[relunctantly] Going Wagga

"Dear Student

You have been allocated to Wagga Wagga for Phase 3.

- Med Admin Phase3"

!@#$%^?????!!!! [blank blank chirp chirp blank !@#$%^!]

And so with this one-liner of an email my worst case scenario was realised - that I, a local student, had the unbelievable misfortune to be picked out of the hat and sent rural for the next 1-1.5years of my life. You see, government policy is for at least 25% of HECS/Commonwealth supported med places to spend an average of 1.5 years out country. To help achieve this quota, each year UNSW med offers 50 rural entry scheme pathways for students who understand they will spend either 1-1.5years rural. If the quota is not met then however many local students would be randomly selected to rought it out. Every other HECS/local student is subjected to spending min 4weeks rural.

Now the only way to get out of such an extended shaftment to timbuktoo is if you 1)have dependents; 2)have a psychiatric illness; and/or 3)are an elite sportsman or musician (yes that's right - even if you can't afford to go, you'll still be shipped off and must figure how to fend for yourself).

Because I have failed to 1)get knocked up (or find the right guy with kids); 2)develop suicidal intentions thus far in my 4 years of med; and 3)persevere with piano (I quit after 6 months in year 2) ...I have resigned myself to my woeful predicament.

Living at home in the same place for the last 17 years with primary school friends still also living in the same houses and everything at home being taken care by a lovely asian mother, this next phase forcibly expels me from the comfort zone I've been in all my life. My coping mentality was (and has always been): ok so this is sh*t but i'm not going to die (...hopefully - KANGAROOS please dont hit my car); there are people in the 3rd world dying of starvation and everything else but I still have a roof above my head, great friends&family and the privilege of learning med - I can't complain.

And indeed, all is not bad. Looking on the upside, I am looking forward to 1)the supposed excellent medical teaching where doctors will go out of their way and make time to even do 1:1 bedside tutes...2) the friendly country people (which makes for nice patients that wont give you massive dirties when you screw up on your first cannulation etc) and 3)living out of home for the first time (although wagga is not the first place you'd think of moving out to). (You may note that I like it when things come in magic threes).

Of course I will miss the buzz of going to places in Sydney, the dining, the shopping, the people but will look forward to the new scenery, new pace and style of life and new people I will meet along the way. Further, leaving Sydney for awhile has given me the push to do Sydney things I never got round to doing (e.g. Carols in Domain; NYE firework stakeout to be accomplished at a later stage...) and meet up with people I have not managed to catch up with in the last 4 years. For this I am already thankful.

So with less than 24 hours to go before departure, bye for now, next post will be from wogz ;)