Tuesday

I'm starting to question if I'll do one of these for every day. Probably not if it gets routine and boring or I get too busy.

Today was almost routine and boring, except I remembered why genetics research was cool after Prof Mackey practised a lecture on us that he's giving tomorrow evening. Very interesting, and actually pointed out some practical applications of this stuff, about knowing how to modify therapies appropriately once we know how much of a disease is really genetic and how much is environmental.

Lots of twin studies in collaboration with Mr Hammond (the consultant ophthalmologist who recommended I go here in the first place, and a very nice man I met pre-medschool during work experience) with interesting results about different squint types being either completely environmental (smoking during pregnancy is bad - we knew this already, but now we can 'threaten' with the fact that their kids won't be able to watch 3D movies, you know, alongside the risks of birth defects etc.) or completely genetic.

He's also written an interesting article about timelines of research to interventions, and it's worth noting that the Human Genome Project ('finished' in 2003), based on some research to effective therapy timelines, still has up to 20 years to go before we're expecting any treatments to appear as a direct result of it. Left me optimistic about the future.

Work wise, that was it for the day. Tomorrow is going to be discussion of the research project I can get involved in, with a team member who's coming for the aforementioned evening lecture (and other things, it's a gathering of ophthal people).

Decided to do something tourist-y in the afternoon, and wanted to go to the zoo but it shuts at 5, and the river cruise to get there was at 2.15 (cruise takes an hour and a bit). So I just did the river cruise to Fremantle and back. Sunny, lovely weather, and got to be on a boat. Happy days. There was a commentary, but not much of interest. Some rich Australian people's houses. Yachts. A passenger cruise ship in the port. Saw some pelicans - they were cool and partially made up for lack of zoo. Was perhaps a waste of money, but I wasn't to know that until I'd tried it.

Zoo is booked for Saturday. I have the entry ticket and ferry tickets for there and back and everything.

Forgot to mention on yesterday's that I found out I got my 1st choice of location for F1/F2 jobs - Trent deanery (Nottingham and Lincoln and Chesterfield hospitals). Now just waiting for Finals results. Argh.