med school mumblings...

Sunday, May 28, 2006

how time flies. it's very nearly the end of the basic clinical skills posting, and of course i've got this nagging feeling that my "basic" skills aren't really enough. it doesn't help that my cg was taught neuro just on friday and that seniors have gotten neuro long cases for csfc tests!

but it's been an interesting five weeks. there's been so much to learn, from the books and doctors and patients, that there was never a dull day. tiring yes, but never dull - the young man who's got his mitral and tricuspids destroyed due to a drug habit, the elderly gentleman who waited and waited till the growth on his scrotal skin grew into a huge, fungating, hemorrhagic mass that gave off a smell, and the poor patient who got toxic epidermolytic necrosis. very sad.

am pleasantly surprised and touched that the patients and their relatives and friends are so understanding about us examining them. of course some think we're the "big doctors" themselves, but the rest have been quite frank and open about talking to us. am grateful for that. there are nevertheless some who mask details about their history, but most of the time they've got dementia. i will never forget though that middle-aged gentleman (this is so final mb/mrcp) who exclaimed that he never had any blood in the urine ever before in his whole life etc etc, but had given a history of "gross hematuria" to the er doc. gosh.

on to non-medical stuff, attended a close friend's twenty-first last saturday. got me wondering about mine. it'll be at an inconvenient time (end of postings should be in that week) and my house isn't exactly party friendly (it's perpetually in a mess) so if i do decide to have one, i'll have to do it outside. hmmm. whatever, it's too far away for me to think about it right now.

and taylor hicks is the new american idol! yay! right from the start i've always rooted for him, as well as for lisa tucker. was pretty sad that lisa was knocked out, leaving the contrived and unoriginal paris bennet the only young, black female in the competition. granted, paris' voice does remind me of billy holiday, but c'mon, a sixteen yo trying to sound like a mature woman? gimme a break. anyway, i'm glad taylor won, even if his dancing sucks, simply because he's genuinely into the music he sings, and when he performs i want to get up from my couch and dance along. poor elliot and chris though. they both deserved better.

right-o, my surgery test's on thursday, medicine i don't know yet because the department is keeping the identities of our testers under wraps for now. osce's are on friday, and then - the hols!! whoohoo!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

three firsts in one week: first night call, first time most of the alumni choir managed to squeeze into the raffles city starbucks, and my first bloods, in that order. what a week.

my night call was on tuesday evening. we were let off early so the whole group went over to the mall next door for dinner at kfc. after that we went in search of the registrar we were attached to, who then showed us an abscess. here's the funny part. i think someone misinterpreted his instructions, so we ended up clerking. on hindsight and after a senior's tickled laughter, it does sound funny for us to have done that. anyway, we later saw this old lady who was hard of hearing but who was absolutely one of the sweetest around. she was surrounded by her kids and sons- and daughters- in law, so it was sad hear that the doctors expected something unfortunate. after her, we went down to the emergency department, which was jammed pack with people. i've never seen the place so crowded (been there twice as a patient before), with every available inch of space filled with beds, and there were more patients outside coming in by ambulance. we didn't do very much after that, after we went back to the wards. left at about nine thirty, and reached home feeling shagged out.

two days later was vocal exploits (spelled as expoils in the program, ugh) where the alumni performed two songs - africa and a mile in my shoes. was listening to the recording just now, and i'm pleased to announce that the altos can be heard on one of the songs. halleujah. nothing beats the feeling of being on stage and singing your heart out. heh.

today three of use went back to the hospital in the hope of hearing some murmurs. turns out no murmurs but there was a prosthetic click and a nice senior who's now an ho who explained the related stuff to us. talked to several patients before calling it a day, but not before someone caught hold of us asking if we had taken any bloods before. so we said no, and i went first. expectedly, i missed. can totally understand how the patient because it's happened to me before. felt bad, but was relieved to notice that the pain seemed to have dissipated quite fast. one thing i found out was that you gotta take off your gloves before putting the plaster on. in my case the ho did it for me, but in my friend's case, the plaster was stuck firmly to his gloves and we had to get another plaster. oh well, there's a lot to learn huh. for now, i'm praying that i pass this course first. this hospital's medicine department reputedly does fail people and calls them back in the hols. i want my hols!!! -sigh-

and so,

A Mile In My Shoes - Mpact


you see it your way, i see it mine
it's something that's existed
since the dawn of time
we gotta learn to live together each and everyday
and if you could see what i see
we might find a way
cause i know that we are different
but inside we're all the same
and someday you're gonna realize
we're playing the same game

if you walked a mile in my shoes
do you think your eyes would open
and see another view?
if you walked a mile in my shoes
would you be so cavalier
with the words that you choose?
and would you be so quick to put aside
someone who's not like you
not if you walked in my shoes

why does it always seem to be
that everyone i know has a better plan for me?
i'm just tryin' to get my life straight
doin' things my way
and if you would only listen
there might come a day
when you don't only think of me
as a smaller man than you
but an equal part of a bigger plan
that's gonna see us through

Sunday, May 07, 2006

what an election. the opposition set out to give people a choice and look at the choice the people have made. the ruling party has not lost anymore seats to the opposition, but they've got a reduced majority across the board, as much as a twenty percent in some areas. it was quite exciting to watch the results on the telly (it's one of the rare times my parents stayed up past midnight for a tv program) and i heard lots of whoops from nearby blocks when it was announced that hougang was retained by the worker's party, but there were cheers too when we heard that our area was still safe with the pap. hmmmm.

am fast approaching the halfway mark for e clinics. still trying to get a hang of taking a good history; have been to see a doctor so many times in my life, and never once thought that it's really quite difficult to formulate those questions. ot, night duty, and the concert coming up this week. whoot.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

those of you who slept or wasted the may day holiday raise your hands. uh yup, i thought so too. and there's going to be another public holiday next week for us to waste huh. at the start of the long weekend i always have this glorious feeling and eagerly anticipate getting much needed rest and starting the new week fresh and enthusiastic. but in reality, i just throw the extra day away by staying by the telly till past midnight or going out with friends.

oh well. went into the ot yesterday for a grand total of fifteen minutes. it was an ortho case, middle-aged guy who was drunk and drove straight into a gate and landed in a ditch. the operation was to repair the hip fracture he'd sustained. there was a lot of flexing of the joint involved, and was thinking that perhaps is the reason why there're few women in ortho. lots of brawn needed (on top of the brains of course).

today was by far the most tiring day. walked into the hospital in a half-drunk state, and when i was later asked questions during the lecture/tutorial i fumbled for my answers. ugh. later had two endocrine tutorials, one theory based, the other a bedside tut. for the bedside one, it was an malay woman who had a history of poorly controlled dm and stroke. this time apparently she had come in for leg swelling. the tut was a rather good intro to dm actually, so in one and a half hours we learnt quite a lot.

it's skills lab tomorrow and friday. will learn about venepuncture, drips and surturing. i'm expecting it to be somewhat more relaxed than the past few days, then i can get some rest. heh. i'm not in the habit of drinking coffee; looks like i'll have to start soon!