I recently began my internship at a local hospital. Since this blog is about things I find interesting, I’d like to share some things from this experience.

Life in the biomedical engineering department is nice. It’s safe, so long as you stand back from the defibrillators and electrical surgical units, and the people are nice.

Storytime

So far, I’ve heard of a lift (elevator) that dropped two stories before the safety mechanism kicked in. A staff member was injured and had to be taken to the emergency department. That same elevator had been okayed by the elevator company the day before. How’s that for confidence?

Slugboy. This guy ate three slugs on a dare. He was in aussie news two years ago. Turns out he’s still in hospital, with parasites still mucking with his brain. He even got a mention from the Bear Grylls. You can eat slugs, but you better cook them well. 

Manning up

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but it is entirely male if you don’t count me. I find that I do ‘man up’ a bit in this environment, mainly to keep their man-egos in check. One of the technicians asked if I had an older brother yesterday. Apparently, I act like I have one. I told my younger sister this. She laughed. 

My co-intern is a bit of a doofus and he happened to tell me that I had flabby biceps today. They do this thing where they get all the guys to carry stuff so I don’t have to. It’s not heavy stuff either. So today mr intern decided he wanted to carry what I was carrying.. so when he commented on my biceps I took it straight back from him and I might have been a bit rough. When I came back from delivering it, our supervisor was telling him off. 

He also does this thing where he’ll want to see something and forcibly take it from you. So I do this thing where I don’t let him take it. My supervisor is a bit more diplomatic.

We were putting mattresses on hospital beds yesterday, so as it turns out, mr intern is a bit of a weak, complaining poopface. Yeah.. if you want to show a girl up on their strength, you better have the strength to back it up. 

It’s a hospital

It can be confronting at times. Yesterday, we walked past a ward where a patient was kicking up a fuss. There were 6 nurses outside, other staff involved and two security guards outside this particular ward. You’ve got to wonder what kind of person needs that much attention. 

The flipside. Walking through wards and hearing people crying or screaming is just distressing.

The people who go outside for a smoke. Especially the patients. Give it up.

Some people just don’t like it and go walkabout. I’ve heard of patients who just wander off to the train station and out department gets a call from the rail staff to tell us there’s hospital equipment down there.