Gateway Experiences

A Special Insight into Medicine

Neha Farook intends to study medicine when she leaves school. She reports on her 3-day Gateway experience at Middlemore Hospital in March 2011:

My name is Neha Farook and I am a Year 12 student at Lynfield College. My friend Aneeza and I were accepted for a three-day  Gateway programme to gain work experience at Middlemore Hospital. Our work experience helped us  achieve an insight into various medical fields and the steps we need to take in order to pursue a career in medicine.
Day one (15^th March):  My grandfather, Dr. Habib Rahman, welcomed us to the hospital and gave us an overview on how the programme would run over the next couple of weeks. Firstly, we were enlightened that we would be observing surgeries for the day and had been introduced to the staff at the surgical ward of General Surgery. Aneeza and I headed into the women’s changing room and dressed ourselves into blue scrubs with a mask and a cap. The first surgery was called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of the gall bladder) and this was carried out by watching through a camera and a small screen. The nurses in the room had talked us over the equipment, procedures and precautions they take when inside a theatre.
After the first surgery we then followed Mr. Rahman to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where we saw the patient who was next for an operation and had a look around the unit. The next surgery was called a tracheotomy where an incision in the windpipe is made to relieve an obstruction to breathing. Once lunchtime was over, a 6^th year medical student offered help and shared some of his experiences at the hospital. The final surgery was a laparoscopic hernia repair.

Day two (22nd March): Mr. Rahman took us down to the Gastroenterology department where his colleague was in charge of us for half a day. He gave us an overview of his profession and what happens around the department. The doctors and nurses specialise in digestive organs. We had the opportunity of observing the removal of polyps from 3 patients (with their consent) through a camera and screen. It took no longer than 15 minutes and was quite an unusual but interesting experience. The surgeon later had us sit down next to him by his desk and we enjoyed  an inspiring and motivational conversation. We discussed  why we intend to pursue a career in medicine and the responsibilities, opportunities, commitment and sacrifices you need to make. This conversation made me feel optimistic and more confident about one of my ‘to choose from’ careers.

After lunch we were assigned to a nurse each and shadowed them. With my nurse mentor, I was able to observe how she prepared medications for her patients in the lab, the structure and content of her patients report, and meet the patients to see the overall job. I was lucky enough to take a blood sugar sample from one of the patients (with consent) and prepare one set of basic medication under supervision. Every now and then, the nurses have a Nurses Training Session. We were fortunate to be present on that day and attended the training session. It was informational and easy to understand about the basics of the human digestive system as Aneeza and I have taken Human Biology from Year 11. Since we were good students according to the charge nurse, we were awarded with Cadbury chocolate bars!
Day three (29^th March): Mr. Rahman welcomed us in the morning and notified us immediately that we would be shadowing him for the day. It was a tight schedule and the first event of the day was a conference. This meeting discussed the medical conditions of patients with a number of doctors contributing their viewpoints, with the help of x-ray/ultra-sound images of the damaged site. We then headed towards the emergency room (ER) where an Aortic Aneurysm Repair Surgery was taking place. This is the swelling of the aorta, usually representing a weakness in the wall of the aorta and can be very deadly.
Soon after, we once again got changed into the blue scrubs and observed another laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This time there were two 6^th year medical students who were interested why and how we were at the hospital. They assisted Aneeza and me to gain better knowledge of the hospital and how the university curriculum operates with medicine. They also listed the two courses for pre-med qualifications and the steps, papers, processes involved up until you reach the final year of your degree. It was easy to comprehend this knowledge as it was coming from students who can relate to the confusion and stress we were going through, and they too were almost our age group- they were approachable.
Lastly, to end our final day at the hospital, I asked  Mr. Rahman if we could visit the Gynaecology and Obstetrician department. This was a very unique experience as a gynaecology student (male) helped show us around the wards and talk as much as he could about his role. We were able to see babies who were premature, caesarean, or normal labour born.
Overall, this experience was truly one of a kind because no student from Lynfield College has been able to have a rare opportunity like Aneeza and I did. I sincerely thank all those at Middlemore Hospital who helped make this work experience educational and insightful. I also thank Mrs. Fairley for arranging out Gateway programme, and surely those three days are memories to cherish forever.

Air New Zealand Work Experience

June 17 2011

Two senior students, Hardeep Singh and Shomal Kumar, have taken the opportunity to gain work experience through the GATEWAY programme at Air New Zealand Technical Operations. They work every Wednesday for 10 weeks and the photos below give a little insight into their working environment.

 

The boys are gaining knowledge and understanding of the aeronautical engineering industry. As a result they will be a good position to make an informed decision as to whether this is a realistic and attractive future career direction or not.