family medicine has been quite a relaxing posting. no night calls, only night clinics with a handful of patients. i got the chance to practise taking blood again, watch my first pap smear and do my first wound dressing.

i have to admit that i was pleasantly surprised that the teaching has been good. i wonder if the mmed in family medicine includes a module on teaching medical students, because everything has been explained to us very systematically. not only that, the tutors are very nice. just had a tutorial on community geriatrics this morning, and it was a hoot. lively and interactive and very practical. got a chance to take a spin on a wheelchair and at least for that short distance, it wasn't as hard as i thought it was. of course to wheel oneself everywhere is probably very tiring, but i always thought i would have trouble even getting myself to move or turn around, which i found out to be on the contrary.

so it was that the posting ended off well (ie test wasn't a killer) and we managed to have a wonderful night out. watched the number 23, starring jim carrey. it's a psychological thriller, and tells the story of a man who finds a book entitled the number 23, and finds that the events in the book seem to parallel his life. it's not just the description of his childhood, but also how the number 23 figures in his life - his birthday, wedding day, the day he met his wife, his name, etc. he gets drawn into this world where 23 controls and threatens to destroy him, just as it did to the characters in the book. it leads him to a murder which took place 15 years before, and he believes that the author of the book is the perpetrator. he makes it a personal mission to find out who the killer is, only to discover the shocking truth about the case, and himself.

jim carrey is fantastic as the protagonist walter sparrow, just like how will smith surprised me with his depth of acting in the pursuit of happyness. the movie is riveting and disturbing in the opening scenes, because the story is about an ordinary man in an ordinary town encountering extraordinary events with the introduction of the number 23. however, the story never quite reaches its climax. there is a shocking revelation at the end, but i was left asking, you mean that's all there is to it? there was so much potential to have it end the way the sixth sense did, where you walk out of the cinema with your mind in a whirl. the plot flatlines in the final half hour, which is a real pity. i'll give it 3.5 stars. heh.

after the show, some of us met up at acid bar for some chilling out. it really felt good to be sitting around, listening to the three piece band, and talking about things which we probably would not have discussed anywhere else. my only complaint would be that the songs were quite depressing, songs like foolish games and chasing cars. what i needed then was a couple of cheerful, upbeat songs, but i never got them. sigh.

we gotta do things like that more often. stuff seem to be piling up. the dean's office has finally revealed to some of our classmates the details of the electives (the way we're waiting is like how harry potter fans await the last installment), and we're now to do a one month project and come up with a report and poster. this will make our m5 year the busiest school year ever, since we'll have the ethics essay to hand in, two months of sub-internship to go through, and be the guinea pig batch of the medical science exam. exciting isn't it.

at least there's a sentosa jazz chill out tomorrow evening with the girls to look forward to. home made shepherd's pie and heart-to-heart girl talk, coming right up.