she refused point-blank to have a man x-ray her. All the current radiographers were male and the female radiographers were all away busy, so we had to pull the Chief Radiographer out to do it. It just made more difficult for us. But that's her belief and we have to respect that. Seriously though, it's just a chest x-ray. Women are usually given a gown, so no one is getting you to stand naked or anything. Oh well. Not my problem.

Worth it? Hell yes. Now I can't wait for the next clinical placement. It will probably be more difficult, more pissy and with more responsibility involved, but I'm certain to learn something that can't be taught in the classroom.

Oh and Harry Potter 7? I am awaiting that, but I'm not in a rush. I'll probably grab the book later and don't worry about spoilers. I don't mind them.

My #1 HP7 prediction? Hermione dies. That's where my money's at.