[update] Urine collection day.

If anyone wants to know, today is the day that I am doing a 24 hour urine collection. At UniMelb, there are people who are running a study determining the effects of the polymorphisms of a sodium channel gene on blood pressure. All the first year medical students were invited to take part in the study to aid in the research of the professors at the university.

Of course, what the uni gets out of it is about 300 more students to get data points out of, without needing to pay financial reimbursement. They need large data sets for determining the effects of certain genes, especially if they do not have a large impact on blood pressure.

For the students, they made it an opportunity for us to learn how to measure blood pressure by auscultation. I think I can do it reasonably comfortably now. It's a lot easier in a quiet room than a prac room where everyone is talking though.

It was also marketed as an opportunity for us to get involved with research, since the University of Melbourne is a highly research intensive university, and because the MD had a focus on research; having a semester dedicated to it.

Finally, they told us that it was good to experience doing a 24 hour urine collection so we know how patients feel when we tell them to do it later on, and so we can explain it better. Meanwhile, my collection bottle seems to be filling at too high of a rate, so maybe I should reduce my water intake for the rest of the day. I don't want to have to carry two urine containers to uni!