This post has no photos of what I photographed last week as I am not allowed to show you what I saw (a photograph of the skeleton, Ram Jam, and myself holding hands will have to do ..)
For you see, I spent last week at the University of Alberta Hospital, following around two very talented Medical Photographers -- yes, there is such a thing as a Medical Photographer -- so that I could experience and understand what it is like to be a Medical Photographer!
So what exactly is a photographer of medicine you might ask? Well basically they are there to help document and display patients wounds/surgeries/etc, for reference, and to display a patient's improvements over the course of their healing process.
On my very first day I got invited to stand in on an open heart surgery in the OR. I was like a kid in a candy shop!!!! It was so nerve wracking and exciting!!! I felt like I was on an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Yes, I am weird and I enjoyed watching a human get cut open and worked on. But I have always wanted to be a nurse, or to work in some form of medical field, so this whole Medical Photography thing was quite wonderful.
Aside from the OR, I took photos of various bed wounds, burn victims, club feet improvements, head shape improvements, and a child's birthday party!
I got a tour of the Morgue -- yes, the Morgue -- which was just as interesting as you might think it could be! And no, there is no such thing as a room of drawers where the bodies are kept, like the movies and TV shows like to pretend there is...
All in all, last week was very exciting, upsetting, disturbing at times, and interesting.
I am very thankful that I was able to experience this, and who knows, maybe one day I too will be a Medical Photographer on top of being a Wedding and Portrait Photographer ;)