Heron Island is a small but beautiful coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef 80km off-shore. It is the home of some of Australia’s most beautiful and deadly species. It is also the home of the University of Queensland’s Research Station for Marine Studies, where I go to collect tissue samples for my research. Or, was. Now it is just a pile of ashes.
A small oxygen tank exploded in the early hours of the morning on Friday 30th March. The tank was only small, but the ensuing fire managed to destroy 11 buildings, including the laboratories, computer research station, and the homes of the research station’s permanent staff.
The research station was world class, and my team is booked to spend 16 days there in July. Damn! We’ll still be going back, but it won’t be the same, and the station will obviously only offer minimal facilities in the next 6 months. I have such great memories from the first trip, I’m worried this is going to change everything, as it won’t even look the same. This is a very selfish thought. Hm.
Thanks for the good memories, old station.
hi !
i’m a medicine student in france and i love checking out your blog…gives me motivation…
having lived in australia, i had the occasion of going to heron island and this news does send a feeling of sadness because this island is so wonderful and i really hope they manage to continue research after this incident
roxy
Thanks Roxy!
Heron really is such an amazing place, but it will definately bounce back, and because the research station is owned by a university, it will most certainly be back and better than ever in a year or two.
What year of medical school are you in?
oh …i’m only in first year … have to pass the “concours” to definitely become a doctor… tough…only 105 out of 700 accepted to second year…well, better go back to studying !!!
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When are the concours? I hope you’re studying hard for them!
I’m actually a premedical student, but I’m in my third year. To get into medical school, we have to get at least 60 in the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test, get an above average grade point average, and then score well on a med school interview. And I have to do all of that this year! But of course, it will be worth it.
Do you have a blog? I’d like to read it.
salut!
Adrian.
i’m sorry unfortunately i don’t have a blog…not enough time for one ! Yeah, i’m studying hard but i am nearly sure i’ll have to redo this year to pass… ypu guys are “lusky” because all you have to to do is to obtain a certain score whereas here if they say they accept the 105 best students that’s it the 106th one is out. that’s what happened to a guy last year he was the fist non accepted so he has to reod his first year …of course you’re only allowed to do your first year twice ….
my concours is on the 14. 15 . 16 may …
well after a day where i had a horrible test in physics, bio molecular and biochem i’m going to go take my mind off things with human social sciences..(philosophy really) …
by the way where in australia do you live? and how old are you?
Haha, sounds like you are stressed – how very medical student!
Actually, I just say we need to obtain a certain score. In reality, however, it depends on how many students apply for medical school. if there are 200 places at any given medical school, and 500 applicants, they will take the best 200 scorers. If there happens to be over 200 people with an 80 (which would never happen), then the ‘cut-off score’ is 80. So let’s hope my fellow pre-meds are stupid!
I’m 22 and I live on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Where did you stay when you were here, and where do you live now? I’m trying to remember where exactly in France my sister is; I can’t be sure. I think she was in Meribel, but I doubt she is still there. I think she only has a week left in France, and then off to Italy (We are Australian/Italian).
oh low lucky…queensland! well i must admit i lived in a very very nice place when i was in australia : manly in sydney…how i miss australia!! yeah very stressed i’m giving it my best shot and if i have to do it again next year i will as long as i pass!!
right now i’m living in lyon , it’s okay although i must admit it’s quite a contrast from the other countries i’ve been to.
what subjects do you enjoy? Any idea of speciality ?
Manly is a beautiful place, though I have to say I don’t like Sydney in general. Don’t worry about whether you pass or not, if you study for 14 hours a day you will definately get through! Just joking (although 14 hours would help).
I loved anatomy when we had it in first year, and I will be teaching human anatomy next year to nursing students, but I actually love biochem. Metabolic biochemistry, especially, and so I’m doing research on metabolic switching which actually overlaps into genetics and physiology. I don’t know, I love it all except statistics and pysics, I think. What do you like?
hey,
sorry for not coming by recently…exam studying…well i enjoy anything that has to do with the heart ( physio, histology…) …
but i don”t enjoy genetics too much..although we only did basic things in this first year…i dunno it doesn’t appeal to me…anyways… read your post about you quitting smokes…that’s great ! (talking from experience…i was an on and off smoker for some time)…the hardest part is not starting again. tell me, what is a typical day for a med student in australia? how hectic does it get during exmas?
Hey that’s okay – exam study comes first!
Well, I’m a premed, but a typical day for me would be a lab in the morning, about 8 or 9. One of my labs begins with a test worth 5% of the total mark for that subject, then the 3 hour lab. Classes are spread out through the week, but Mondays and Wednesdays finish at 6pm. I’ll go home for dinner, and be back at the university by 8:30-9pm, where I’ll study until roughly 2-3am. Exam time does get very hectic, but I’m a geek and I love exam time. During exams, I’ll go the the university to study at around 10am-noon, leave at about 5pm for dinner, then come back at 8pm, stay unitl 5 or 6am, then repeat. It’s fun!
What about you? What’s a typical French med student day like?
lol you guys are so lucky to have your univ library open all night. Over here in france people are lazy so the library closes at 18.45 ! Otherwise well during my exam revisions right ow I wake up round 6.30 work (or rty to) work until 12.00 take a lunch break then work the afternoon till 23.15 approx.I try to get the maxi sleep cause during the year you’re used to sleeping a bit late and getting up early …but i must admit I always need my morning coffee. COuldn’t live without it !!! what courses have you chosen during your pre med years?
oh by the way ,SEgolene royal or nicolas sarkozy?? lol
well, catch ya later…gotta get back to anatomy…interesting…
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Hey Roxy, good to hear from you again.
Obviously Segolene! I’m definately more interested in socialist politics. Who are you voting for? Actually, what age do you vote in France? Here it’s 18.
I used to drink coffee a lot, but I have given it up – now I just drink Red Bull and Chai. Okay, so here’s what i’ve studied so far: Chemistry 1, Bioinformatics, Health & Human Development, Cell Biology, Human Anatomy, Physiological Science 1, Physiological Science 2, Biological Chemistry, Structural Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Metabolic Biochemistry, Health Law & Ethics, Health Communication, Macromolecular & Cellular Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Diagnostics. Phew! I think that’s all of them.
What have you studied? I’m jealous that you’re doing anatomy…I loved anatomy, but we did it two years ago.
Alors, a bientot uh.
lol yeah anatomy’s really interesting but what i’m really impatient for is dissections those most be great !!!
Anyways here the legal age to vote is 18 but i’m not voting..not registered and don’t really want to. I wouldn’t know who to vote for…it’s pretty tough …. both candidates have good points…
anyways we study : physio (cardiac + respiratory + digestive + muscular + nervous) + anatomy + biochem ( carbohydrates, proteins , lipids ….) + molecular biology (hate this one…just doesn’t seem to like me) + cell biology + embryology + histology (like this one) + biophysics + last but not least social and human sciences ( word to word translation) to sum up it’s philosophy and for the exam we have to dissert and there’s another part where they ask you two questions about conferences we’ve had and basically you just spit out everything you’ve learned from the conference answering the question !
by the way, i hate red bull …eurk…
tell me, don’t you often feel like you need to sleep? never tired?
hear from you soon
++ roxy
Hmm…sounds like we have pretty much the same stuff to study. I love dissections, I would spend hours in the lab working on the cadaver (who we called Boozy Suzie, because she had a cirrhotic liver).
I like histology, too, and will probably work at the hospital in histology from next year.
I don’t really remember what tired feels like…It could be the way I feel all the time, but that’s just normal now. Sleep is way overrated! My trick is try not to study during the day – definately not in the afternoon, because that’s generally a low energy period for everyone.
wow lol. but tell me, how exactly does the educational system work in auystralia ? because we don’t get to go the hospital as early as you guys ! snif …
Well, we get to work in clinics and hospital outpatients from our first week of medical school, but at my university, you must have 3 years of a prior degree, and we don’t do any clinical work in my 3 year degree.