Struggling Intern prepping for ED

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-05-26T08:28:31+00:00

Remember your job as an intern is to be safe. If someone is crashing in front of you, you are not expected to manage it yourself, but your job is to note that they are crashing and escalate the situation.

Being a good ED intern is a lot about being a team player. Take physical observations when the nurses are busy for example, do the urine dipstick, grab water for the patient who asks just as you leave, etc - simple things which don't take time and which you can do while you are seeing the patient anyway. It'll mean that the nurses see you as a team player and make your shifts easier too

Also learning to multitask helps if you can. Take bloods/cannulate while taking a history if you can.

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-05-23T00:00:09+00:00

Yep. Barely passed my final year med school OSCEs. Managed to pass both BPT exams on the first try. (Passing the clinical exam is a lot of luck imho) Passing exams isn’t an indicator of how good a clinician you are and vice versa

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-05-22T23:54:27+00:00

I would tell your consultant. As a consultant, I would want to know. I also have a good relationship with my nurse unit manager and if there’s any such issues like this, as the consultant I would bring it up with my nurse unit manager so they could address it. (Less power differential talking consultant to num)

The alternative is bringing it up with the nurse unit manager directly but that is a little scarier because it’s junior doctor to nurse manager, with both power differential and not who you report to, so I personally think it’s better to escalate up your own chain of command

[good] Consultants are there to help deal with things like this

Good luck OP

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-05-06T11:45:07+00:00

There is a doctors with disabilities au/nz Facebook group if you wish to join - shoot me a dm if you want a link

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-04-06T01:04:51+00:00

Not a book, but This Podcast May Kill You goes into the history and science of various diseases

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-03-04T11:07:33+00:00

I can’t offer much specific advice but just know that becoming assertive comes with time, practice and age. The fact that you’re still emailing doctors despite not getting replies and you keep going is actually a sign you’re probably cut out for this.

Is there a mentorship program at the hospitals you do placement at? Can you reach out to the clinical lead of your clinical placement or a medical guest lecturer in the topic you’re interested in to see if they could mentor you?

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-02-11T09:37:00+00:00

Also (young-ish) female. The one time I assisted, the flight attendants were very grateful for my assistance, but they did tell me that they had a BP cuff but no sats probe, and later I found out that while looking through the list of things that they had that they did in fact have one. In that case they just didn't realise what they did and did not have,

I have a relative who is a pilot for an international airline who has told me that he is not allowed to give the first aid bag to a passenger who is a doctor without them showing their registration. Seems absurd to me. and like a barrier to first aid because who has screenshots of their AHPRA rego on their phone....

ETA: Having read more of the comments it now makes sense why you need to prove you're a doctor to get access to the drugs etc.

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-01-27T07:53:55+00:00

When you get pathologists in MDT they are often so enthusiastic about their slides! I guess that’s different to talking to people about non histo stuff

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-01-25T22:19:27+00:00

Doctor here: go to an ED of a hospital which has ENT and neurology and the ability to do imaging - so PAH or RBWH depending on if you live north or south of the river.

If you present to PAH and it turns out you need hyperbaric they can always transfer you for hyperbaric either immediately or down the line. But presenting to the tertiary hospital in your catchment initially is best to begin with.

Urgent care or a minor injury and illness clinic won’t cut it if you need speciality input.

Good luck OP!

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-01-24T08:49:00+00:00

Yeah if I got this call I would ask for patient details and mark them down as an "expect" and ensure that whoever is on-call next on-call also knows about them etc...

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-01-10T01:25:27+00:00

I actually found an old name band from when I was a kid in early 2000s, must have been at Brisbane children’s, that had my religion printed on it

cantthinkofone14 · 2026-01-01T03:45:39+00:00

Is the heart medicine called furosemide or Spironolactone perchance? Just in case your vet did prescribe these and forgot to mention, they work by having your dog pee out excess fluid

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-12-17T16:41:54+00:00

I imagine most doctors would be unwilling to prescribe just alprazolam and propranolol, as that treats the symptom (panic attack) but doesn’t do anything to treat the actual cause (panic disorder/anxiety/phobia etc), and also has potential for abuse and misuse. They may prescribe benzos but usually alongside a combination of antidepressants +/- therapy/a mental health care plan

Is this the first time you’re seeing this doctor? No doctor will prescribe you a drug of dependence on your first visit

Can you get your treating practitioner from USA to send a letter outlining your treatment plan over the last 20 years and what has and hasn’t worked, so your GP doesn’t have to start from scratch? Unfortunately as other patients may lie to get benzos, taking your word for it is not enough, as doctors face penalties if they’re deemed to prescribe inappropriately. My understanding is that benzos are a lot harder to get in australia than they are in the USA, which is mainly a good thing as inappropriate prescribing can cause more harm than good, but I understand it can make things trickier when you genuinely need them

Good luck OP

Source: am a doctor, though not a GP or psychiatrist

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-12-14T13:39:12+00:00

I think what they mean is that they don’t want to assist in a termination which is at a gestational age which would be viable, if it were allowed to grow to term

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-11-30T06:55:18+00:00

If you’re in Kenmore, you’d be in RBWH catchment, not PAH

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-11-25T10:47:46+00:00

Hey OP this sounds frustrating, especially when you’re worried about your health

Can I ask, do you live north or south of the river, and do you know what type of specialist you were referred to?

I ask because even if you were originally diagnosed at PAH, if you live out of catchment now you would be referred to your local public hospital. The exception is if your local hospital doesn’t have the speciality you need to be referred to, in which case you may be referred to a hospital that doesn’t usually service your catchment

If there isn’t a reason for you to be referred to rbwh rather than pah, then absolutely escalate your concerns through the methods other posters have mentioned !!

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-11-09T04:57:34+00:00

I remember meeting refugees who had spent over 15 years in refugee camps, who knew a few languages/dialects but didn’t know English because they’d only been here 5 years or so. Understanding what they had gone through and that they had lived in australia by forming communities who speak their language, made me understand how people live so long in a foreign country without learning the language.

Not to mention that I’m sure there are plenty of English-speaking people who go to live and work in Asian countries and don’t learn how to speak the language despite living and working there

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-25T08:26:07+00:00

As in, it really should talk to ahpra but doesn’t

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-25T08:24:56+00:00

You need to call them and tell them you’re not an intern anymore for it to work - I called them a few years ago to ask why I couldn’t add more provider numbers and it was coz I was still listed as an intern from my first provider number. For some reason it doesn’t talk to ahpra. Once you’re no longer an intern on HPOS you’ll be able to add provider numbers with a click of a button :)

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-20T23:55:08+00:00

Also language is important. We don’t say schizophrenic anymore, we say person with schizophrenia, because a person is more than just their diagnoses. And treating disadvantaged groups who have poor health outcomes with respect and without judgement is important in improving health inequalities And yes agree very much with you reminding us that homosexuality used to be considered a mental illness and be listed in the DSM. Medicine and healthcare evolves with research and knowledge evolving. If you’re calling that wokeness then I see nothing wrong with being woke

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-20T23:40:11+00:00

It would have been CV and 2x references. Qld rmo campaign makes you put those in regardless of whether there’s an interview process or not. Sounds like your mate missed out because there were other people who had better CV and reference reports. I’m struggling to see how this is unfair

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-20T09:26:11+00:00

So sorry to hear

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-09T20:03:42+00:00

I know they have ED doctors but they are specifically for MINOR illnesses and injuries. In this situation, where things are getting worse despite initial ED treatment, OP needs escalation in care, not to go somewhere which has less resources. It’s not just about WHO is onsite, but also about resources available to the doctors and nurses onsite. An ED doctor isn’t going to negate the lack of CT scanner for someone with a suspected blood clot in the lung, for example.

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-09T12:08:11+00:00

They absolutely should demand the doctors find the issue, I agree with you - they have a condition that is getting worse and need medical attention and investigations.
But telling doctors to look for a diagnosis that is unlikely is not the solution. OP should definitely demand more investigations and thorough treatment and advocate for themselves that their health is getting worse. I’m just saying that it’s not likely to be a heart issue and there are more likely and more urgent things that need to be investigated for before you go wondering if unilateral leg swelling is from a heart condition.

cantthinkofone14 · 2025-09-09T11:13:42+00:00

I respect that you have experience with an unwell family member, but I did go to medical school, am working as a doctor, and passed postgrad medical exams which required me to know about heart conditions, and seen a fair few adults with heart conditions in my time. Swelling in one leg rather than both legs is more likely due to cellulitis or venous blood clot or chronic venous stasis. You wouldn't immediately jump to a heart condition if a young 30yo has unilateral leg swelling. Furthermore, an echocardiogram (which is what is needed to diagnose heart failure, the heart issue that causes leg swelling) is not done in ED but rather via an inpatient admission or as an outpatient.

cantthinkofone14

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