Bastille Day 2009 The last day of orientation. The last 2 days have been challenging. I am discovering how the American Health Care system is driven. Yesterday I was told that my BCLS and ACLS were not recognized because they are not American Heart Foundation accredited. Apparently the International Resuscitation council just isn't good enough. Anyway I will have to do both the courses again. I watched the end of Sicko on TV the other night. It said that the Am...

Well not an unpleasant Bastille Day. The orientation finished this morning and after lunch we were taken on a city tour and visit to the Heritage Village. Dammam is dated, not old, though there are certainly old areas. The city is dirty rather than sandy. The dust is everywhere and on everything. Thus everything is sand coloured. I bought two pot plants for my apartment just to have some green for my senses. Back to the tour. About 15 mins through the city to Mu...

Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Program Hospital Well I am now in week two of orientation. Yesterday we had our drug calculations test. The questions were structured in a much more practical way. Things like working out the fluid restriction differences after medications and what time an IV will finish so you know when the next bag is due. All the teaching here is centred on timing things and when something is due. Documentation is going backwards. There is litera...

Saudi Arabia Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 01/07/2009 @ 1645 hrs local time. (20 past a blur jet-lag time). I was last off the plane as I had to fill out the customs card. But never fear I was 3rd through customs. I was met before customs by the meet/greet National Guard Soldier who escorted me to the front of the line and directly to a customs desk to some uncomfortable looks from the other 400 passengers. But it did save some time and he was a fairly polite ...

Dubai UAE Well Desert Storm explains the last few days, though not so dramatic as a certain political leader with a t*** of a son would have you believe from his last visit to Saudi Arabia. My storm was the real thing I landed in Dammam in the middle of a sand/dust storm with visibility down to about 500 metres. But this did not deter the Mark Webbers in the populace. It appears drive as usual until the environment…. or a stray camel stops you. But I get ahe...