I went to a party last night. Believe it or not, it was the first house party I've been to in ages, but when did it become normal for people to chose their musical playlist by searching for each song on YouTube?! Maybe it's a Canadian thing. Maybe I'm just getting old (birthday next month...*cough cough* )
Anyway, I've noticed a funny thing. When I say I'm from England, after the standard comments about the accent, I get asked "Do you like Catherine Tate?"
I then get a barrage of terrible "Am I bovvered tho? Bovvered? Face-bovvered-face-bovvered?" (Or in the case of one guy "Am I bothered tho? Am I bothered?". I didn't have the heart to tell him he was largely missing the point).
They then called me over to watch this sketch http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RXaGEig2CWk. (I think it speaks volumes about the bilinguiality (is that a word?) of this city that even the Anglophones favourite sketch is one that is half in French), which is actually very funny.
I remember once hearing that about twenty years ago, such was the global success of Monty Python, an Englishman couldn't go anywhere without someone reciting the dead parrot sketch at him (or maybe it was just Micheal Palin? That would make more sense), and now it appears it's Lauren from Catherine Tate's show thats become a global export. Not that I mind (What am I expecting...."You're from England? Do you like Shakespeare? That 'to be or not to be' scene is hilarious") but I'm not sure I can keep smiling benignly in mock-amusement every time someone says "Bovvered" at me for the next two months.
On the other hand, suis-je bovvered tho?
Saturday 29 September 2007
Thursday 27 September 2007
La lexicon
Because linguistic misunderstandings are always funny. Not as funny as when I went on a school exchange and a classmate, who had intended to say "I'm going to the toilet and then I'm going to sleep", said "I'm going to the toilet and then I'm going to give birth," but funny all the same.
So here are some words I have having trouble getting used to:
Charts: The charts here mean the patient's notes, i.e. "Bring me Mrs Toronto's charts please." When they use the word 'notes' it means each individual sheet of paper written on in clinic (ie "the notes are in the charts"). What we call charts (ie Obs charts- temp, BP, so on) they call 'nursing notes'. All very confusing.
Loony: Not a mad person (see 'mad') but a one dollar coin. So named due to the bird on the back of it (a 'loon')
Toony: Not a French abreviation of the name Anthony, but a two dollar coin.
Mad: Means angry, rather than crazy. A schozophrenic man does not present with 'madness', no matter how bad the clerking (it turned out I was misreading the word melaena....oops).
Committed: To be committed is not something you aspire to be in a long term relationship here. Unless you want to be held in hospital against your will under court order (i.e. 'sectioned').
Age d'or: Lit: 'the golden age'. Probably a reference to what happens before you have your cataract operation.
Borderline personality: Where you're filling out Axis II (see 'Axis')- Any woman under 30 with psychiatric problems.
Axis: Something to do with DSM-IV, that goes in the notes between 'history' and 'plan'. Almost certainly evil.
Tabernac: The worst swear word in Canadian French. Literally means : 'tabernacle' in English, although I'm not sure that makes it any clearer.
Selexa: Local equivalent of Smarties.
And some words they're having difficulty getting used to:
Brolly.
So here are some words I have having trouble getting used to:
Charts: The charts here mean the patient's notes, i.e. "Bring me Mrs Toronto's charts please." When they use the word 'notes' it means each individual sheet of paper written on in clinic (ie "the notes are in the charts"). What we call charts (ie Obs charts- temp, BP, so on) they call 'nursing notes'. All very confusing.
Loony: Not a mad person (see 'mad') but a one dollar coin. So named due to the bird on the back of it (a 'loon')
Toony: Not a French abreviation of the name Anthony, but a two dollar coin.
Mad: Means angry, rather than crazy. A schozophrenic man does not present with 'madness', no matter how bad the clerking (it turned out I was misreading the word melaena....oops).
Committed: To be committed is not something you aspire to be in a long term relationship here. Unless you want to be held in hospital against your will under court order (i.e. 'sectioned').
Age d'or: Lit: 'the golden age'. Probably a reference to what happens before you have your cataract operation.
Borderline personality: Where you're filling out Axis II (see 'Axis')- Any woman under 30 with psychiatric problems.
Axis: Something to do with DSM-IV, that goes in the notes between 'history' and 'plan'. Almost certainly evil.
Tabernac: The worst swear word in Canadian French. Literally means : 'tabernacle' in English, although I'm not sure that makes it any clearer.
Selexa: Local equivalent of Smarties.
And some words they're having difficulty getting used to:
Brolly.
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Le battering ram
Despite the fact that medical care here is still public like the UK, there is a world of difference.
Yesterday I saw an elderly man with recently diagnosed depression. Amongst all the blood tests he had, he had an amylase requested on the form. He had no symptoms of pancreatitis. He had never had pancreatitis. He had no other indication for amylase being done (and I just googled it to check if there was something I was missing). It was just one of the many boxes that gets ticked.
The doctor told me that PSA is also done routinely on all elderly men that present with new psychiatric problems, regardless of whether they are symptomatic or not. The reason "I once had an elderly patient with newly diagnosed depression, and it turned out his PSA was through the roof."
That's as maybe. But even so, why make the diagnosis in an asymptomatic patient? I was always taught that elderly men are more likely to die with prostate cancer than from it. Is it really necessary to put someone through treatment with major surgery and radiotherapy if they may die sooner and more quickly of a massive heart attack?
The patients also get abdominal ultrasounds. I don't know if PSA is done regularly on UK psychiatric patients (maybe it is, if so, correct me) but I'm pretty sure abdominal ultrasounds aren't. His argument "We have the technology, we may as well use it."
Yes, sure. But to me this approach lacks elegance. It's like trying to get into your own house when you've lost your keys. You can get a locksmith to come over and pick the lock, using his judgement as to which key is most likely to fit, or you can hire a tank and drive it straight at the door. The choice is yours.
In lighter news, today I was in the One Dollar shop, talking to one of my fellow students and a girl walked past me, stopped and said "Are you from London?"
"Yes I am."
"Wow, that's so cool. I luuuuurve Coronation Street."
Yesterday I saw an elderly man with recently diagnosed depression. Amongst all the blood tests he had, he had an amylase requested on the form. He had no symptoms of pancreatitis. He had never had pancreatitis. He had no other indication for amylase being done (and I just googled it to check if there was something I was missing). It was just one of the many boxes that gets ticked.
The doctor told me that PSA is also done routinely on all elderly men that present with new psychiatric problems, regardless of whether they are symptomatic or not. The reason "I once had an elderly patient with newly diagnosed depression, and it turned out his PSA was through the roof."
That's as maybe. But even so, why make the diagnosis in an asymptomatic patient? I was always taught that elderly men are more likely to die with prostate cancer than from it. Is it really necessary to put someone through treatment with major surgery and radiotherapy if they may die sooner and more quickly of a massive heart attack?
The patients also get abdominal ultrasounds. I don't know if PSA is done regularly on UK psychiatric patients (maybe it is, if so, correct me) but I'm pretty sure abdominal ultrasounds aren't. His argument "We have the technology, we may as well use it."
Yes, sure. But to me this approach lacks elegance. It's like trying to get into your own house when you've lost your keys. You can get a locksmith to come over and pick the lock, using his judgement as to which key is most likely to fit, or you can hire a tank and drive it straight at the door. The choice is yours.
In lighter news, today I was in the One Dollar shop, talking to one of my fellow students and a girl walked past me, stopped and said "Are you from London?"
"Yes I am."
"Wow, that's so cool. I luuuuurve Coronation Street."
Monday 24 September 2007
le couch
North American psychiatry is exactly as I'd imagined it would be. On the wall, certificates. Mahogany furniture and bookshelves stuffed with books. And a bust (not of Freud, but Hippocrates).
And a couch. OK, it's not a chaise longue (it looks more like something you might see in a DHS advert) but a couch all the same.
It's about a million miles away from the NHS.
Didn't have much to do today so went shopping instead. My timetable is looking quite relaxed which is good, so I have time to just chill. I like this city.
And everyone here *loves* the English accent. Really. Sample conversation in bookshop today with book guy "Wow...I love your accent. I'm guessing....Wales?"
Me: "No, London."
Book guy "Riiiight. I guess I thought it just sounded a little more Northern..."
(I really need to get these people a map of the British Isles!)
And I'm still trying to get my ears around Canadian French. Apparently when I speak French, I speak with a 'French' accent. Funny that.
And a couch. OK, it's not a chaise longue (it looks more like something you might see in a DHS advert) but a couch all the same.
It's about a million miles away from the NHS.
Didn't have much to do today so went shopping instead. My timetable is looking quite relaxed which is good, so I have time to just chill. I like this city.
And everyone here *loves* the English accent. Really. Sample conversation in bookshop today with book guy "Wow...I love your accent. I'm guessing....Wales?"
Me: "No, London."
Book guy "Riiiight. I guess I thought it just sounded a little more Northern..."
(I really need to get these people a map of the British Isles!)
And I'm still trying to get my ears around Canadian French. Apparently when I speak French, I speak with a 'French' accent. Funny that.
Sunday 23 September 2007
Le weekend
Le weekend has been spent wandering around town. Friday- downtown- shoe shops and smoked meat (v nice). And an art gallery, for le culture (OK, enough of the 'le's)
Saturday- the Old Town and the Quartier Latin.
Today I went to Mont Royal, the big park on the mountain. I walked through the cool shade of the trees, and sat by the lake, watching the world go by. On my return, I passed the Tam Tams, a big drumming free-for-all run by hippies every Sunday afternoon til the end of summer. Basically crazy people dancing to a frenzied increasingly-faster beat and everyone else watching politely from the banks of the hill. Lovely atmosphere though. I particularly liked the old woman who must have been about 70 in a pink flamenco dress shaking her castanets in an entirely different rhythm to that of the drums. They were still going when I walked past this evening, oblivious to the fact it was dark and all the tourists had left.
I also went for a walk to a street I read about in a magazine-Vautier or something. I think it must be the old Jewish quarter because it was full of bagel shops and the odd Orthodox Jew. I had a wonderful *real* coffee in a cafe where they played folky blues music, and the noticeboard had adverts for yoga classes and requests for 'a house where I can write, alone'. On the way back I bought half a dozen bagels from the bagel shop where the man who served me turned out to be a lecturer in political science at McGill! It turned out he'd visited London a few years ago but couldn't remember where except that it was South West ("Ipswich?" "No, that's not in London....") Anyway, he was very kind. And it turns out I actually do like bagels.
Basically this town is full of hippies and it's great :-) I have a wonderful picture of a car painted purple with flowers that says things like "Paix dans le monde" (World Peace) and "Je suis fiere d'etre un parisien putain" ("I'm proud to be a parisian whore" Not quite sure what that means but we'll gloss over it...) I'll put it up when I sort out my photos.
I'm really enjoying having some time and space alone to explore things, and feel totally free. It's very liberating.
I start tomorrow! Am actually really looking forward to it.
Saturday- the Old Town and the Quartier Latin.
Today I went to Mont Royal, the big park on the mountain. I walked through the cool shade of the trees, and sat by the lake, watching the world go by. On my return, I passed the Tam Tams, a big drumming free-for-all run by hippies every Sunday afternoon til the end of summer. Basically crazy people dancing to a frenzied increasingly-faster beat and everyone else watching politely from the banks of the hill. Lovely atmosphere though. I particularly liked the old woman who must have been about 70 in a pink flamenco dress shaking her castanets in an entirely different rhythm to that of the drums. They were still going when I walked past this evening, oblivious to the fact it was dark and all the tourists had left.
I also went for a walk to a street I read about in a magazine-Vautier or something. I think it must be the old Jewish quarter because it was full of bagel shops and the odd Orthodox Jew. I had a wonderful *real* coffee in a cafe where they played folky blues music, and the noticeboard had adverts for yoga classes and requests for 'a house where I can write, alone'. On the way back I bought half a dozen bagels from the bagel shop where the man who served me turned out to be a lecturer in political science at McGill! It turned out he'd visited London a few years ago but couldn't remember where except that it was South West ("Ipswich?" "No, that's not in London....") Anyway, he was very kind. And it turns out I actually do like bagels.
Basically this town is full of hippies and it's great :-) I have a wonderful picture of a car painted purple with flowers that says things like "Paix dans le monde" (World Peace) and "Je suis fiere d'etre un parisien putain" ("I'm proud to be a parisian whore" Not quite sure what that means but we'll gloss over it...) I'll put it up when I sort out my photos.
I'm really enjoying having some time and space alone to explore things, and feel totally free. It's very liberating.
I start tomorrow! Am actually really looking forward to it.
Thursday 20 September 2007
Le Premier...
One hour to go before the taxi arrives, and I decide to start a blog. But everything is packed, the suitcases are in the hall, I have done by online check-in and all that is left is the early tremble of excitement building.
For those of you who don't know me, let me introduce myself. I am a British final year medical student about to go on my elective to Montreal, in Psychiatry. (I am going to keep this anonymous in case I want to talk about medical things). I loved writing a blog about my previous travels in Japan, and I like reading other people's medical blogs. So this should be a kind of combination of both.
What to tell you about myself....? I like dark chocolate and films with subtitles, dressing up, random conversations with strangers, West and East London (but not North or South so much), olives, and (occasionally) trashy magazines. I speak French quite well. I have never killed anyone (something for MTAS perhaps?) but I *have* made a lot of people bleed. I usually alternate between hyper-anxious and stressed, and happy and bouncy. I hope this gives you a better idea of who I am, although more will come!
Anyway, this is really just a test blog, so I'll write more fully when I arrive.
Wish me luck!
For those of you who don't know me, let me introduce myself. I am a British final year medical student about to go on my elective to Montreal, in Psychiatry. (I am going to keep this anonymous in case I want to talk about medical things). I loved writing a blog about my previous travels in Japan, and I like reading other people's medical blogs. So this should be a kind of combination of both.
What to tell you about myself....? I like dark chocolate and films with subtitles, dressing up, random conversations with strangers, West and East London (but not North or South so much), olives, and (occasionally) trashy magazines. I speak French quite well. I have never killed anyone (something for MTAS perhaps?) but I *have* made a lot of people bleed. I usually alternate between hyper-anxious and stressed, and happy and bouncy. I hope this gives you a better idea of who I am, although more will come!
Anyway, this is really just a test blog, so I'll write more fully when I arrive.
Wish me luck!
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