Chapter Seven - "A New Hospital"

Before I get onto the events of my first day at my new clinical placement let me just fill you in on how Friday's concert went.

It was a fun evening. We started rehearsing around 4, and got dressed up in our black gear so as to save time later on. It was going to be a new experience, being filmed on the web simultaneously with Amsterdam (though all the interesting stuff was going on behind me). We were reminded about dynamics in various parts (as expected), and to stop singing half way through the first piece, so as to let the soloist continue. So when, about twenty minutes before the concert started, VS arrived (the only other non-musical-course Chorus member that I know of) I quickly filled him in on everything.

We'd been told not to move too much in between songs as we were being filmed the whole time, but as we sang the first song I realised that I hadn't warned my friend about not singing the second part. I tried to be inconspicuous, so after a few sideways glances and coming to the realisation that he was still going to sing-and-therefore-make-a-fool-out-of-himself-during-a-live-and-recorded-web-linked-performance, I reached out and tapped him on the arm. Thankfully no-one seemed to notice, but he abruptly closed his mouth and the concert moved on smoothly. Disaster averted.

I sincerely hope I can view the concert online again sometime, as there was so much I couldn't appreciate - for example, the dancing behind me in Amsterdam (because that's where Amsterdam is!) which made sense of the random between-song burping and farting noises. Plus I'd like to hear the singing again, to see how it sounded from Mum's point of view (the only person I know who actually followed me online).

Coming more up to date now, today (Monday) was my first day at my new clinical placement. Waking up at 5:30 I decided to have a shower - one way to beat the queues - before having breakfast and... sitting around. I'd packed the night before. When 6:45 arrived I headed off to the station where I spoke to the ticket lady about the prices of various tickets, and weighed them up. I settled on buying the day return as it was the easiest option, though I would be claiming it back eventually anyway. So off to Platform 3 I headed...

While I waited on the platform I met DCT, one of my coursemates, and we caught the train together. Having a travelling companion made the journey more enjoyable, though I'd wanted to read my daily devotional during the ride - I can do it tonight instead perhaps. When we disembarked at the other end we decided that because the weather was so good we'd walk to the hospital, rather than wait for the bus. It helped me to gain familiarity with the area as it was somewhere I had no knowledge of. Basically all we had to do was follow the yellow brick... er, cycle-paths.

We arrived in the department at about 8:40 in plenty of time, to find the first years and CL (another coursemate) in the waiting area. They were asking us all about what placement was like and what they'd have to do. It's fun having first year students around; it made me realise just how far I'd come, and it would be a nice feeling to pass on advice and share experiences. After our introduction and proper welcome by MTJ (our liaison tutor) we changed into our uniforms and headed over to the canteen. "Alright, as a special offer for today only I'll buy you all a drink - what would you like? Tea? Coffee? Juice?" I avoided tea (not wishing to repeat my previous escapade with the white tunic, teabag, salt, vinegar and soap powder) and reached for a bottle of orange juice instead. No sooner had we sat down when the first years started quizzing our dear tutor on the ins and outs of the paperwork and travel claims. One particular girl seemed to have question after question. "What should I do when I get home in the evening? Can I just jam...?" she asked, and after some words of confusion from our tutor ("Jam what?")we explained from experience that the evenings should probably be used to rest, rather than work. The days can be tiring.

Time passed and we were dropped off at our respective departments. I was dropped off at RNI, but they didn't realise I was coming so I returned to the staff room and instead ate shortcake. One slice. When I returned to work I observed some bone scans and saw how the examinations were carried out. It seemed to be bone scan after bone scan with not much variation, but I was assured there'd be a wider variety tomorrow. My frustrations were that I wish I could remember more from the lectures on this area, and that I wasn't getting to be as hands on as in the past. However, this was to be expected really as we were only meant to be observing. But everything is interesting and a chance to learn something. It was just a lot to take in on my first day, and I could feel myself losing focus towards the end.

I look forward to tomorrow and learning more about this area of radiography, but for now I feel I've adequately covered my day for you, and I'll get down to some well-earned jamming!