My Medical Career General Community

Dear All,

My name is Tran Le and I am the Ambassador for the General Practice Student Network (GPSN) at Griffith Medical School. I would like to thank everyone who became involved with GPSN this year (members, committee and sponsors!). To wrap up the year, the local GPSN clubs (Bond, UQ and Griffith) will be holding a joint cocktail function for GPSN members, GPs and GP Stakeholders to enjoy!

There will be FREE food, drinks and DJ entertainment courtesy of GPSN! We would also love to have opportunities for students to mingle with GPs and GP Stakeholders, so on behalf of Bond, UQ and Griffith GPSN, I would like to invite you to attend our GPSN Sundown Cocktail function.

GPSN SUNDOWN COCKTAIL PARTY!

... Because GPs get to work, rest & PLAY!

Hosted by: Bond, UQ & Griffith GPSN!

Date: Friday 21st November 2008
Time: 7pm - 10pm
Where: Surfers Rowers
150 Bundall Road.
Gold Coast QLD 4217

The General Practice Student Network (GPSN) is the first NATIONAL medical student organisation of its kind in Australia. GPSN is the product of a joint initiative between General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) and the Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA). The GPSN is an organisation run by medical students, for medical students, which seeks to foster a greater awareness of General Practice as both a lifestyle and a career.

Please reply to myself (Tran Le). I do hope you are able to attend. If you would also like to provide promotional materials for this event, please feel free to contact me. We would love for your organisation to be represented.

Tran Le
Ambassador for Griffith University
General Practice Student Network (GPSN)
M: 0400 260 122
M: 0431 278 951
E: gpsn.griffith@gpra.org.au
E: Tran.Le@student.griffith.edu.au
W: www.gpsn.org.au

I am wondering if anyone could provide me with some information regarding the possibility of a physician to undergo surgery training and vice versa. For example, can a neurologist receive a training to become a neurosurgeon? Thank you very much.

Hi All

As a second year medical student with only a few moths to go before I am really let loose on patients- I am to choose my clinical school for 3rd year (possibly 4th year as well). By "choosing" I mean placing my top 3 preferences in a mysterious SOM hat with the 400 odd other students hoping to get their first preference. I have been wondering if the clinical school you get really matters, as the content taught at all of the eight(?) places on offer is meant to be at the required standard. The smaller, more rural schools sell themselves as able to offer unmatched "hands on" experiences that you wouldn't get in the larger tertiary centres; while the larger hospitals offer rare and wonderful diseases and a strong academic presence, as well as the opportunity to get to know some of the sub-specialty gurus. Now as the intern year is "supposedly" a fair ballot system, contacts should have nothing to do with chances at getting a training spot later on...or will they?

With the increasing numbers of medical students and the well known bottleneck for specialty training places, I am all too aware of the need to set yourself apart from the crowd, or at least develop some competitive edge. I was wondering how others felt? Are clinical experience so early on likely to influence career opportunities? Has any one had a great (or terrible for that matter) experience training either at a major hospital or outer/rural centre?

I realize that what you get out of the training spot ultimately comes down to what you make of it and as I really have little choice in where I end up anyway, it is more for discussions sake. But I would be interested in what you think...

Cheers,
Rob