For our first actual lecture on pharmacy practice we received a whole bunch of papers, class info, PowerPoint’s… the norm. Among these papers I found one with a title that caught my eye - it’s called “When to say sorry”. Sounds interesting doesn’t it? This brief article is about what should be done when a patient complains about a dispensing error. It goes on to say, “…there has been a reluctance to offer an apology to a patient on the basis that it may be misconstrued as an admission of guilt and possibly jeopardize the cover provided by a professional indemnity insurer.” The article is basically about covering our butts when we make an error. It’s good to know the school has such confidence in us. As if to say “you guys are going to be screwing up OFTEN so we’ve got to cover this stuff early”
I thought it was a strange handout to give us on day one.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Friday
On Friday I had a lab starting at nine in the morning. It was our first compounding lab and I felt rather unprepared since its only week one and we haven’t learned all that much yet. In the lab we each filled two prescriptions. The first was a charcoal powder and the second was a zinc oxide dusting powder. Nothing too exciting. As it turned out the lab was really simple and all went well.
We had this Friday afternoon off so after the lab I had plans to bike over to the bank to open my account. Most businesses in Perth close at five so I have not been able to get to the bank yet. This was my chance! After finishing the lab I went down to get my bike. After unlocking the bike I noticed that the back tire was FLAT. So, I had to walk the bike through the rain to the nearest bike shop for a repair. There goes my afternoon.
Not having access to a car has been a real pain; everything is Perth is very spread out.
We had this Friday afternoon off so after the lab I had plans to bike over to the bank to open my account. Most businesses in Perth close at five so I have not been able to get to the bank yet. This was my chance! After finishing the lab I went down to get my bike. After unlocking the bike I noticed that the back tire was FLAT. So, I had to walk the bike through the rain to the nearest bike shop for a repair. There goes my afternoon.
Not having access to a car has been a real pain; everything is Perth is very spread out.
Housemates
So, I’m staying in a share house here in Perth. My school happens to be conveniently located next to the most expensive suburb in the city. Since I don’t know the city at all I am willing to pay the price to live near school. Maybe once I get to know the city better I will move to a cheaper suburb. Anyway, I’m sharing the house with three other people – Craig, bob, and Brad. They all seem nice enough and have been very helpful getting me settled in here.
Craig is in the IT field. He’s been living in this house for about a year now. He invited me to a birthday party last night. I didn’t feel up for a party so I declined his invite. It was probably a good idea that I did so because its now five-o-clock in the afternoon on Sunday and he still hasn’t been home.
Bob is an employee for an insurance company. She’s only lived in this house for about two weeks and I haven’t seen much of her. She made a roast beef dinner for our house meeting last Sunday and it was a great meal. Earlier this week she decided to go visit her parents so she’s been out of town since then.
Brad is a former army employee. He’s a really nice guy. Part of the reason I decided to rent this place was because Brad offered to lend me an extra bed and desk he had in the house. Also, the day I moved in brad took me out to some stores so I could get a few things like a pillow and blanket. This was very helpful as there aren’t any one-stop-shopping stores in Perth so we had to go to a few different shops.
Anyway, those are the people I'm living with.
Craig is in the IT field. He’s been living in this house for about a year now. He invited me to a birthday party last night. I didn’t feel up for a party so I declined his invite. It was probably a good idea that I did so because its now five-o-clock in the afternoon on Sunday and he still hasn’t been home.
Bob is an employee for an insurance company. She’s only lived in this house for about two weeks and I haven’t seen much of her. She made a roast beef dinner for our house meeting last Sunday and it was a great meal. Earlier this week she decided to go visit her parents so she’s been out of town since then.
Brad is a former army employee. He’s a really nice guy. Part of the reason I decided to rent this place was because Brad offered to lend me an extra bed and desk he had in the house. Also, the day I moved in brad took me out to some stores so I could get a few things like a pillow and blanket. This was very helpful as there aren’t any one-stop-shopping stores in Perth so we had to go to a few different shops.
Anyway, those are the people I'm living with.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
More Rain…
The first day I arrived in Perth the weather was agreeable. I think it was about 20*C - the sun was bright and the sky was blue It was exactly how I had imagined a winter day would be like in Perth.
The weather definitely took a turn for the worse on day three when it started pouring rain outside. Its been raining ever since and its not your average rain shower. It’s pouring outside! Now, as a rule I’m generally a big fan of the rain. The problem here is that my only mode of transportation is a bicycle. So, for the past few days I’ve been soaked every time I’ve left the house. Even though my bike ride to school only takes seven minutes I still manage to get absolutely drenched. The worst part is that if I go fast on the bike the tires spray the water everywhere and if I go slow the falling rain just soaks me anyway. Now, if you’re probably thinking I should buy fenders for the bike. After day three of rain I thought the same thing so I made a special trip, in the rain, to the bike store. They were sold out of fenders!
People keep telling me they rarely get this much rain here and so I should expect dry conditions soon.
The weather definitely took a turn for the worse on day three when it started pouring rain outside. Its been raining ever since and its not your average rain shower. It’s pouring outside! Now, as a rule I’m generally a big fan of the rain. The problem here is that my only mode of transportation is a bicycle. So, for the past few days I’ve been soaked every time I’ve left the house. Even though my bike ride to school only takes seven minutes I still manage to get absolutely drenched. The worst part is that if I go fast on the bike the tires spray the water everywhere and if I go slow the falling rain just soaks me anyway. Now, if you’re probably thinking I should buy fenders for the bike. After day three of rain I thought the same thing so I made a special trip, in the rain, to the bike store. They were sold out of fenders!
People keep telling me they rarely get this much rain here and so I should expect dry conditions soon.
Monday, July 23, 2007
First post
So, I made it to Australia. I thought I’d start a blog just to keep everyone who cares informed about what’s going on down under. I’ll try to update it often but I guess that will depend on how much free time I have.
Subscribe to the blog if you want to receive notification of new posts.
Anyway, for those of you who don’t know why I’m here its because I just started a two year master of pharmacy degree at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Today was the first day of classes. Nothing too exciting happened at school today. The morning was devoted to learning some history of pharmacy, which was taught by a guest lecturer who looked to be about 95 years old. He spoke of the good old days when pharmacists actually made and cut pills. His demonstration made the process look to be far from an exact science but I guess that shows how far things have come.
I think that’s about enough for the first post. I’ll update tomorrow and hopefully the post will be a bit more interesting. I’m living in a share house with three other people and I’m guessing that will give me a lot to write about. If you’re reading feel free to add comments.
Subscribe to the blog if you want to receive notification of new posts.
Anyway, for those of you who don’t know why I’m here its because I just started a two year master of pharmacy degree at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Today was the first day of classes. Nothing too exciting happened at school today. The morning was devoted to learning some history of pharmacy, which was taught by a guest lecturer who looked to be about 95 years old. He spoke of the good old days when pharmacists actually made and cut pills. His demonstration made the process look to be far from an exact science but I guess that shows how far things have come.
I think that’s about enough for the first post. I’ll update tomorrow and hopefully the post will be a bit more interesting. I’m living in a share house with three other people and I’m guessing that will give me a lot to write about. If you’re reading feel free to add comments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
