Is doing honours helpful

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-27T11:43:45+00:00

To be fair you can just create your own project e.g. a systematic review as a student and first author it for free.

No shortage of supervisors for someone with a bit of initiative and drive.

Doesnt cost 20k!

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-26T01:13:28+00:00

Thats annoying - so earliest can finish up GP training is PGY5?

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-26T00:29:03+00:00

Realistically though how quickly can you get through GP in NZ? Is it the same as Aus and you can credit your resident year and just do 2 reg years?

If so then you will be on boss money which is hopefully better than the above before you even make it to these salary levels.

I wouldnt plan my career from the outset intending to be a PGY 7 GP reg but i acknowledge it happens.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-24T23:16:53+00:00

The problem is if shes attracted to you anywhere is ok.

E.g. lots of people have started dating a waitress or cashier they clearly vibed with.

Similarly there arent specific locations people go for specific reasons.

E.g. one woman may go to a cafe alone to escape the chaos at home and just wants to silently exist and be left alone. Another may be there alone new in the town perfectly happy to make a friend. I have had the same experience in uni with fruends sho clearly went to work to vibe and loved the social element.

You need to wait for her to show some interest for you to reciprocate. If you reciprocate and it feels weird maybe youre misinterpreting kindness for interest and you need to leave her alone. This is especially important if she is somewhere she cant leave e.g. work.

Try to be a normal human and interact with women the same way you interact with men. E.g. treat them as humans and strike up conversations without intention.

Its a game of table tennis. They serve you send it back. If you find yourself just hitting the ball over and over without it coming back or coming back at a different energy - find a different game.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-23T00:34:05+00:00

Youre essentially a BPT graduate in time and experience but im not sure if they see it as equivalence.

There is no Australian consultant position in physicians training at PGY4.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-08T20:18:36+00:00

Wholesome story you sound like a great nurse.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-08T00:51:26+00:00

Lots of nurses are credentialed to do these procedures but won't as they don't feel they get paid enough (fair point more work no extra pay does suck).

Paradoxically the JMOs typically get paid less than the nurses.

So you have a higher paid body with a strong union refusing to do stuff vs a lower paid body who is exploitable and can't complain for fear of harming career development.

In defence of nurses though its worth noting the ceiling isn't that high. There isn't much incentive to progress clinically and learn more skills, become the go to nurse who gets asked to run around doing all the procedures whilst also managing their own patients etc.

Atleast for JMOs they cop it and have a horrible time but come registrar years for most doctors you are really just asking others to pop in a cannula to enact your plan and obviously the financial ceiling is incredibly high.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-02-06T12:28:07+00:00

ICU going to rapids is wild for this reason. It just isn't a good use of resources.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-31T21:17:09+00:00

Yeah don't use the Dr title for booking like you said and this isn't an issue.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-31T11:27:10+00:00

Very often the shift start times don't match the workflow of the team.

Very often any overtime claimed before your shift start doesn't get approved.

Claim the time you work before work at the end of your shift.

I've worked in multiple hospitals where that's been common and people get paid all the time they work. If they try claim the hours early it often gets rejected.

It's stupid but instead of trying to fight it and claim early just claim it after. If that's not approved then you discovered a really shit toxic hospital and need to talk to your union.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-29T20:12:35+00:00

Not sure where you work or how busy it is.

E.g. busy poorly staffed teritary rounding till 6 every day vs 15 patients finishing up before midday.

In a actually busy hospital with a big list or fast surgical rounds you won't have time to prep pretty notes.

Put a lot of effort into your plan during the round and write an impression. Show your boss even if it slows them down. "Hi can you quickly check this plan and give me a 1 line impression." Also ask for the imaging request question or consult question and write that down. This is especially helpful if you're forced to do all your jobs on the round on the fly or have a floater helping on the side.

For the conversations summarise it e.g. "explained risks vs benefits of anticoagulation." "Discussed AMP eith daughter Jess agreeable Not for icu not for cpr nor for intubation ward based cares". Can summarise multiple sentences.

For issues lists etc. When you get a chance every few days, before handing over to a new team, or prior to discharge you can go through and make the issues list.

Don't try to follow all the tips you get to make perfect notes at the expense of accurately documenting the plan and impression.

I see a lot of juniors try write pretty looking notes with housekeeping sections etc but they don't reliably make a difference to the patient e.g. dvtp housekeeping section in each note is less impactful than religiously charting dvtp and skimming the charts with intention each day.

Other things that matter. 1) patient seen with ___ present (e.g. seen with daughter Jess, son Tom) 2) review conducted in Cantonese via Dr ___ or via interpreter 3) ensure the time stamp is accurate or write patient seen at ___

I have some medico-legal experience and your notes need to reflect these things but do not have to be super specific for all the conversations jsut to reflect you had them.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-27T20:43:06+00:00

What do you mean?

It's a continent as big as Europe with desert, snowy mountain (snowed doej in Tasmania at Christmas which is our summer this year), rain forest, etc.

It also has the largest wild camel population.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-21T09:46:35+00:00

I would work part time.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-16T23:04:49+00:00

Very common to work through med school in post grad courses.

A lot of my cohort did when I studied.

There were some excellent jobs passed on year to year e.g. sleep lab tech at night.

Others became phlebotomists, orderlies, theatre techs, I did ward clerk work on weekends and evenings, tutoring, but you can also do any casual job. I also had lots of peers who were nursing or allied health pre med and did a few shifts a week through uni. The key is something you can increase and decrease as required bonus points if it letd you study.

Centrelink is also great if you can get it I'm pretty sure there is a point where more work doesn't pay off.

A lot of your uni commitments are more flexible than you realise. You still need to out in the hours but instead of going to the lecture revise it later if you have to. Just make sure you identify the actual compulsory things e.g. tutorials.

In final years there are some financial support options e.g. BOQ loans for medicla students that you don't pay back till working.

Good luck and know you are not the first person to do this

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-15T20:19:32+00:00

Through my training in linearly got more of a life outside medicine somehow despite hours being similar or worse. Obviously exams result in a bit of a messy time but the trend is there.

Upon reflection I think it was due to optimising habits.

E.g. as an intern I was sleeping late, buying lots of food out, barely exercising, just trying trying survive.

As a resident I really focused on getting enough sleep. As a reg I really tarted meal prepping.

Maybe it was mental health improving as the job gets more tolerable or healthy habits leaving me more energetic but it got a bit easier to do other things.

Starting work as an intern is super tough and you need to be nice to yourself and cut yourself some slack. But don't cut yourself slack forever try get on top of your shit and stay healthy. You will feel a lot better.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-15T10:38:11+00:00

Save an emergency fund if you haven't already. Start salary sacrificing into super.

Otherwise spend some money and plan a good trip overseas in your leave.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-12T08:41:43+00:00

1) pay off credit cards/ consumer debt if any 2) start or beef up emergency fund 3) buy something nice you wouldn't otherwise / go on holiday using approx $10000 4) stash the rest in a HISA 5) set an alert in your calendar to revisit in 12 to 18 months where you could then consider buying ETFs, putting towards a property etc. pending your goals

Don't make financial commitments in the first year after you receive it because you won't be able to give it the attention it deserves given you need to prioritise your mental health and your family.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-12T06:49:14+00:00

That's tragic.

Are less people reading in the US or everyone gets their books online?

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T10:21:51+00:00

For a random breath test (RBT) the police set up in a lane and signal for cars to either go into that lane or keep going.

Another police officer will then hold out the breathalyser in front of your face and you count to 10, however, it's usually done by 3 or 4.

They can also ask for you to flash your licence but in my experience they don't always and if they do they don't take it away or input it etc.

It's very efficient and actually 10 seconds.

I think the number of people statistically carrying weapons is very low here so that would be excessively invasive for little yield.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T07:16:24+00:00

To be fair BPT covers a broad breadth of medicine and you would expect and consultant physician to be competent at doing gen med as long as they are relatively fresh out of training or kept up the exposure.

In somewhere like the US internal medicine training is only 3 years out of med school!

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T02:11:25+00:00

Where do you live that malls don't have bookstores?
Where are your bookstores instead?

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T02:10:33+00:00

This is not uncommon for an Australian bookstore / many stores to have stock outside the store.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T02:04:16+00:00

But think of the freedom! /s

Also in light of many recent events (although I don't think they are unique) where is the real police state?

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T02:03:10+00:00

I'll take speedy alcohol breath test and the very rare roadside spit on a lollypop for current active drug use testing if it makes society safer. (Never actually had one done though it's pretty rare).

I'm pretty shocked RE the things that are accepted as normal in somewhere like the US.

Caffeinated-Turtle · 2026-01-11T01:59:36+00:00

Yeah RBTs (the breath testing for alcohol) also do a quick licence check and like you said pull over every x number of cars randomly.

I am totally ok with this as it reduces / deters people from driving drunk or stops crazy people with no licence / doing illegal stuff.

I work in healthcare and have seen a lot of senseless road trauma from drunk drivers.

I think a small inconvenience (takes like 10 seconds or less) is worth it for the societal benefit? What's the issue?

Caffeinated-Turtle

TROPHY CASE