In Cairns, awaiting the Reef trip

So many of you may be wondering why I haven't updated the blog in the past few days; well that's b/c I have actually worked almost 2 full days and have been very busy. I have had the chance to see a laparoscopic partial splenectomy, liver resection, gastrectomy, various hernia repairs, lap bands, and some basic general surgery stuff like cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and appendectomies. I also went to M&M (morbidity and mortality) and their version of Grand Rounds at the Royal Brisbane Hosptial and met a bunch of other doctors and residents. It was quite interesting and pretty similar to the ways things are done in the US. I have also had a chance to better understand their public/private mix healthcare system here. The private hospitals are actually very nice (as nice or nicer than many hospitals in the US) with all the up to date technology you would expect. The public hospitals remind me a lot of the big university hospitals (some not as nice, though) and the services are fairly standard, although if you don't have insurance some more expensive services and medications are denied to you- you kind of get adequate care but the budget experience. For many surgeries, though, (at least the non-emergent type) you can be on a rather long waiting list, but if you have private insurance it can usually be done in a matter of days. I suppose the US will at some point adopt some form of a public/private healthcare system. About 30-40% of Australians do have private insurance and they get tax breaks for getting their own insurance, so the gov. defnitely encourages private insurance.

Enough about work, and don't worry I was able to squeeze a little golf and another "barbie" amidst my busy work schedule. By the way, a "barbie" is a barbecue/grilling out- there seemed to be some confusion with that. Janelle, my friend from Duke, and her husband had me over for steaks last night and we had a lot of fun catching up. They have a new addition to the family, Tyler who is 15 mos. old. They also have 2 labs, Sydney and Michigan (Janelle grew up n Sydney and her husband Mark is from Michigan) and they are so cute!

I am now in Cairns (Northeast Queensland) where the Great Barrier Reef is and tomorrow I will leave early in the morning to head out to the reef and do some snorkeling, etc. Then I will spend the night on the boat on the reef and have another full day of snorkeling before coming back on Sat. night. I am so excited and can't wait!! I am sure I will have some good stories and hopefully some amazing pictures.