Coming to you from Brisbane for the first time, we welcome UQ-Ochsner second-year students Cameron Shults and Tiffany Lim. Originally from Georgia, Cameron graduated from Mercer University and is currently serving as the Year 1 & 2 Academic Officer for the Ochsner Medical Student Association (OMSA). Tiffany obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis and is also involved with OMSA.
They discuss their first impressions after arriving in Brisbane and how they settled in for their first year of medical school at UQ. The structure of the first year enabled them both to meet students from all around the world including Australian students from big cities and rural backgrounds. They highlight the support they got from the UQ-Ochsner students a year ahead of them and the social activities that are in place for them to meet other students in the program.
We dive into the structure of the first year and the different groups put in place to facilitate connection and learning from their peers from a variety of backgrounds including nursing and dentistry.
History and Examination class was a big hit for both Cameron and Tiffany. This course is designed to develop and demonstrate knowledge and skills in history-taking, patient examination, communication, clinical reasoning and procedural skills. Cameron shares the value she found in the experiences shared by her tutor, a practicing physician. In second year, she now sees the applications from this class in the clinical setting and is able to apply all these learnings which is proving to be a very rewarding progression.
We transition into a discussion about second year and the placements that Tiffany and Cameron have both experienced so far.
Cameron is currently in a collaborative care and outpatient clinic every week on two separate days. One of the days is spent following a physician in a speciality such as renal clinical, gastroenterology or cardiology. On the other day, Cameron has been shadowing other professionals such as radiographers, social workers or nurses. Seeing how different specialities work, the different pace, the interactions and time with patients has been a very enriching experience.
“A physician is only just part of this huge collaborative team” says Cameron, reflecting on how things work behind the scenes in a hospital setting.
Tiffany has been doing her general practice placement in a private clinic with one doctor who brings her in on every patient. She gets to see so many different patients, from a week-old baby to a 90 year old grandmother and everything in between. Tiffany reflects on the care a general practitioner provides their patients, and the deep knowledge they have about their lives, families and medical history.
We get all the details about her first experience doing a shave biopsy and all the doors that have opened since gathering the courage to do it for the first time!
Cameron and Tiffany are at the beginning of their second year so there is a lot of exciting clinical experiences ahead of them.
