I did two weeks of Work Experience. Both were during the holidays, which freed up our compulsory week in October in favour of exam preparation time for me.
The Royal Women's Hospital
This was a group experience with around 10 students. We were all assigned a timetable for the week and we're either alone or partnered up. .
Maternity Service
I was able to experience the maternity service on Monday and Wednesday, which involved shadowing nurses in the antenatal and postnatal wards.
Some highlights were seeing a baby have its first hearing test, measuring a newborn, feeling a new mother's fundus and getting stocks and supplies (I felt useful for once lol).
Women's Health Clinic
This was a highly fascinating rotation. We learnt about several specialised examinations, as well as conditions specific to women.
I vividly remember thinking about women who have experienced female genital mutilation after hearing about it from some very experienced and capable nurses.
Allied Health
In this rotation, I was able to sit on consultations with a dietician. It was a pleasure to be an observer of a genuine interaction between health professional and client. I also attended a gestational diabetes information session with Arabic women and their partners. It was interesting to see how cross-cultural interactions were handled, and to witness the intimacy of something I had imagined to be very cold and disconnected. I was then able to attend a class for expecting mothers with the physiotherapist. We did pelvic floor exercises. I always thought they were relatively easy, but they hard to hold for a long time.
At the time, I had written in my application that I was interesting in Speech Pathology. Unfortunately, the speech pathologist wasn’t there so I couldn’t experience that.
Pathology
This was my favourite rotation. We saw the histology and haematology laboratories and were exposed to quite a lot.
I went on a pathology collection, which involved sorting and sending around bloods in the tubing system and picking up tissue samples.
In the histology lab, my partner and I got to see the dissection of a uterus with fibroids. It was massive and just entirely surprising. We saw the technician make mm-thick slices and prepare them for examination. I also got to see mitosis under a high-power microscope, which was awesome.
Histology was by far the most interesting and somewhat confronting. I had thought to myself while looking at the uterus: was this removed by hysterectomy? If it was, how was that woman living now? After hearing some other growths in the uterus could be malignant, and that the cervix was still attached, I wondered if perhaps she had died. We also saw a room where miscarried or stillborn children were examined, which was obviously confronting. While collecting tissue samples, there was also a miscarried fetus in formaldehyde. I wondered if it would be tested for genetic abnormalities in that room. It was an extremely, extremely unique experience.
On the other hand, the haematology lab was not quite as interesting. It was extremely hi-tech, but that provided some insight into the career outlook for that area. While there were several technicians and a resident pathologist for histology, only one technician watched over the bloods and gave the machines a jiggle if they weren’t working properly.
When people talk about automation of jobs, this is the finest example in my opinion.
End-of-Day Tours
At the end of each day, we went as a large group around several areas of the hospital to listen to researchers or professionals about different topics.
We heard from pharmacy students, the neonatal ICU nurses, in-house interpreters/translators, theatre nurses and the research team.
All sessions were fantastic, but my favourite was the research team. They talked about stem-cell research, since a women’s hospital is quite bountiful in stem cells. It was amazing to see the massive vats of liquid nitrogen and the price tags associated with them. It was really cool to see another area of the health sector.
For those interested in an experience in the future:
> Applications open and close very early in the year, so think about it ahead of Year 10.
> The application is written in a template, from memory you don’t need your CV.
> It may vary, but it was 9AM-4PM for me from memory.
> My week was the final week of June, but from memory there were more than one week it ran.
> https://www.thewomens.org.au/careers/work-experience
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
This week of experience was pivotal in my life. Why I decided to apply
At the time of applying for The Royal Women’s, I was still interested in Speech Pathology and possibly medical translation. I was also a vegetarian who loathed the sight of anything remotely animal-esque. Even before becoming vegetarian, I could not touch raw meat with or without gloves or anything. A little pansy like me, applying for a surgical rotation at a hospital… doesn’t quite add up, right?
I have to admit, I knew I wasn’t weak to the sight of blood, and watched a plastic surgeon’s Snapchat broadcast of BBLs, vaginoplasties, rhinoplasties, you name it, everyday. I knew I wouldn’t be a problem, and yet I was convinced I wouldn’t like surgery.
But, “unfortunately”, the only work experience programs available were “neurosurgery”, “domiciliary services” (or something food-related, anyway) or “perioperative services”. So I decide, on a whim (I was quite happy with a normal one-week Work Experience like every else!), that I would try my luck.
I was lucky enough to be the only student accepted! And since then, I have regarded that chance I took has been a defining point in my life.
General Surgery
I was in General Surgery for a whole day, which was probably my favourite day of the week.
Being with the same team, eating lunch together, and still even being in contact with one of the nurses, all made the experience feel similar to what it would be like if I were really a member of staff.
I was lucky enough to scrub-in (i.e. entering inside the sterile field) to two procedures. This was an extremely rare and fantastic experience I was lucky to have. I was able to feel a man’s inguinal hernia and mark the difference between the regular and herniated intestinal wall. I was able to hold a whole thyroid gland that had been removed. It was definitely surreal, and what I thought was ‘once-in-a-lifetime’.
Procedures:
> Parathyroidectomy
> Inguinal Hernia
> Bilateral ingrown toenail
> Total thyroidectomy
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
I was probably in plastics for most of the week, which I actually loved. The atmosphere and surgeons were a lot more relaxed. The procedures seemed more simplistic, but I was also offered by a registrar to scrub in with him for a major skin graft. It is one of the things I regret to this day, but I was unable to go because my supervisor was keen to get me to observe neurosurgery. I kick myself for agreeing every time I remember it.
That same registrar has become an inspiration to me - a really awesome and successful guy (even though he told me I was too “”eloquent”” (lol) for surgery :'(). Overall, plastics was a lot of fun.
Procedures:
> Debridement of right forearm
> Repairing(?) a hand fracture with steel rod guns (involved x-ray, which is interesting)
> Debridement of infection on left forearm and skin graft from thigh
> Left forearm debridement of foreign bodies (lol istg my notes from this week…)
> Dog bite cleaning and debridement of wound in Hep C patient
Orthopedic Surgery
Ortho was crazy! The sole thing I thought through every procedure was “I definitely couldn’t do this when that extremity probably weighs more than the whole of me”. But I will say every procedure was fun to watch and left you astonished.
For example, someone was a victim to (lol) MUA (manipulation of anaesthesia). It makes me laugh now that I didn’t note down what was manipulated but it was a leg for sure. From the viewpoint of a 15-year-old, it literally looked like a yank and a push and wow, suddenly fixed. Crazy.
There were also some cool machines/systems like the light and camera used for an arthroscopic wash-out of a knee. By far, though, seeing a hip replacement was almost confronting. The surgeon was (apart from being an extremely friendly and lovely to me) a massively tall, strong man who literally squatted right to the floor and then yanked out the joint in a rowing-style heave. Intimidating lol. Anyway, great fun and an awesome option for anyone who doesn’t weigh <40kg lmao.
Procedures:
> Clavicle reattached to shoulder with metal plate (very technical, good job me)
> MUA (Manipulation Under Anaesthesia)
> Arthroscopic washout of knee
> Hip replacement
Urology
This was also an amazing day. Apart from the surgery, I was able to meet this amazing student who was also observing. He said he had dropped out of school in Year 10 to become an electrician, to then completing a Bachelor at the University of Sydney and following it up with an MD at Melbourne Uni. Thoroughly fascinating journey. His story really solidified my support of vocational training.
The procedure, though, was out of this world. It was a
robotic prostatectomy and cystectomy. So essentially, this man was having his prostate and bladder removed and a stent (an opening that allows him to urinate) made from his ileum, which was performed laparoscopically by two surgeons… operating a robotic surgical manipulator! (
See/read about it here).
It was beyond amazing to watch.
Cardiothoracic Surgery
I was able to watch one cardiothoracic surgical procedure (albiet almost entirely through a screen, as high infection risk meant I was stuck in a little corner lol). It was a aortic valve replacement with coronary artery bypass. This involves the replacement of the heart valves with mechanical or biological tissue alternatives (though, I didn’t know which in this case). It also involves a coronary artery bypass graft. This means taking a vessel from elsewhere in the body (the leg, in this case) and attaching it to the heart and around a blockage, like a detour for blood flow. It was very, very cool.
It also carries some mortality risk, which made the atmosphere a lot more tense than what it was in plastics, for example. In plastics, I had great banter with music banging in the background, but during this surgery, no-one dared speak.
Neurosurgery
I was very happy to think that I wasn’t disadvantaged choosing the perioperative surgery rotation as opposed to the neurosurgery option.
I was able to see a stereotactic craniotomy and excision of lesion, although I didn’t get to seem the excision part. I was able to see the skull bone lifted off and put into a bath of saline, and the brain underneath. I will admit, that was pretty unreal.
I also found the GPS-tool the surgeon used very interesting. I forget how it was meant to work, but it was used to map and determine where the incisions should be made, and it looked even more like a video game than the surgical manipulator lmao.
But, I wasn’t as keen on this procedure as others. It was a very long procedure (I didn’t even get to see the end of it) and I was hurting knowing I was missing out elsewhere.
I was also kept right away, similarly to the bypass/valve replacement, because of the infection risk. But not only that, I was kept away because the neurosurgeons are apparently notoriously obnoxious. The surgeon’s reputation preceded him, with nurses whispering about his arrogance despite being so young (and a ‘mere’ registrar). I was skeptical, but actually a little more intrigued because being a young surgeon is somewhat of a feat in itself. I couldn’t tell how old he was, but his hair cap was superhero-themed. I wondered if was for the entertainment of paediatric patients, only to think that this is adult surgery, and afaik you can’t do both.
Similarly to cardio, the atmosphere was tense and awkward, and no-one interacted with each other. It was interesting, but perhaps not the best first impression.
For those interested:
> There are 4 weeks of offered, all with different application periods. I went for the first week of July. The April week’s application is in February, so that’s an early decision. The other weeks are to be applied for about a month prior.
> Applications are made through the Melbourne Health Recruitment website (pretty much the employment portal for all available positions)
> My application involved a CV and letter of interest.
> Some programs take several people. I believe the neurosurgery rotation had two girls (I saw them in the change rooms lol). Maybe mine did too, but they didn’t show? Who knows.
> I can only assume from that the competition for the program is quite something.
> My hours were 8AM-4PM (yes, the 5AM train for me…)
> You will be wearing scrubs
> https://www.thermh.org.au/health-professionals/careers/work-experience
This literally is a massive post and took me several days to write, but I just had to lmao. Anyone who can access these areas and has an inkling of interest in medicine, nursing or the health sector, just apply! Cannot guarantee more an amazing experience.