If I had not been able to relate all I learned to real cases, I think I would have felt differently. Dr John Ross is the Director and is a Consultant Anaesthetist, and Dr Watt is a … Destination / Townsville Hyperbaric Unit, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Before arriving in Townsville, I had learned that dive accidents were becoming less common and that hyperbaric units were treating fewer and fewer divers. My interest lies in dive medicine, but specifically recreational dive medicine rather than occupational dive medicine. For me, it was a no brainer that one of my elective placements would be in Hyperbaric Medicine. There are a very small number of divers treated per year, even in Townsville. My learning experience was greatly enhanced by the misfortune of two divers who fortunately and thanks to the services provided in Townsville made full recoveries. 26 July 2020, Written in pre-Covid times, but no reason not to plan for future adventuring in the great outdoors en famille. The tropical medicine elective is a partnership between Sea Mercy and the Palmetto Health Emergency Medicine Residency Program that provides a unique educational experience in international medicine. Risks / For much of the year there are jellyfish in the sea which can be dangerous. I conducted a 10 year patient review to see how the patient groups had changed over the last decade. Here, he tells Adventure Medic about the ups and downs of a dive medicine elective at the Townsville Hyperbaric Unit. Dr Stephen Watt runs the University Diploma courses in Diving Medicine, and they have had Student Elective Participants. One was treated for decompression sickness and the other for arterial gas embolism to the spinal cord. Residents will also be able to work towards their Fellowships in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) and practice in-hospital care of wilderness emergencies with high fidelity simulation. He has had a life long fascination with the marine world and achieved his PADI Open Water Diver certification aged 15. Money Spent / Too much! The hospital offers no accommodation and the University charges extortionate rates. The first week was spent familiarising myself with the unit and learning about the many other conditions that are treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Townsville offered the best chance to gain exposure to recreational divers with dive injuries due to the proximity of the Great Barrier Reef. It was fascinating seeing the coordination of team members, including those on the dive boat, rescue helicopter, emergency department and hyperbaric unit. I also came up with a research project to keep myself busy while awaiting an incident. If you are unable to import citations, please contact I got a monthly rate with a hostel. https://t.co/pLsy6sZD3a I chose to go to Townsville Hyperbaric Unit in Queensland, Australia as it had the largest hyperbaric chamber in the Southern Hemisphere and is the main referral centre for the whole of the South Pacific. On top of all this, I organised some anaesthetics experience for a few days too. He has worked as a Divemaster in Honduras and has dived in numerous locations throughout the world. Please note: your email address is provided to the journal, which may use this information for marketing purposes. I have since altered my underwater behaviour to be even safer than before. But it is even more than that: you can work in any specialty or aspect of medicine, however obscure. Do you want diving research (mainly physiology), training (medic diver qualifications), performing “fitness to …. The unit treats around 10 patients a day of which >90% are non divers with radiation necrosis or hypoxic wounds. First Aid Essentials / Nothing special, plasters for fin blisters! Approx £250 per week. You may choose a country that will … However, in spite of agreement for many years on the need for approval, little or nothing has happened. The UCSD Fellowship in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine is a 12 month fellowship that incorporates training in all aspects of hyperbaric and diving medicine. Weather / 22-25°C mostly cloudless, cooler at night. The most likely to have had the biggest impact is the now widespread use of dive computers. I very much enjoyed my elective at the Townsville Hyperbaric Unit. On my first day I learned that Townsville Hospital serves an area the size of France, which really put things in perspective. I then reviewed the factors that may have played a role in this apparent increase in the safety of scuba diving. After my elective I went travelling in Indonesia, where I spent the majority of my time underwater. First and foremost, an elective is about experiencing medicine in a different country and exploring a new healthcare system. Very useful since it is a real career option for British doctors. I have deepened (apologies for the pun) my knowledge about the dangers of diving and how they strike both the reckless and the unfortunate. Organising an apartment with others would be the most economical. Medicine is your passport to travel the world, and your elective is a time when you can immerse (no pun intended) yourself in another culture --maybe for the first time. Accreditation or approval of courses in diving medicine would probably best be achieved if multi-national agencies (such as bodies within WHO, ILO or EU) or well-reputed academic institutions with international connections would accept such a responsibility. To see something you wouldn’t see in the NHS The elective gives you the opportunity to experience healthcare outside of the NHS. 3 October 2020, Tales from travels in Uganda. Thomas Eriksen is a final year medical student at the University of Glasgow. Working in a new environment and observing how things are done there is a valuable learning experience to help improve your own clinical skills when starting life as a doctor back in the UK. I learned about the Australian medical training and what it is like working as a doctor there. 14 April 2020. The elective can give you 6-8 weeks of perfect bliss; lying at the beach drinking margaritas, skydiving out of aeroplanes, scuba diving… the world is your oyster. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. When thinking about applying to a particular institution consider which components of diving medicine interest you. There are significant problems associated with deprivation, particularly in the Aboriginal population and remarkably obesity is actually more of a problem than in the U.K. Which may be a positive for some, but I went seeking practical experience up in theatres. If you have a subscription to The BMJ, log in: Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.