New Zealand exchange brings rural opportunities
Two students from East Gippsland Regional Clinical School had the opportunity to exchange with two Otago University Rural Medical Immersion Program students for two weeks in July. Jemelle Spriggs and Katherine Wilson, who are current Year 4C students studying in Sale and Bairnsdale have been placed in Blenheim and Balclutha respectively. This is Jemelle’s report on her experiences so far.
My first glimpse of New Zealand, as we flew into Christchurch, was the spectacular southern alpine ranges covered in snow. We landed but were airborne again quickly, this time a tiny 19 seater plane that flew low over kilometres of vineyards, landing in Blenheim.
This set the scene for an exciting two weeks in the beautiful south island, specifically the Marlborough region. Blenheim is the largest town in the Marlborough region, world renowned for its sauvignon blanc wine.
I spent my first day at Wairau hospital, an 86 bed rural hospital in Blenheim, seeing a variety of patients in ED. I quickly became familiar with a major part of New Zealand’s health system – the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) which provides all residents (and visitors) with a no-fault personal injury cover. My day in ED involved many ACC claims as the injuries rolled in.
My second day involved seeing post-operative orthopaedic patients, where I gained invaluable experience interpreting x-rays with an orthopaedic surgeon and examining patients. After a busy day, I was lucky enough to explore the local vineyards and also experience my first earthquake later that night, although I’m not sure if this is “lucky” or not! Somewhat terrifying and also exciting for me, the local residents seemed to find earthquakes relatively commonplace.
My third day in NZ involved a treacherous but beautiful drive to Nelson on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay. Here I was involved in wave consulting at a local GP practice, which ran in essentially the same way as East Gippsland Regional Clinical School.
In one day I saw a wide variety of patients, from HIV sufferers to car accident victims. I was lucky enough to follow a C-spine injury through to ED at the local Nelson hospital. I met a high proportion of New Zealand Maori at this clinic and also interacted with an unexpected number of UK-derived doctors and nurses.
After an action packed first few days I am eager to see what the next week and a half of placement in NZ holds for me. I will be making trips to the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, Hanmer Springs and travelling to Kaikoura for GP placement.
As well as seeing the beautiful surrounds, I will endeavour to learn more about cultural differences and how this manifests in medical practice. I hope to gain a better understanding of the health issues of the New Zealand Maori and the psychosocial and occupational elements of medicine in the rural setting of the Marlborough region.
By Jemelle Spriggs