INNOMINATEVOLUME 63 | ISSUE 3 | NOVEMBER 2012

A Publication of the Sydney University

Medical Society

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19 5 // Scrubs on the Street Blaise Wardle

7// The Charles Perkins Centre: A Primer Toby Hulf

9 // Films For The Medical Palate Matt D'Arcy

11// The Lambie-Dew Oration 2012 Andrew Mamo

13 // The Final Frontier Of Medicine Joel Bedford

16// I Am A Painter Rhu Zhou

17// An Afternoon With Zac Turner Andrew Mamo

19// Creatures Of The Night George She

21 // MRSA Begins Bernards Myers

23// Sports Update Jarrad Lenegan and Siobhan Stone

27// A RAW-some Weekend James Manion

30// History or His Story?

31 // Finishing First Year Amelia Street

33// First World Med Problems Kristen Haakons

35// Rivendell

36 // On Gender Studies

37 // The Review Of The Revue Isabelle Kapterian

5

Contents

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37

To my peers, readers, cohort, Council and friends; here it is. The third and final Issue of Volume 63 of Innominate has been conceived against the odds. Exams (summative, formative and ir-relevant) have besieged my team, the contributors and I. This issue is a little lighter on the scales than its predecessors but I am proud to share what is another exciting product of my dedicated team.

Some pertinent news on the Publications front includes our winning of AMSAs Publication of the Year and my re-election to the position of Director of Publications. It was my goal to make the position enticing enough to insight a challenge of the position at our most recent Council Meeting. My team has worked very hard this year to set the magazine up to be an ongoing success. I was surprised that no one stepped forward to assume the position that heads this institution. It seems I havent yet made it alluring enough; a challenge for next year, perhaps.

This issue boasts some excellent articles, including an interview with our Immediate Past President, Zac Turner, and his final address as President in the magazine. I have enjoyed some interesting submissions from some former contributors, who are no doubt all avidly vying for the prizes that I announced would be up for grabs earlier in the year. You will find the prizes and the winners itemised at the end of the magazine.

As I write this I am becoming ever more behind in my studies, so I must go for now. I wish you all a safe and splendid Christmas and New Year and I trust all of your exam results will bring welcome news. Just remember though, while you are away, that even if you feel like the SMP Curriculum is sometimes out to get you, Innominate is not. Innominate gets you. Innomi-nate cares. After all, it is: The magazine written by medical students, for medical students.

Dir. Pubz Andrew Anthony Mamo

The

Directorof Publciations'

Report

What an amazing year!! This year has been a huge, and would not have been possible without the tireless work of the many differ-ent council members in our MedSoc and the amazing executive that have made 2012 SUMS most successful year!! The team has done an amazing job and has really lifted the bar of what is now expected of councillors and lead-ers at the University of Sydney. MedSoc is pas-sionate about change and development, run-ning great, meaningful events all throughout the year and it has been amazing to see SUMS members achieve great things in their roles.

One of the main focuses of SUMS this year and last has been on student health and well-being and as such the trial role of Health and Well-being officer has been made a part of the MedSoc council. In 2011 SUMS has continued to advocate for medical students to the fac-ulty and this year there has been some great advances with students on almost all the fac-ulty working parties that are developing and improving our education. This has been di-rectly related to the amazing work of our VP Academic Welan Dionela and MEO Audrey Menzies our VP Academic in 2012.

SUMS has continued to run EPIC social events in 2012, building on our success in 2011 and leading the charge was our VP Social Rahul Chatterjee who oversaw the long list of things on our social calendar. We welcome Harriet Caterson into the VP Social role for 2013.

Toby Hulf was Sir Moneybags this year and has managed to do amazing work with an ex-tremely tight budget and has brought SUMS back into the black for 2013, he will be handing over the chequebooks to Welan next year.

This year the sexretary role has been domi-nated by the delectable Misha Hutton, and I for one am so thankful for the amount of time and energy she put into every facet of the job. Good-luck Andrew Ying our incoming secre-tary.

The coming year will see SUMS make closer ties with our affiliate societies and the begin-ning of our yearly Scrubs Crawl, which will have different venues being hosted by differ-ent affiliates. The long list of wins for SUMS this year has been the Convention Cup (I dont think this has ever been won by USyd before), the NSW MSC Sports Day Cup, Netball Cup, Tug-of-War Cup, Interfaculty Basketball Cup and the AMSA best publication prize going to Innominate.

SUMS is made up of many great international students and wouldnt be the same without them. 2013 will continue our advocacy focus for them so that our friends and colleagues will also have jobs in the future in our great coun-try. A massive thanks to Blaise who has been dominating all things international for the past few years, and to Haley who will be taking over the position in 2013.

In closing, my last in this part of Innominate before Simon Reid the new SUMS president takes over, it has been a pleasure and an honour working, brainstorming, meeting, cof-feeing, wineing and dining with so many freak-ing phenomenal world changing people these last few years. Without a doubt med school has been the most fun and full-on 4 years of my life and I would change a bit of it. To all the faculty members who have been so help-ful and understanding and especially to all the amazing friends I have made over the years it has been a pleasure and I am stoked that I get to call you my friends now and hang out with you far into the future.

Peace,

El President :) Zac Turner

The

President's Report

1 \\ / / 2

I was at a party once when one of my mates sprinted up to me and says Dude, we are getting destroyed in this dance-off and we need you to come and do a backflip for us so we will win. As the kind of guy who always tries to help out his mates when they are in need, of course I was willing to help. Three broken metatarsals and one rather bruised ego later, I learnt some valuable lessons about late-night proprioception. But I also like to think it demonstrates the outrageous commitment and enthusiasm that I tend to show. Qualities that I intend to bring to the role of Sydney University Medical Society (SUMS) President for 2013.

I will be joined on the SUMS Executive by Audrey Menezes as Vice-President (Academic), Harriet Caterson as Vice-President (Social), Andrew Ying as Secretary and Welan Dionela as Treasurer. We are super excited for next year and are deep into planning some amazing events and initiatives to create the most memorable student experience here at Sydney Medi-cal School.

Huge congratulations to Zac, Rahul, Welan, Toby and Misha from the 2012 Executive. They have been an absolutely phenomenal team and have represented SUMS to the highest of standards. It has been brilliant working with you all this year!

Have an amazing summer everyone - I hope you return back in 2013 ready to jump in and get involved in everything that SUMS has to offer!! And remember, SUMS is YOUR MedSoc! So if you have any ideas, comments, compliments or constructive criticism, feel free to drop me a line at president@sydneymedsoc.org.au

Much love,

Simon

President Sydney University Medical Society

P.S. Just in case you were wondering, we did win that dance-off

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Introducing

Your Incoming

President

/ / 4

On Sunday, October 21st close to 200 medical students from 5 different uni-versities gathered at Taylor Square in Sydney to raise awareness about an issue that affects all Australians.

Donning scrubs, stethoscopes and carrying buckets, sponges and signs, medical students spent their morning supporting a campaign for the state and federal governments to give some much needed attention to a medical training system that is terribly ill. We cleaned windscreens, shop windows, police cars and bus shelters to illustrate the absurdity of a system that forces doctors trained in Australia to leave when they would like to stay and work to better the health of Australians across the country.

The numbers of students both local and in-ternational that turned out to support the protest was symbolic. At the moment a simi-lar number of international students who have trained in Australia are still waiting for the call

ScrubS On The STreeT Blaise Wardle

gistical problem are short-falling. Fortunately for the politicians, the Australian public is not really aware of the situation that is being cre-ated by these rudimentary decisions; almost 200 medical students did their part to try and change that at Scrubs on the Street.

Those who were not busy washing cars or win-dows spent time talking to the people passing by, explaining how medical training works to the uninitiated and why the internship crisis is a huge problem and just the first of many that

faces the health care system if the government address it effectively. Between 10am and 1pm over 1000 signatures were collected towards a petition asking Jillian Skinner to work towards a solution towards the current crisis, almost doubling the number of signatures on the pe-tition prior to the protest.

All in all it was a successful day, the protest was accompanied by the beginning of a social media campaign to try and harness it as a plat-form to spread awareness of our cause though twitter with #interncrisis. It also marked the first impact of the Medical Student Action on Training group that was formed to comple-ment the high level advocacy of AMSA with grassroots medical student actions. The final tally: 3 radio stories, 3 articles in print, interest in a potential story by both the 7:30 Report on the ABC and The Project on 10 as well as inter-est from Triple J in discussing the internship crisis on Hack. Hopefully it is just the first of many successful public awareness campaigns by the medical students in Australia.

or email that tells them that they can stay and work here in the health system. This crisis has been coming for years, ever since the Howard government drastically increased the number of medical school places back in 2004, an im-portant first step in addressing the concerning doctor shortage facing Australia at that time. Unfortunately, after taking that first step the governments both state and federal have patted themselves on the back and deferred the issue. What the governments seem to ignore is that playing political answers to a lo-

Photography Ana Suntay Tanedo

5 \\ / / 6

By Toby Hulf

I recall the occasion last year when I first saw the HK Ward Gym being knocked down and St Johns oval dug up for a diabetes and obesity research building I almost choked on the mirthful irony. How many more playing pitches do we have to concrete over to reinvent the di-obesity cure? Then I wondered if I was the only one to be stumped by this paradox. So I set about finding out.

It doesnt take long to uncover the basics. The new institution is to be called the Charles Perkins Centre (CPC) and will cost a sweet $385 million (the most expensive project this University has ever undertaken). Small fry, no doubt, in the face of the huge burden of disease as these two epidemics ooze across Australia. But money well spent? And precious Sydney sporting facilities nobly sacrificed? Intrigued, I emailed the CPCs new academic director Professor Stephen Simpson to ask him for an interview.

Already convinced that diet and (mainly) exercise is the answer, and backed up by some of our own lectures, I found myself unscientifically trawling journals looking for articles that support my cause. It isnt hard to do. The Harvard Alumni Study, the Nurses Study, The Osaka Study, all back the power of exercise as a prime mover in population health, while the massive Cooper Centre Longitudinal Study found low fitness the strongest predictor of death: above hypertension, smoking and obesity. Australia has its own champion of exercise in Lennert Veerman at UQ, who has written provocatively titled reviews such as On the Futility of Screening for Genes That Make You Fat, and famously showed that watching television can take 5 years off your life. Even Hippocrates quipped walking is mans best medicine.

With a bundle of tricky questions under my arm and an unreasonable sense of legitimacy I set off to meet Professor Simpson on a bright spring morning. Disconcertingly young looking for the job, he greeted me in his office

with a disarmingly friendly manner. His relaxed appearance belies the fact that he is at the pinnacle of Australian science - with over 200 papers and 15 books to his name, and his work having been covered in the Economist and New Scientist. We start by discussing the configuration of the new Centre, and immediately my plan of attack gets off-track. The esteemed Prof explains the CPC is not going to be another dynamite gene-fishing organization. It is setup up as a complex network of research project nodes within four domains: population, biology, society, and implementation. Research themes cross the domains, and each has a respective leader. On paper this might have looked like marketing double-speak, but Prof Simpsons commentary brings it to life. There are no easy answers to the di-obesity problem, or we would have taken them already. I find myself nodding in agreement as he goes on; diabetes and obesity are non-infectious diseases and the infectious disease research approach tried to date has not worked.

Prof Simpson is clearly passionate about the bigger picture, perhaps a benefit of the circuitous route that has taken him to the top job. He began his career as an entomologist at the Anti-Locust Research Centre in London famous for launching the explorer Wilfred Thesiger (a childhood hero of mine) on expeditions into some of the last unmapped areas of the world. Work on locusts led to breakthroughs in understanding the drivers of diet and satiety, and hence diabetes and obesity. I probe into the dilemma faced in many aspects of modern medicine is there any point in developing therapies only to send patients back into the obesogenic environment that made them sick in the first

place? To this Prof Simpson emphasizes the strength of the CPC; bringing together academic leadership, education and public involvement it will enable the Centre to be a conduit for digestion and dissemination of ideas for all layers of Government. On the aspect of public involvement Im excited to hear that theyre inspired by the youth outreach programs set up by Sydney Unis Brain and Mind Research Institute. Im also keen to know if anyone has thought of introducing obesity action plans along the lines of those that have proved successful for asthma management. Hes not sure but he likes the idea.

Finally, on easy ground, we discuss how med students fit into the CPC master plan. The concentration of fresh academic talent and the open plan layout of the new building will be good for teaching he assures me, and there will be plenty of project opportunities for medlings interested in honours, masters and beyond.

Charles Perkins was the first aboriginal undergraduate from the University of Sydney, and in 1965 was a leader of the freedom rides that exposed the widespread discrimination across the country. I came away from our chat enlightened and hopeful. Im still convinced of the power of exercise and diet to dramatically change health outcomes for individuals but I now think that the CPC will have the gravitas to encourage shifting the paradigm away from an individualized problem and towards social, economic and health interventions at a population level. In the meantime and well have to make the best of some of the pretty awesome sports facilities still on campus.

The Charles Perkins Centre: A Primer

7 \\ / / 8

I thought I would compile a short list of films that people are less likely to have seen, but gives unique insight into the ex-perience of being on the other side of the stethoscope.

Five Films To WheT The

medical sTudenT PalaTe maTT d'arcy

The Intouchables (2012)The Intouchables is a film about two very different individuals who form an unlikely bond that laughs at convention. This relationship un-derpins the very human aspect of the movie, and we find ourselves wanting to relate to it at every turn.

Leads Francois Cluzet (a French Dustin Hoffman lookalike) and Omar Sy have extraordinary chem-istry, playing a crippled wealthy aristocrat and his unconventional handler respectively. This movie is hilarious and moving. It treats an otherwise unlikely scenario with poise and finesse, and refreshes our own views on tricky situations.

My Left Foot (1989)Daniel Day-Lewis always delivers. Wheth-er playing a murderous oil tycoon or a young man afflicted with cerebral palsy, he adds dimension to character. My Left Foot is the product of a candid autobi-ography by Christy Brown, powerful di-rection by Jim Sheridan, and passionate method acting by Day-Lewis.

Only able to manipulate his left foot, Christy Brown earns our sympathy and at times our disapproval, but at all times grips us with his struggle to become and remain independent. A nod to Alex Holmes for this inclusion.

Wit (2001) If you think eight months of cancer treat-ment is tedious for all of you Consider how it feels to play my part. In a breath taking show of talent Emma Thompson deftly explains, through the character of Vivian Bearing, a Professor of English Literature, what it means to suffer at the hands of the medical profession.

In parts uplifting, and others downright harrowing, Mike Nichols Wit is a brilliant piece of cinema; absolutely one to watch to gain the perspective of one stuck on the inside of a cold and clinical system. A nod to Audrey Menezes for her recom-mendation here.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (2007) [The Diving Bell and the

Butterfly]Though I would thoroughly recommend reading the book (dictated by Jean-Dominique Bauby using one eye) first, The Diving Bell and the But-terfly (film) adequately tackles the difficulties of being struck w ith Locked-In Syndrome. And there more than are a few.

We see life from the perspective of Bauby him-self, and are presented with his tormented inner monologue. This initially hamstrings our viewing, but allows us (as it allows Bauby) appreciation of the smaller freedoms otherwise ignored.

50/50 (2011)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan pair up in this slice-of-another-life film based on writer Will Reisers own challenges with cancer. Seth Rogan plays himself (having helped Resier through the ordeal in the same capacity as his character).

A more light-hearted film than others on this list, 50/50 gives us insight into the colossal effect that a call of 50% survival can have on ones life. It also offers a more realistic view of the complicated re-ality of what it means to be supportive in such a case and remain independent.

9 \\

The Lambie-Dew Oration 2012

Heralded as the most prestigious academic event on the SUMS Cal-ender, the Lambie-Dew Oration possesses an inherent allure, intrigue and gravity. Each year a member (or mem-bers) of Sydney University Medical Soci-ety are elected to the position of Lambie-Dew Oration Convenor and are thereafter charged with the task of organising one of the few SUMS events that allows the public to gain an insight into what medi-cal students are capable of.

Following from Toby Hulfs efforts last year, this year we had a team of three. Henry Elbourne-Binns, Stefan Dimou and William Meere con-vened an exceptional Oration, inviting Dame Valerie Beral, who spoke to challenge some popular myths of Australian Healthcare. Stefan was a charming and confident compere on the evening as Henry and William maintained a calm and warming presence on the floor; meeting respected guests, academics and stu-dents alike as refreshments were served in the quadrangle. SUMS President, Zac Turner, made an address, speaking further to the prestige of the event and taking the opportunity to pub-licly thank an esteemed guest, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, for her ongoing support to Sydney University and SUMS. In closing the evening, William took to the stage to present Her Excellency Marie Bashir and Dame Valerie Beral with a token of appreciation for their ef-forts and appearances; obviously flourishing in his element, using his winsome demeanour as a conduit for the appreciation of SUMS and Sydney University.

The Lambie-Dew Oration was certainly a suc-cess this year, as it is sure to be in 2013 with Stefan Dimou continuing as Convenor along with the fresh faces of Nicholas Halliwell and Mary Good. I would like to publicly commend Henry, Stefan and William for their outstand-ing efforts with the Oration this year and thank them for ensuring that the public face of SUMS is one that we can all be proud of.

Andrew Mamo w/ Photography by Nelson Correia

/ / 12

The Final front ier of medicine Joel Bedford ponders how one should approach choosing a specialty

Two friends discussing the merits of their preferred specialties prompted me to share some thoughts on a specialty of particular interest to me; one I may pursue, or that may forever languish as an unfulfilled dream.

Space medicine. Technically it is a part of aerospace medicine, which concerns all flight medicine. But Im more interested in what happens as one approaches the Krmn line.

As of 30 June 2012, there have only been 528 patients worldwide of this specialty over the last sixty years (though the specialty also deals with those that aspire to join them).

The patients are educated, ordinarily capable of looking after themselves and holding steady jobs, and not physically or mentally handicapped in any way; they are exceedingly healthy. The objective is not much more than to keep them alive and capable of basic autonomous function.

In fact, space medicine requires patients to be healthier than Earth-bound life might require. Astronaut Deke Slayton, one of the Mercury Seven, lost his flight status when centrifuge testing revealed that at 4g he occasionally experienced idiopathic atrial fibrillation, a condition never uncovered in his ordinary 1g lifestyle (he regained flight status ten years later when the condition was no longer detectable - I guess his heart got with the program).

The objective is to enable these otherwise fit, healthy, sane and somewhat anonymous people to undertake one of the most dangerous activities ever devised. An activity with no clear cut objectives, and no foreknowledge of the precise, tangible benefits such an activity might yield, if any at all.

So why would anyone think this specialty is a worthwhile pursuit? Why would anyone want to dedicate their education, knowledge, training, and time to this specialty?

In my case, the reasons are varied. Notable among them is that if I hang around NASA long enough someone will leave a shuttle lying around with the keys in the ignition.

Medicine is a grand profession, dedicated to caring for those that need help, but that doesnt mean the people that need our help cant be doing extreme and extraordinary things.

Will my interest in space medicine get me to space? No. A decision was made early in spaceflight programs that it was better to screen on Earth than treat in space, so the flight surgeon was thus deprived of a celestial voyage. Even without that decision, none of the space programs will send someone my height into space. If youve ever felt cramped in economy class, the dimensions of space capsules will make you cringe.

So whats the appeal? Whats so great about space medicine? Its a niche specialty with little practical down-to-Earth value.

For one thing, space medicine has pioneered many aspects of modern medicine and modern life. Even a conservative reckoning of space medicine demonstrates its incredible contribution to medicine.

By no means is this an exhaustive list, but some notable examples include:

Understanding the effects of radiation on the body. Space travel involves considerable radiation exposure that can be studied for both its acute and chronic effects, rather than the more disorganised study centred around other major sources of radiation exposure, like Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl. This information has been invaluable when faced with people affected by accidental exposure, such as at Fukushima, or understanding the effects of radiotherapy.

Improvements in emergency and triage medicine. The protocols

and communication methods pioneered by NASA to monitor and maintain the health of astronauts are often reflected in emergency departments, ambulances and intensive care.

Orthopaedic monitoring tools, gait, posture, balance, all sorts of other orthopaedic stuff that orthopods are fascinated by (?!) were often developed or refined for use in space stations as non-invasive, non-destructive monitoring tools.

Pressure garments for people with circulatory or fluid balance problems or who just really like tight garments were developed to combat fluid distribution and loss caused by weightlessness.

Refinements to rural medicine, like the contents of remote and rural medicine kits tools that can be used by lay persons under the instructions of a remote medical professional, were often the product of space medicine research.

In addition to space medicine itself, space research has also brought many benefits to modern medicine, like:

Signal processing software to distinguish a tumour from healthy tissue was originally used to distinguish signals from distant astronomical objects from background noise

Mathematical refinements to improve the resolving power of MRI and CT were originally used to improve the optical resolution of telescopes.

Battery monitoring in implanted pacemakers was originally developed to monitor batteries in satellites.

Lighter, stronger prostheses and implants were often developed from materials science researched for shuttle construction.

Dialysis techniques and cardiopulmonary perfusion were aided by the development of water filtration and reuse systems for manned space stations.

Space medicine also presents new and interesting challenges that might affect any stellar aspirations and will also have real world benefits if they can be solved, along with any number of ancillary technical advances that research would entail. Problems such as:

Learning how to do surgery in space, as the weightlessness causes blood to aerosolize.

Learning how to combat the immunocompromise in space caused because T-cells do not reproduce properly in weightlessness.

Learning how to combat the space-mediated damage to balance, eyesight, bone density, and muscle mass.

Learning how to reduce the effects of radiation damage caused by space travel.

Solving these problems, and many others, would have many applications, and gives researchers ethical access to a healthy population naturally inclined to aid scientific discovery.

What appears to be an impractical, niche specialty with little application to 99.99999246% of the worlds population can make a difference. Without the efforts of the few dedicated individuals interested in what happens a hundred kilometres above our heads, many of us back here on Earth would live poorer lives, ones devoid of many of the medical innovations that shape our world.

All the more reason that it is impossible to speculate what area of medicine is best, or most important, or of most practical value. All I plan to do is to follow my heart and it may lead me to the stars.

13 \\ / / 14

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I was once an unidentifiable hue.

Today - I am almost indistinguishable amongst the colours of the primary palette.

I have walked through a seemingly innocuous journey to become the person I am today. I dont know what differenti-ated that second in time from which I awoke from my dream (that has become my reality).

I was dancing by myself in my room as I turn I see my reflec-tion staring back at me. I think that was the moment that woke me. One forgotten room in the corridor of my mind creaked open. Inside was my 16 year old self; dancing in her room of our old home. For a few seconds after my sense of identity flickered between the person I once was and who I now identify myself to be. And it broke something within me...the walls that I had erected to hide myself from the memory of my loss...my lost identity.

Medicine is made up of primary colours. Whether it was my unconscious desire to fit in, or it was the effect of influence from others, or the way the concrete knowledge would mold ones mind; I had slowly sacrificed those tints and shades of my personality. It has nothing to do with how I am to be perceived. In many ways I believe I am more interesting and agreeable than I have ever been in my life. However, the change within me; the shift to primary, has everything to do with my ability to colour the canvass of my life in my own mind.

My life is my art.

My sensibilities; my ways of experiencing, feeling and appreci-ating have been blunted. At this moment, I cant even rekindle the sensation that having those unique hues brought to my way of life. I only know this when I step into the mind of my 16 year old self; there was a sense of hope, mystery and genuine faith for my life and its place in this universe. Now lost.

For the months prior to my awakening tonight, I have debased my aspirations to concrete directions in life...start work be a surgeon buy clothes travel...blue, red, yellow, black...

I am a medical student. I will soon graduate. This is what medicine has done to me. But I am ultimatelystill in control of the strokes of colour I have yet to add. What was once mine,I must have the ability to regain and, while I may have lost much, this stands as my insight. While my insight exists there is hope for my art.

I am a PainterRu Zhou

/ / 16

Zach Turner Photo Page

An Afternoon With Zac TurnerAndrew mamo caught up with the graduating, outgoing president of SUMS

AM: What was the highlight of your time as a student in the MBBS?

ZT: So many highlights! Mostly they involve just hanging with mates though, grabbing a coffee or beer and just chilling out. Medi-cine is an amazing degree and journey in that you meet so many phenomenal people who become your closest friends.

AM: How did you first get involved in SUMS?

ZT: I first got involved with SUMS in first year when I ran and was lucky enough to get the First Year Representative position. The meet-ing went for nigh on 5 hours though; thankfully theyre much shorter now!

AM: What was the highlight of your time on SUMS?

ZT: I have had so many great experiences throughout my time with SUMS, its great that Ive been able to work and hang out with great friends. I guess highlights for me would be the Council Retreats, random executive meetings, the coffees with council members discussing what they want to do with their position, and of course winning AMSA Convention this year!

AM: What do you see yourself specialising in?

ZT: I was pretty fortunate, I think, in coming into medicine with an idea of what Id like to specialise in. Currently I like hand surgery and whether I follow the orthopaedic or plastics route is yet to be decided.

AM: What advice do you have for students fol-lowing you in the program?

ZT: My advice would really be to take time out for yourself regularly and do things you enjoy outside of medicine. Make this your priority, as there will always be study and busy times.

AM: Have you come to regret anything over your time in the MBBS?

ZT: I cant really think of anything specific that would be considered a regret, sure there are some things that you didnt do or achieve, but overall my memories of the last four years have been the best ones I have.

AM: Finally, are there any saucy secrets you would like to share with the cohort before you leave?

ZT: There will always be some amount of medcest, but I am probably far behind in the gossiptake me out for a coffee and Ill tell you everything I know though!

Photography Andrew Mamo17 \\ / / 18

"Creatures of the Night" at the Lismore Lantern Parade - George She

deep ravines, nigh visible to the human eye, which they fell deeply into. They said their prayers to their own miniature Gods. They had landed in paradise. This moment in time was like the first day of Staphaureus life; a life of opulence. Sweet and succulent lamina propria contained all the nutrients he and his family could ever need. Even small elastic band fibres allowed for the occasional weighted exercise training to keep him looking trim and terrific.

This sanctuary was unlike anything Staphaureus and his strain could have dreamed of. He dusted off his favourite coagulase coat, having a merry reason to dress so fashionably. He met beautiful dames, plumed with their ornate Protein A jewellery, and flirted hopefully and joyfully with them in a way that only comes with a life free from troubles. He even coupled up with one particularly lovely bacterium, prompting Staphaureus to change his Facebook relationship status from single to diplococcus, which was met with many thumbs ups and likes. Yes, life was grand.

There were occasionally red or white cell adorned police officers who tried to boss Staphaureus around, but his hard life meant it would take far more than that to intimidate him. It also helped that he held black belts in ancient haemolytic martial arts that were made for breaking down such entities into simpering puddles of tears.

Yet, for the medical officer, the tale was far less joyous. His throat was sore and his voice raspy. He took a perfunctory dose of antibiotics.

Nestled in this colonys quiet enclave, Staphaureus was enjoying yet another day of tranquillity. He and his family were preparing for their evening meal, which was always heralded by the wondrous rumblings emitted from the medical officers mastication. Yet this time there was no nourishing manna from the saliva. Rather, there loomed a hideous army, which had circled the town. Their uniforms read Penicillinase-Resistant Penicillin. Their blank faces showed menacing eyes, but limited, if any, capacity of intellect. They were mind-controlled drones only hungry for violence.

Let us be, cried one of the more sagely bacterium of Staphaureus strain. We have lived through enough. I know there must be a shred of peace within you. I beseech you to look within yourselves to find it. We have a right to live in peace. Now leave!

It speaks, droned the millions of gaping mouths of the penicillin soldiers in unison. We know not what you are, nor where you came from, but our orders are clear. Soon you will be no more. This is not personal. We simply exist to kill you all.

Then we will not go down without a fight, cried the old bacterium. Yet, far from being intimidated, his staunch reply was met with an endless shimmering of bloodlust grins.

The massacre was swift. Staphaureus strain was unprepared and ill-equipped for the tactics and might of the penicillin army. As quickly as the antibiotics had arrived, they had now long departed. All that remained from the wreckage were small, orderly host cells clearing up the bacterial debris into nearby lymphatic drains and sewers.

A lumbering macrophage picked up a loose coagulase coat from the ruins, slowly yet efficiently stowing it into its cytoplasm.

From the shadows a weak voice croaked, That is my coat. Move on ox.

The macrophage lurched to a stop and looked around.

The voice was stronger now. Drop my coat and I will not hurt you.

The macrophage, not the brightest of cells, shrugged its non-existent shoulders and

continued on its way, having invaginated the coat entirely.

There was a rush of wind. An uppercut. Heaving and panting. More punches. The macrophage finally looked down in surprise as its cellular membrane popped, releasing its mucilaginous cytoplasm. The coagulase cloak spilled out onto the lamina propria floor.

Now, that wasnt so hard was it? said the voice.

A lone bacterium stepped out of the shadows, into a rare ray of light that must have somehow permeated all the way from the medical officers nostrils into his cavernous oropharynx.

The bacterium wiped the cytoplasmic ooze off his coat and effortlessly equipped it.

Looking sharp, Staphy. he thought to himself, for the bacterium was none other than Staphaureus. He had somehow survived the penicillin brutality. His face was ashen as he surveyed the carnage around him. His whole strain had been wiped out. He was all that remained; the only one to have lived to tell of the atrocities committed on his colony and of their legendary journey that had taken them all the way from the vines of the Barossa Valley, which seemed like so long ago.

Staphaureus stood atop the destruction as heroically as any bacterium could, which is quite hard to do so without the benefit of human limbs and bulging pectorals for posing purposes.

You will pay for this, human host. I swear to it on the millions of memories of my beloved colony. I will avenge my innocent compatriots who were murdered here this day. Before I was simply, Staphaureus, but Im MR Staphaureus now. MRSA. Fear my name.

MRSA

BeginS A tAle By BeRnARd MyeRS

In a small pocket of a medical officers pharyngeal stratified squamous epithelium lived a bacterium named Staphaureus. His parents had named him so after the Greek words Staphylococcus aureus, which meant golden grapes, for that, is indeed how he was born and raised. Together, they had colonised a bundle of grapes in the Barossa Valley, which by fate was soon picked and squeezed into a fine bottle of Chardonnay. The bottle found its way onto a liquor store shelf and from there it was purchased and freely consumed by the nondescript medical officer.

Staphaureus family and their colony had gripped tightly to the tannins pouring out of the Chardonnay bottle. They rode the golden rapids through the oral cavity and into the pharynx of the medical officer. Inside were

21 \\ / / 22

THE RHINO SPORT

Jarrad Lenegan

Im a typical sandgroper. The sport of rugby has generally eluded my interest. As a teenager on the west coast, when I became tired of the lack of nudity in late-night European films on SBS, I would briefly switch channels and find a ridiculous sport being aired: this is all I knew of rugby.

Unbeknownst to me, I had simply confused what New South Welshmen call football (league) with rugby (union). At the time, it didnt matter. Both sports involved two opposing rows of large men attempting to demonstrate Newtons Third Law over and over again. If compared to the magnificent game of Aussie rules, rugby was the obese, moronic younger brother with an anger problem. Rugby players were the rhinoceros of the sporting world stupid, heavy and only able to run in a straight line.

And then I played it!

QuadFac Rugby is becoming a strong tradition amongst the health disciplines (species non-prescribed) at the University of Sydney; now including Pharmacy, Dentistry, Vet and Medicine. The medicine side was coached

and captained by the 2nd year trio of Robbie Glanfield, Hugh Caterson and Charlie Meares. The boys were set on repeating their 2011 unbeaten streak and prepared a number of training sessions to toughen the body, establish drills and judge the new blood. Rumour was that Vet was training twice weekly and Dent had been preparing since July!

The first game against Pharmacy was during Revue Week and the upper years shouldered the burden of the missing MED1s. From all accounts, it was a hard fought win by one try. The following week, on a warm spring night, we faced up against the Veterinarians. We expected a rabid dogfight. Many of the Vet boys were country lads, accustomed to tackling angry heavy stock. But they werent ready for the medicine stampede. The big forwards on the team Jono Sandeford, Rob McLeod, JP and Lee Thompson maintained a dogged battering momentum in offense that helped seal the first try. After the break, the Vet faculty decided it was time to unleash the hounds, but with the stubborn efforts of our defenders, they won no bone.

Both unbeaten to this point, it was decided that the 5th of October game against Dentistry would be the QuadFac final. In this game, our team followed the same strategy we had in the previous two wins. We had lost some integral players in the forward line due to injury and travel, but received new blood Cameron Douglas and Jack Lawson to fill out the team.

The Dentistry team had easily the heaviest scrum in the competition. Their massive forwards took face-to-face tackles and kept on coming. They kept pushing, but our resilient backline led by James Robinson never let them near the try-line. Exasperated, the Dentists took 4 penalty goals rather than push through our defence. We had a number of opportunities for a try. On one occasion, our speedster wingman Justin Fong had a massive run down the far sideline, only to be stopped metres short of a try by a desperate Dentistry defender. After an annoying hour, the game finished four-nil. Never before had Vet won QuadFac Rugby, they had trained for weeks and had a massive

crowd in support at the game. Their chant of Vet History!! reminded the Medicine boys that next year we would have to restore the proper order.

Overall, the Rugby competition had been a great success. Despite my initial misgivings about Union, I gradually warmed to the sport. By the end of the competition, I was using the words referee instead of umpire and try instead of touch down. Naturally rugby will always be a subordinate game to the one played on the oval field, but I withdraw my previous statement about rhinoceri (yep, thats the plural, and you thought you wouldnt learn anything from reading about sports!)

I would like to thank NSW Rugby for sanctioning the event and providing umpires, the other faculties for their sportsmanship, our spectators for their starry-eyed support and especially the rugby boys for their welcoming attitude despite my absolute ignorance.

TOMMY GUN MASSACRE

Jarrad Lenegan

This is not an article about 1920s mobsters, but the gentleman I wish to applaud showed a level of brutality that Alphonse Capone

himself would be in awe of.

The annual InterCollege and InterFaculty fight night was held on 17 October in Manning Bar, an opportunity for traditional rivalries to be settled in the most pure way possible: two men, four gloves and a square ring. Medicine had two representatives, challenging St Andrews in one fight and the Law Faculty in the other.

The first Med fighter was Braden bananas Bever, who came up against St Andrews Chris the Mann. This fight was a true education into the sport of boxing. It was clear Braden had a plan for the fight and he stuck to it. He often stayed distant from his opponent and waited for the attack and would use his greater reach to dish out some well-timed punches before disengaging and awaiting another attack. In the third and final round Braden decided it was time to put on a show and piled on the punches including some solid body hits that made the crowd wince.

The boxing was judged by crowd support, the commentator would ask the crowd which corner they thought had won and the winner was determined by volume. As a result, quality boxing became a silly popularity contest and several fantastic boxers were robbed of well-deserved wins. Competing against a St Andrews fighter in a room of College Kids, poor Braden had no chance of winning the popularity contest.

Our next fighter was super-jacked Canadian

SPORTSw/ photography by Nelson Correia & Siobhan Stone

23 \\ / / 24

- Tommy the truth Tran. His fight was the only welter-weight of the night. For weeks his law-school opponent James the real deal ONeill had goaded Tommy on the events Facebook group and from the moment Tommy entered the ring it was apparent retribution was in order.

When round one started and gloves were touched Tommy Tran blasted punches as fast as bullets from his namesake. His footwork was exceptional, dancing around James and feeding punches on every exposed surface. His opponent was left dazed and panicking, stumbling away from Tommy and throwing his gloves forward in an attempt to prevent Tommy coming near.

At the end of the first round Tommy returned to the red corner to have a breather. I was speechless and just stood there clapping. He seemed unhappy, he turned to me, This round he goes down! It was clear Tommy did not want the match to go to the crowd for judgement.

The bell for the second round rang and Tommy launched into a second assault, this one as brutal as the first. About a minute into the fight after receiving two solid jabs to the face, James spun away from Tommy and dropped his guard. Tommy rushed in to capitalise, but was obstructed by the referee.

The referee asked a few questions of James, and unsatisfied with the bewildered answers decided to end the match.

Tommy Tran was victor by TKO in the second round, just as he had predicted.

Tommy was the only fighter to win by knock-out in the entire night. He put on an absolutely brilliant exhibition and should be very proud. Ive learnt many things in medicine this year. One pertinent fact I am certain of is to NEVER piss off Tommy Tran!

GOOD TOUCH, BAD TOUCH

Siobhan Stone

How could they have known? They never stood a chance. The other faculties were always walking straight into the lions den.

As the sun set, these past few Friday nights, a gaggle of Med girls could be seen limbering up around Johns field in preparation for a set of fast-paced, rough and tumble, nail-biting Touch matches against the ladies of

Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and Dentistry.

Like any reliable professional, the Med girls were always the first to arrive. Our impromptu, one-armed, head coach, Robbie Freckles Glanfield, had us running plays up and down the field against ourselves. This type of warm-up proved to be useful for those already well-versed in the game of Touch Footy; women like Karen Muller, Caroline Trail, Kristy Noble and the ever effervescent Rachel Braham. Unfortunately, for some of the other players on the team, namely the writer, there was never enough time to become suitably familiar with Touch to even feign any kind of ability on the field. On the bright side, Medicine Faculty was always able to reign in enough female interest, between our four years, to dilute the shortcomings of our inexperienced players.

It should be noted that what we lacked in skill, we more than made up for in enthusiasm. As dusk fell, six of us took a spot along centerfield while our substitutes, off on the sidelines, performed perfectly coordinated dance moves and cheer-stunts to Kate McKellar Stewarts rendition of I Will Survive. This tearjerker of a performance was exactly the kind of inspiration we needed.

Annabel Probert, one of our most seasoned Touch players, never missed the chance to make a sly try and Harriet speed demon Caterson was always ready to receive the ball and blitz the opposition, side-stepping outstretched hands and outsprinting every opposition player.

When the aforementioned duo of brain and brawn, Harriet and Annabel, were exhausted from their infallible efforts, we Med ladies were lucky enough to have a spare pair of twinkle-toed athletes to substitute in. Sarah Wong and Ruby Kwong were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedule of rock climbing, basketball playing and marathon training to embarrass our competition and rack up the touchdowns [editors note: forgive her, shes Canadian].

We are yet to lose a game and now look to the future. We are set to have play-offs against the Vet girls, yet they say they are approaching exams and cant find a time suitable. Are they scared? I think so.

If youre interested in joining in the fun, keep an eye out for our varied Wednesday interfaculty sporting competitions as well as our many SUMS-exclusive events. Play or spectate, all are welcome!

25 \\ / / 26

BY JAMES MANION

As a bus full of students headed over Bells Line of Road toward Lithgow, the clouds were steadily building to the southwest. Over 100 medical and allied health students from all corners of the country descended upon the picturesque sheep and cattle property Oakfield outside Dunedoo NSW to learn about rural healthcare and country living. As the bus rolled into Mudgee, there was a flurry of activity to stock up on last-minute supplies. Some bottles of wine, a few bags of chips, and (surprisingly) a couple of people even bought last-minute sleeping bags. Fully stocked and safely at Oakfield, we set up our tent-fortress for the weekend.

A few welcome speeches and a hearty dinner later, it was time to retreat to the campfire. I never made it. The rain and wind arrived. After dashing to my tent, and a quick check to make sure the water was staying outside, it was time to get cosy in a sleeping bag till morning. I awoke at a few different points during the night to the sound of flapping tents, torrential rains, and the occasional yelps of other campers getting rained on, but nothing prepared me for the sight of the campsite in the morning.

To the sound of Bon Jovis Dead or Alive blaring from a nearby car radio, a sight of chaos greeted me. It was clear that our fortress had been taken by the weather overnight. Air beds and sleeping bags were perched in trees to dry, a tent had blown away to be stopped by a barbed wire fence, another had been arrested by a dam, several tents were partially, chaotically, de constructed and there were a few people solemnly bailing their tents with sponges and towels. Luckily, the occupants of the missing tents had been able to seek refuge with other campers. An 8-man tent brought by some USYD students went from being a sumptuous abode for four, to a cramped shelter for eight by morning! Once the tents were all hung up to dry, we had another spectacular breakfast in preparation for a great day of workshops and speakers.

After our Welcome to Country ceremony, we were given the opportunity to learn about and discuss Indigenous health and cultural sensitivity, media and communications techniques, and snakes and reptiles (including handling!) encountered in regional areas. We were also able to watch the workings of a farm including sheep dog herding and sheep shearing, as well as going on a tour of the property. During the farm tour, some of us were (un)lucky enough to witness the birth of a stillborn lamb. A stark illustration of the harsh reality of life in rural Australia.

After a long day on little

sleep, it was time to freshen up for the Flanno Ball. Everyone donned their finest flannelette shirt, jeans and gumboots for the finest hoe-down in town. Lots of food, drinks and dancing ensued, with the obligatory bonfire late in to the night to facilitate the inter-uni fraternising.

Sunday morning we awoke, by some strange irony this time to Bon Jovis Bad Medicine blaring on the car stereo. Bathed in glorious sunshine with a crisp white frost like a crown on our tents, it was a perfect day for talking rural health with practising professionals working in rural Australia. We learned about the virtues of a life in the country, as well as discussing the professional opportunities that present themselves when practising in rural Australia, and had great opportunities

RAW2012A RAW-some weekend!

Photography James Manion

27 \\ / / 28

to network over yet another fantastic lunch! The afternoon consisted of a series of clinical exercises looking specifically at areas of care important to rural situations, including emergency obstetrics, and motor vehicle accident first aid. A big thankyou is owed to the NSW Ambulance service who were able to attend and give us a great workshop on paramedic care.

To finish the weekend, we packed up our gear, said our thankyous and farewells, and boarded the buses. After a fantastic lunch at Mudgee at the Blue Wren vineyard, we were back in Sydney by sunset. Back to reality.

On behalf of all that attended, I would like to thank the entire Nott family for the amazing opportunity to visit their property, Francesca Garnett for running the show brilliantly and coordinating such a complicated event seamlessly, all the RAW 2012 Crew, the NSW Ambulance Service, the Reptile handlers, and everyone else who helped out to make the weekend work brilliantly. Special mentions go to Shannon Nott, for kicking off the RAW idea all those years ago, all the cooks/chefs the food was AMAZING! and to the first year USYD students you sure showed everyone else a thing or two about partying to the limit of consciousness!

I cant wait for next year.

Fragility: you lookevery one of your ninety-three years

lying here in this hospital bed,this temporary holder of your body,with your legs contracted in pain.

Ischaemic toes.

Your accent sounds Russian. Youdescribe it as ex-USSR.You say White Russian

and, despite my knowledge of history,I am distracted by thoughts of vodka

with kahlua and milk.

And yet, you fought for Stalin.But who would I be to judge?

I was not there. I cannot begin to imaginethe compromises you may have been

forced to make in cold winters,moons before I was born.

Captured by Germans, and held against your will of course,

and forced to work.I was a medic, like you, you tell me.

You volunteer no more about that time,and part of me is grateful not to know.

Reinvention: after the war you had to be something new.

A name change, different scenery.Welcome to the Lucky Country.

I wonder if you were given the optionto remain a doctor, would you have?

You are proud of your promotions,your achievements in your new role.

You have made somethingof this life.

I wonder what haunts you,and if you have actually been happy here.

Could you ever have imagined lying here towards the end of your days,

in pain, helping future doctors learn about medicine and life?

I wonder what you would change,if you could start it all over.

History,or His Story

Anonymous

29 \\ / / 30

Andrew Chesher

Finishing First YearAmelia Street

Summer,all shorts and shirts and sun,sneaks suddenly into the sky.

Jeans are a jokeinviting sweaty, veiny armsand cursing of the broken Footbridge air confailing to fightthe hours of stillness they call core curriculum.

As cricket season startsand October ends,weeks till the finals are the fingers of a hand.

31 \\ / / 32

FIRST WORLD

PROBLEMSMED

BY KRISTEN HAAKONS

You know the old saying its harder to get into medicine than to pass medicine? This is what everyone kept telling me in the months and weeks leading up to my first day of classes in the SMP. What no one tells you, however, is just how hard it is to find that balance between studying enough to feel confident in your knowledge and taking enough time off to enjoy the plethora of opportunities that a medical degree affords you. They dont warn you about how dumb medicine can make you feel and how many hours you will spend studying in vain, knowing that no matter how hard you work you will never know everything. Luckily, I know I am not alone in this struggle and have gotten some great advice and encouragement from friends, professors and even my research supervisor.

The majority of my frustration and my sense of intellectual inferiority stems from the consistently disappointing results I get from the single best answer (SBA) exams. Admittedly, I cruised up to our first exam, the Required Formative Assessment, after Foundation Block feeling perhaps overly

confident. Immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material we were expected to review, I chose to focus on a couple of my weaker areas and casually ignored the topics I had a decent background in. I felt confident in my science background, but quickly found that I didnt have nearly enough depth in any field to be truly confident in the majority of my answers. I walked out feeling like a complete idiot. I passed the RFA, but barely and I believed I was capable of much better.

Motivated by such a personally dissatisfactory result, I decided to pull up my socks and study for the first summative exam like I had never studied before. Six weeks prior to our first RSA, I spent all day every day studying when I wasnt in class. I didnt go out more than a couple of times and I didnt drink. I was more motivated to study than I can ever remember being and each successful day of study seemed to encourage more study. I will admit that on a couple occasions I nearly burnt out, but I always managed to rebound from it after taking a night off. I figured I had done everything in my power to produce results I could be proud of and I went into the RSA 1 feeling confident and hopeful.

My results, however, came back exactly the same as they had for the Formative. All that extra study hadnt earned me a single percentage worth of improvement. I was immediately thrown into a state of despair. I felt an incredible sense of injustice at my hard work having been so poorly rewarded. I felt defeated, frustrated and terrified by the thought that maybe I just wasnt smart enough for medicine. Maybe I didnt deserve to be here. I clearly didnt belong with such an elite group of people. I hit what I can now identify as my First Year Rock Bottom.

Now the point of this story is not to drag others into my pit of despair, but rather to provide hope to any of my colleagues who may be feeling, or have felt, as lost as I. It turns out that failing to do well after all that study has taught me some valuable lessons. It also motivated me to turn to various sources for advice on how to succeed, both personally and academically, during my medical degree. I spoke with upper year students, Michael Frommer, and even my research supervisor to seek advice on how to achieve personal success in a medical degree. Some of my favourite bits of advice are listed below.

1. Medicine is a MARATHON- it is NOT A SPRINT. You have a life of learning ahead of you so you shouldnt feel like you have to know everything now. Learn as much as you can without burning out and without sacrificing too much time with your friends and family. Its all about finding the balance.

2. GO TO CLASS. If you arent attending in person, at least make sure you listen to all the lectures online. Lecturers make up the exams and their information is what is the most important at the end of the day.

3. Rather than reading the weekly summaries over and over again, try making them yourself. Use the weeks notes, theme sessions, PBL material and clinical teachings to fill in the Aetiology, Pathophysiology, Symptoms, etc. of the weekly problem. This will help you synthesize and retain the information better than just re-reading things. Prof Frommer also recommended leaving some key words or diagrams blank so that as you review you can go back and fill in the key points and test your knowledge.

4. Use resources outside of the SMP to solidify any knowledge that is unclear to

you. Prep books such as the USMLE First Aid, Toronto Notes, Aclands Anatomy videos and numerous other textbooks have all been suggested to me. The bottom line? Find something that works for you and dont be afraid to mix it up.

Despite all of this advice, the one thing that EVERYONE kept saying to me was DONT PANIC! So what if your marks arent as high as you thought? Theres another golden saying that Ps get degrees. I am beginning to realize that this is especially true in the case of a medical program. No one will care what my marks were like in med school; as long as I pass I will be called Doctor. At the end of the day, isnt that what really matters?

The moral of the story is that while I will never know everything, I need to know enough to pass. To do so, I will study hard, but not so hard that I dont have any fun along the way. It has taken two exams, two very different study methods, and even a few breakdowns to realize that there is a fine balance. Im still not sure Ive found that balance, but I know it lies somewhere between my two experiences thus far.

To my fellow students: YOU ARE NOT ALONE in this struggle to succeed! In writing this, I am reaching out to all of my colleagues who have felt like they arent good enough, smart enough or keen enough to get through this extremely demanding program with their sanity intact. WE CAN DO IT! In the words of Dale Carnegie, develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. Best of luck in your upcoming barriers and dont forget to enjoy yourself along the way.

Photography Andrew Mamo

33 \\ / / 34

RIVENDELLANONYMOUS

Warm sun caresses my skin,

strokes my cheek almost tenderly,

reminiscent of your loving touch.

There is a stillness here,

a screaming silence,

and I cannot decide if it is peace

or loneliness, if it is comforting

or an all-engulfing sadness.

High ceilings recreate open spaces;

acoustics that cause my thoughts to resound.

Equally high walls are containing

and restrictive: cold, impassable stone,

that retains the cold of overnight,

a permeating chill

in stark opposition to the sun.

The cold is slowing:

were it not for the gentle contact

with licks of sunshine

that reach through the gaps,

grasping at my skin,

I can see how easy it might be to decelerate and stop.

They named this place a haven,

but I find myself seeking to escape it,

to find my refuge in your arms.

Few medical students, and indeed medical professionals, know much about gender studies. We may cringe about 'ill informed' public faith in herbal remedies, but the medical profession is not immune to ignorance itself. Gender studies is are integral to providing services, the workplace and personal life.

Take, for example, the little known male liberation movement. In the same way feminism liberated women from female social roles, the male liberation movement seeks to identify and remove constraints that alpha male roles impose on men. Male nurses, for example, may face an iden-tity dilemma between being part of a traditionally female and caring pro-fession, and the social expectation that they will be alpha men who are independent, rational, competitive, big and financially successful. Also, many challenges of aging male patients could be framed in the context of dealing with the 'loss' of manhood.

In the same way feminism lead feminists to ask 'what is woman', male liberation beckons begs the question of 'what is man'? Is a non-alpha male man still a man? The issue of sex roles and identity is complex and not just limited to physical contexts. And yet, some lecturers have made jokes by asking the audience to raise their hands if they are 'male, female or undecided'.

Some say male liberation is linked to feminism and the homosexual movement, because it is inconsistent to say alpha male qualities are superior without implying non alpha male qualities are inferior. Thus, studying our own identity and that of others can have reaching implica-tions for all.

Finally, it would be interesting to see if gender studies influences career choice. Could someone forego a passion for teaching in pursuit of domi-nating the alpha world, only to discover -: well, it's lonely at the top?

Anonymous

on gender studies

35 \\ / / 36

Editor: Writing with the sass and flair that underpinned her Producers Role in the 2011 Revue, front row fan Isabelle Kapterian speaks from inside the camp about this years Revue. Honi Soit ladled up a searing hot serve of scathing criticism, testament to their firebrand approach to the Revue Season. Regardless, however, some kind words about the Revue as seen through an antecedent eye were consid-ered poignant, and indeed necessary for this issue of Innominate.

Placebo Royale was worse than cancer. This phrase has become infamous, though Im going to challenge whether it is evi-dence based. Personally, I disagree. Watching the Revue on opening night was nerve wrack-ing but it was a tight show that took advan-tage of the ridiculous amount of talent in the 2012 MED1 Cohort. As testimony to the power of their lyrical genius, I havent been able to get Back to the butt butt buttI love examin-ing men! out of my head since September and no, its not because of renal block.

Since the dawn of time, Med Revue has shown USyd over and over again that it is possi-ble to be talented, attractive and intelligent all at the same time. With abs galore (male and female), a nude sketch that made sure Id never eat a grape again and a breakdanc-ing musical director, Placebo Royale followed in the great tradition of making all other stu-dents gnash their teeth in rage and frustration, crying into their pillow at night over why they cant *sniff* be *sniff* this *sniff sniff* amaz-ing *waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah*. The angelic choirs ode to the Dean precisely captured the fear and hope of the pre-med and left most of the audience slack jawed by the vocal talent present in MED1. Overall, I thought the med revue this year was a corker. Almost asphyxiat-ing myself from laughing (Ill be honest here, sometimes it was at the cast but in my defence, very white, nerdy people rapping are hilarious), I walked away with petechiae on my hands from all the clapping. As the cast excitedly bounced and high fived their way off the stage I found myself tearing up a wee bit, with pride. Also be-cause of the nude sketch. But mostly pride.

The Review of

The Revue

isabelle KapTeRian

Photography Iona Tjoeng

37 \\ / / 38

Our funding, your skills together we can make a difference

Always on your side

2012 MIGA Elective Grants Program for medical students

Supporting Medical Students in Developing Communities

$2,000 to fund your elective plus $1,500 to supply medicines or other aid

Applications close Friday 31 August 2012

For more information and an Application Form visit www.miga.com.au or scan the code with your smartphone

After what has been an exciting year for In-nominate, there are many thanks in order to those who helped along the way. None, how-ever, are more pertinent than the thanks that should be given to my Publications Team. Arnie, Ron and Tom have all done an excep-tional job behind the scenes. They have sup-ported my decisions (even the most capricious of them) with a positive attitude, enormous patience and with outstanding execution as we work towards a common goal. I only hope that I have effectively and successfully high-lighted their brilliance to you all, not only in the magazine, but on a day to day basis as I field the many kind words of support and con-gratulations I receive from the cohort after each issue, and especially after being named AMSAs Publication of the Year.

Of course, without contributors we are dead in the water. As a token of my appreciation to those who have contributed over the year, I have sourced some prizes to give as awards for a few key categories. It is my pleasure to an-nounce the winners of this years Sydney Uni-versity Medical Society Publications Awards (SUMSPAs)!

Most Outstanding Personal Reflection: Nicole Kalish, for her article Depresh Confesh in Issue 2. Her prize is a copy of ECG Workbook by Rohan Jayasinghe. Well done Nicole!

Most Outstanding Expository Essay: Michael Kale, for his article Cannabinoid Therapy in Issue 2. His prize is a copy of Pharmacology by Rang and Dale. Excellent work Michael!

Most Outstanding Poetic Composition: Philip Gibbs, for his poem The Wards in Issue 1. His prize is a copy of Clinical Neuroanatomy

and Neuroscience by Fitzgerald, Gruener and Mtui. Thank you Philip!

Most Outstanding Photographic, Illustrated or Designed Image: Sam Swinbourne for his drawing which was titled by Tom Melhuish as Homunculus' Revenge in Issue 1. His prize is a copy of Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Research by Ramlaul. Tops work Sam!

I would also like to introduce a new category to thank some special individuals who have managed to make an appearance, in one way or another, in every issue this year.

Isabelle Kapterian, for her articles The Fairer Sex, Transplanting Paradigms and Review of Revue. Her prize is a Litmann Classic II SE. Thank you for your support and variegated submissions Isabelle. We hope to hear more from you next year!

James Manion, for his cover and article photos of Peter Xie and Sam Jaensch in issues 1 and 2 respectively and also his photos for Getting Amongst It So Hard Someone Slaps You, Re-member the Thai-Tans and The Sydney Medi-cal Brogram. James also wrote his own article titled RAW 2012. His prize is a Litmann Clas-sic II SE. Thank you for your support James. I asked for a lot of your time this year, and you willingly provided it, fuss free!

Of course, I am enormously grateful for all of your contributions and for the ongoing sup-port of SUMS and the cohort. I will be continu-ing in the role next year, from Dubbo, so I will be requiring more help than I would normally dare to ask for. Have a wonderful break and I will see you all in 2013! Godspeed!

Director's

Thanks & Prize

Winners

39 \\

Director of Publications Andrew Anthony Mamo

Assistant Directors of Publications Copy: Ronald K. F. Fung

Technical Editors and Design: Thomas M. Melhuish & Richard G. Arnold

Sydney University Medical Society 2012