Looking Under The Microscope

Looking Under The Microscope

I have never ever ever ever seen anything taken from me under the microscope, until today. We were asked to have a look at swabs/samples taken from ourselves. I'm suffering from a cough so I though, why not my phlegm? (Yeah.. eewww...) What did I find? Loads of pus cells and cocci. So yeah, now I know that as I'm coughing and hearing strange noises in my throat, the pus cells and cocci are moving around. In a strange sense, the world under the microscope can look very pretty. *grin*

Changes

Changes

I study in a University housed in an ex shopping mall which is constantly undergoing renovations. What does this mean to us students? Noise? Nah... the noise isn't that bad. Most of the time, we don't hear much. Changes, loads and loads of changes.

I went to KKB for 10 days to come back to a school where things look different. Let's see, as I'm typing this, I'm actually sitting in the library where the computer tables are different (very much prettier than before, mind you), us mere students can now walk into the glassed up Red Spot section instead of having to get to librarians to get the books for us. The medical museum has moved down one level to where the seminar rooms (SR) and dunno-what office used to be. I guess that means that we can run from LT to Lab to E-Lab to MMS to Library much faster now. Yesterday's BS lesson saw me running from 3rd floor to 2nd floor to the 1st floor to look for the missing SR 1. That's downstairs now. I see them doing something outside the PBL rooms, no idea what though. Well...

What can I say? My school is an ever changing maze, amazing isn't it?

Patch Adams Again

Patch Adams Again

We watched Patch Adams again, this time, as part of Behavioural Science. It's the second time I'm watching the movie in less than 6 months and I must say that it's no less inspiring than the first. The difference between watching it for BS and for MS is that this time round, we got to discuss it a little more. PJ has always advocated friendliness with patients, since he was the one who facilitated (for a lack of better word) the session today, many issues from the movie were pointed out.

I'm sure most of us, after watching the movie, want to be Patch the second but hey, let's also not be too idealistic. It is not really all that possible. PJ said something like (I can't remember his exact words) "there can be 2 extremes, Patch Adams on one end and on the other, your unfeeling, uncaring doctors, you guys just have to play around in the middle". I hope, in time to come, I'll be more on the Patch side. Well...

If we want to treat a disease, treat indifference.

Come to think of it, what else is there in the human race that is more scary than indifference?

PJ left us with this quote...

"Cure sometimes, heal often, comfort all the time"

And his 5 senses aka Jambu's 5 Senses...

1. Sense of God
2. Sense of Reality
3. Sense of Responsibility
4. Common Sense
5. Sense of Humour

Murmur

Murmur

Let's just say that I've never ever kena during CSU as much as I have today. The last time I kena was when Dr J asked me what sweaty palms indicate and I was so shocked I couldn't answer. Today...

Dr K: What's a murmur? *Leaning forward, palms on the table right in front of me, looking into my eyes*

Me: *Gulp* Turbulent flow?

Dr K: Yes, it's caused by turbulent flow, I want the definition.

Me: Er...

Dr K: Go find out the definition, I'll ask you the next time I see you.

(YP's resolution for sem 3, see Dr K along the corridors and walk in opposite direction.)
---

Dr K: We've heard reports about your fingernails so I want to have a look at them. *Walks around*

Me: (Omg... totally forgot all about it!!!)

(Needless to say, I kena also lah)
---

And during physical examination...
(Yours truly read through the whole CVS physical examination last night, only left out the peripheral arteries 'cos well, half the time they skip it.)

Dr S: Tell me, what are the peripheral pulses.

Me: Blah blah blah

Dr S: Now, show me.

Me: (Omg, I can't put name and location together.. die die die)
---

Ok guys, I'm going to be a good kid, study harder and go for extra CSUs. Anyone wanna join me ah?

A Question-Generating Robot

A Question-Generating Robot

Yesterday's CSU session was on short history taking. We had 3 SPs, 5 minutes with each one of them. No need to take a full history, just take what was written on the instructions we were given, about 3 to 4 of the 8 main items, actually. 5 minutes isn't wonderfully long, so it was terribly mechanical...

Student: Good morning, I'm XYZ, a first year medical student. How may I address you? *shake hand*

SP: I'm ABC

Student: May I ask you a few questions regarding your medical history please?

SP: Yes.

Student: Before we begin, may I have your full name?

SP: A... B... C...

Student: Your age?

SP: blah.

Student: Occupation?

SP: blah.

Student: Religion?

and it goes on.

If anything, it made me feel like a robot. Somehow, if PJ or any of the BS lecturers saw us, we would have been murdered on the spot. Thank goodness we were told during the debrief that during OSCE, we won't have to take so much history within the 5 minutes. But... somehow, I think this resembles real life, if we were to shorten waiting time. No?

Dr J did mention about the possibility of a communication OSCE where we'll be assessed on our communication skills, not just on whether we can act like robotic medical students. We'll once more be expected to be warm and friendly individuals. Ahh... that'll be interesting.

2+3+1=6

2 + 3 + 1 = 6

Great experience, did better than we thought we would, overall, good. :) My maiden tourney!!! Our aim was simple, just don't finish last in all three rounds. It was my first time teaming up with Sheena, it was my anything-serious-like BP style debate, it was my first inter varsity debate lah!

I had to honour of meeting a lot of nice, warm and friendly people, remeeting people I met at IVF earlier this year. Yes, overall an enjoyable experience.

Oh ya!!! I need to thank some people. Thanks, Sheena, for feeding me and basically, for teaching me how to debate. Thanks to the UiTM people for the ride back to KL and to Shama and Imran for accompanying us while we were waiting. Thanks to Lin & Al. Thanks to all the nice people I met at KUiTTHO for being nice. (Now it sounds as if I just recieved an award and is giving my thank you speech, omg)

Updates!!!

Updates!!!

I just added a few links recently. Auyongtc, TV Smith and IreneQ under blogz. Why did I take so long to link them? Er.. ah.. ERRR... Lazy. I've also discovered that Vijay and Yean Koon has blogs, and have linked them under Med Peepz. VJK is Vijay's blog and Fliegender Zirkus is YK's. Whoever knows the meaning of Fliegender Zirkus, please tell me.

I've also removed links to blogs which are no longer active. Sorry guys...

Oh ya, and no posts from me after 3pm today till Sunday morning 'cos Sheena and I are off to humiliate ourselves. Not so much her, she's good. Me. I suck at this thing we're going to do. OMG, why did I say I'll go. Sigh.

Ah? Really? NO!!!

Ah? Really? NO!!!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Oh no... :(

A Conversation

A Conversation

We were on our way to MERU when...

S: Hi M. Wanna do some adjudicating this weekend?

M: What?

S: We're going to debate at XYZ.

M: Where's that?

S: Between Batu Pahat and Ayer Hitam.

M: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA between Batu Pahat and Ayer Hitam HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA (laughter continues for a long while, both S & I were really amused). I'll give you the official reason.

S & I: Yes?

M: My presentation is due soon, so I have to work on it this weekend. HAHAHAHAHA between Batu Pahat and Ayer Hitam. But I'll tell you the truth, even if I'm free, I won't go. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA

Yes, Semester 4 is really stressful. Poor M has gone crazy. Sigh...

A Canggih E-Lab

Has anyone seen the super canggih new e-lab? Well, I guess all those involved in VMU would have. :) I'm sitting in there now as I write this post. But, what happened earlier did prove one thing, not everything that looks canggih works.

Us: The network is down, we can't access the internet. Can't do our assignment.

X: You can send an email to that email address you were given to explain why you can't do the assignment.

Me: We can't access the internet, we can't email.

X: You can send the email later.

Me: So can we go now?

X: No, you've to stay for at least half an hour, then send the email saying that you can't complete the assignment in time because the network is down.

Me: ???

---

Me: We still can't access the net.

Y: Send a complain to the email address you were given.

Me: We can't access the internet, we can't email.

Y: Oh ya.

Next thing we knew, Dr J and Dr A were here. And the problem was solved in less than 5 minutes.

Blog Addiction

The article is out and it wasn't as negative as I thought. *huge sigh of relief* Thanks Irene, for the interview and all. Now, it's my turn to talk about blog addiction.

\Ad*dic"tion\, n 1: being abnormally dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs) [syn: dependence, dependency] 2: an abnormally strong craving

Before I begin, we talk about blog addiction, but what about addiction with regards to traditional pen and paper journal writing? The only difference between the two will be the amount of privacy which may or may not mean anything. Unless, of course, bloggers are addicted to the attention they get from their readers. Hmm... *ponder*

Is it addiction to blogging unhealthy? From the article,

"Human beings are social animals -- we need to socialise, meet people, share feelings and spend time together. If we spend more and more time alone, facing the screen, we'll be cutting down on our social time."

It's true, face to face interaction is very important, IMHO, hence should not and cannot be replaced by reading blogs or emails, for that matter. Bloggers and other non-blogging internet users should make it a point to interact with people in real life. Having said that, it is easier to type than to talk about certain issues. In its own ways, blogging is a way mode of communication and may help certain people open up. Better to type it than to keep it all in the head, don't you think? In my case, I talk/whine/complain/grumble to my friends but I do the same on my blog. However, there are certain issues that will appear on my blog before I talk about them and vice versa.

Blogging also gives one a chance to re-read your thoughts after some time and it's strange when you find out how much your thoughts about a certain subject can change in a matter of months or even weeks. It also helps us discover more about ourselves as we read our own blogs. (Don't know what I mean? Heh, start blogging, you'll know.)

To answer the question, I think it isn't unhealthy but as with any other thing, too much is not good and one must learn to prioritise (I'm not too good at this though.)

Am I a blog addict? Let's see... I like blogging, I don't shrivel up and die if I don't, I enjoy blogging, I don't feel deprived when I don't, I blog whenever I can, I blog more than once a day, I get upset when I have a lot on my mind that I want to blog about but only have my PDA to write in. Am I addicted? Yes, I guess I am. It doesn't take over my life though. (Hey, do I need to go see PJ for counselling huh?)

Btw, blogging helped Sheena improve her typing. My 2 fingers typing friend has progressed to using 4 fingers! Hurray!!!

Trackback

Trackback

Okiez, trackback is up thanks to a friend's suggestion, :) I also know that it'll be "trackback (0)" most of the time, but er.. I'll just put it up lah.

A Doctor, A Mechanic
I wrote this is KKB but didn't know whether to post it or not. Just some thoughts after the stint in the OPD, please don't mind me.

They tell us that a patient is, above all else, a person and that one should never forget that. They remind us constantly never to treat a patient as merely a disease or illness. I like to believe what they say. I like to think that I haven’t been living in my own idealistic little planet. I knew from the beginning that I was wrong, but I refused to believe so until now.

Having sat in the clinic for a whole day, watching patients come and go, watching the MO at work, all I can say is that the relationship between a doctor and his patient is synonymous to that of a mechanic and a car. The simplest way I can put this is, problem come, attempt to solve problem, send out of workshop. Each patient was treated as a problem and no more than that. Some of them wanted to say more, wanted to talk and all we see if a Dr nodding away while scribbling something on the patient’s card. The Dr’s pretense at “listening” can only be called a vain attempt. Is it his fault? Is he uncaring? Looking at the crowd in the waiting area, as some patients knock impatiently at the door, complaining about the long wait, one can only say that it doesn’t matter whether he cares, he has no choice. Is this only found in the government sector? Do we blame the system? Do we blame the patients’ impatience? Do we blame the Drs? Do we blame the medical schools? I don’t know and am not in a position to judge.

I do know, however, that I don’t want to be a mechanic or I would have gone to some technical school. In a way, this experience is telling me, "Earth calling YP, earth calling YP, time to embark on a trip back to earth, girl."

Thank goodness, however, that just as the stint in OPD was depressing and discouraging, the one in the wards was pleasant, inspiring and very encouraging.

Little Kids

Those who were in the same car as we were going for dinner on Wednesday night will know that I like kids. Yeah, before dinner, we saw a whole bunch of them outside the house and Elena handed out sweets to them and I fell in love with a little girl. Came home to JB last night and this morning my aunt brought her 2 grandkids to ma's office to visit as on all Saturdays and when she left, another cousin brought her 2 month old baby also.


Dawn: Look! I stole grandaunt's highlighters and I can draw draw draw!!!



Teng: Yee!!! Boo!



GY: I wanna sleep lah, mummy. *drool* mm.. what's with these adults, always asking me to wake up to take photos. Let me sleep lah... take the camera away!!!
    


If anyone wanna know, Teng is 4 years and a mth old, Dawn is 2 yrs and 4 mths old and little GY is 2 mths old. :)

The Ulu-ulu Land Trip
 
Despite the 4 posts I posted after coming back from Ulu-ulu Land, I didn't say much about what happened then... so, here goes... (I'll try my best to not be longwinded)
 
On the 7th of July, I woke up in the morning and brush my teeth and... (sounding like a 9 year old's diary)... well, piled into Lydia's car (dun wanna sit in the IMU bus), followed behind the IMU bus and a few other cars, got caught in a heavy rain, observed that the bus driver drives faster if it's raining and doesn't use the accelerator much if it isn't. Ok, going off topic. Arrived in Ulu-ulu Land at almost 5pm, took a long while to sort out the accomodations but that's another story... got updates from Group A on what the whole KKB thingie is about after which they brought us to have wan tan mee. (Yeah, it's a passing the good stuff thing, Group A will bring us around, we'll be Group C around and so on.) The girls then went to house No. 11A to play games and gossip gossip... I left after a while 'cos my eyelids insist on closing.
 
8th July, first day at the hospital. First time clerking a warded patient. Very different from history taking in the community clinics or in Seremban's OPD in semester 1, I think. First time doing physical examination on a real patient, must say that I was kinda scared in the beginning. Oh ya! Took history in BM, so proud of myself! *beams* Also discovered that Acid is really good when it comes to these stuff, everyone, a round of applause for Acid please. The way he talks to the patients, the way he carries himself, impressive. First time at a bedside teaching session, got Dr Lim and she was really nice.
 
9th July,  pretty much the same as the 8th, only highlight was eye clinic. :) Spoke to a really pleasant patient, very inspiring. Bedside teaching that day was bad. Shan't blog about that part. Bah.
 
10th July, went up to Fraser, nice and cooling but nothing much to do. It was a nice change to walk and walk and walk and yet not be sweaty. Heehee. Oh ya, whoever was on Fraser the same day and saw a group of people singing, laughing and chasing each other like they are crazy, that would have been us. The evening saw us at what Ailing calls the themepark of KKB, A&E!!! (Yeah, sad eh?) The trip was pretty good actually, saw quite a bit, learnt a lot (since they have more time to "entertain" us irritating students at night). Left to go to a cybercafe where we found that its server can rival IMU's. Sheesh!
 
11th July, woke up bright and early to have breakfast so those who wanna go church can go after breakfast. Went back, read the papers... napped... Grace & Lydia came back... was introduced to the world of Cryptic Crosswords... napped... crosswords... dinner and off to the "themepark" again. Visited our friends in the hostel first though...  spoke to people that I seldom speak to. :) Nothing much happened in the "themepark" that night so we spent our time ransacking the place. Hee.
 
12th July, got up early to go for breakfast only to recieve a call that there was to be a delivery soon. Rushed like mad idiots to the hospital, saw the deliveries, had breakfast in the hospital's canteen (read: bad food) and continued with the day.  Found Dr T's long lost twin. :P
 
13th to 15th July, family medicine. Went to Klinik Kesihatan Serendah and KKB's OPD. KKS was a very big KK, I must say. Nice part was that it was fully air con. Mmm.. nice. The day at OPD was boring. 'nuff said.
 
15th July, was hanging around when Elena told us about a post mortem later that day. Good experience, a little freaked after that but overall, OK. (Yeah, I'm a morbid medical student) Headed back to Bukit Jalil on the same day, got caught in a heavy downpour and a crazy jam. Good to get back, I must say.

Guys...

When boredom gets to the guys, they turn weird.



Wonder what some people are thinking... *wink*

Learning Something Else

IMU has a whole list of objectives for sending us to Ulu-ulu land, I guess, but one thing that wasn't in their list of outcomes and objectives, which many of us got out of this trip was ... *drum roll* ... getting to know our peers better. Normally, it's those of us who are in the same group (I won't use the word clique) that eat together, go out together and hence, know each other better and better, as for others... it's just a matter of putting faces to names and leaving it at that. Ulu-land trip had us all split up into different group and spending time with people you're not all that close to really help you get to know them. Yupz, this is one of the things I liked about the trip. Here's part of a group I was hanging out with during the trip.



This photo is entitled "drwannabes". You wanna know why? Dun wanna tell you...

Addicted

Someone asked me whether someone else was addicted to blogging and here's what happened one evening while a bunch of us were sitting around...

S: Eh, YP, do you know what I miss?

Me: Er...

S: The IMU E-lab!

(Then the PY came in and we spoke 'bout what we do online, she said there isn't much to do!!!)

S: Yeah, basically I check my email.

Me: And?

S: I read economist. (Everyone can tell that she has an answer she dun wanna give)

Me: And blog?

S: Heehee.

Here's a pic I took with her :)



Took it on the morning of my last day at KKB.

I AM BACK!

I'm back from Ulu-ulu land, with loads to say and hence loads to post. The trip was both boring and interesting (yeah, I know I don't make sense). I'll do the postings tomorrow morning but just thought I'll leave a mark now to say that I'm back. :)

A Long Break

I'm going to be away for NINE whole days. From 070704 (Wednesday) afternoon to 150704(Thursday) evening, I'll be stuck in ulu-ulu land. Needa find me, please call me. Not urgent, send me an email or leave me a msg on ICQ. If you dun have my phone number, my email addie or my ICQ contact, then I doubt you'll have anything urgent to tell me. Tataz.

What Happened At Midvalley

Had a little gathering...

Someone hugged someone, someone kissed someone, someone got burnt by a ciggie (I hope you're better now), someone didn't get on someone's truck ('cos the truck wasn't there), someone showed his fatherly side (grapes anyone?), someone showed me that famous people can be nice, someone brought a hawt friend, someone is just like what I expected her to be like, someone thinks someone is a citibank boy, someone has a new nick, someone very nice gave me a lift home (thanks), someone walked around like he was in a world of his own yet seem to know everything only if you bother to ask him, someone and someone else called from overseas, someone called from another state, someone and someone else got calls from us, someone and his wife very sweet, someone wants a new notebook.

Yupz, that's a gist of what happened. You want simpler version? Er... we met up and drank kopi and had dinner. Er.. No photos will be up though. :) You'll hafta look elsewhere to find photos k? kthxbais. :P

A Change

Dor commented that my blog's getting bitchier and bitchier... so here's a change from the bitchy posts that have been going on and on for the past few weeks? days?

Yesterday, Iwokeupinthemorningandbrushmyteethandwashmyfaceandshowerandchangeandhadmybreakfast. Then, Iwenttomeetdoreenforlunchins'pore. AfterlunchsheleftforameetingandIwentbacktoHQtokacauangieandshannen.

Heehee, what a mouthful!!! But well, at least it isn't bitchy right? :P :P :P I like the new office, but it doesn't have the homey feeling that the old one has but well, it's about familarity, I guess. :)

Thanks, Dor, for the lunch. And to Shannen and Angie and Rita and Khai, thanks for not shooing me away ah... heehee. All the events coming up but I won't be involved so I guess all I can do is wish you guys all da bestest!!! Er.. I'll be with you spiritually? (I quote this from someone.. :P)

Some People Shouldn't Exist

*BITCH ALERT!!!* *BITCH ALERT!!!* If you can't stand crazy bitching, please stop reading right now.

You've been warned, so I'll start. I'm angry, I'm angry, OMG, I'm so angry. I'll call him Mr I-gonna-complain-to-your-mama aka Mr Crybaby. Some people... first he was unreasonable, then he didn't return us what he was supposed to, then he claimed that certain things were common sense, nevermind that when common sense stuff applied to him, we should have told him. (Ok, he has no common sense, I'll accept that) He shouted at us in his omg-can't-it-be-more-fake accent in his cannot-make-it English the whole bulk of his side of the conversation filled with "Don't I have the right to change my decision?" Now, if he's reading this, then well, you have the right to change your decision, but not when it affects other people. And when it does, you have to LET OTHER PEOPLE KNOW! Come to think of it, even if he reads this, he might not understand it. Cummon' some people need to fake an accent in order to feel superior when he is in the midst of an argument? Sigh.

Ok, so us being us, we tried to reason with him and sheesh, it didn't work!!! (Why am I not surprised???) He had the nerves to go to one of our parents and asked her to get us to stop shouting and cursing him and to leave him alone. 'Cos in order to do well in his exams, he'll need to have some PEACE. 1. Who was the one who raised his voice first? 2. *cough* Even if he does well in his studies, he'll never be a good Dr. Know why? 'Cos he has problems with his communication skills and oh ya, his skull is pretty thick. It might just be congenital. Not his fault... not his fault... Last bit.. Only those under the age of 12 run to their Mummys or complain to other people's Mummys when they have problems. Because Mr Crybaby, Sir, you are TWENTY ONE, you are expected to SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS.

*end of bitching*

Please do not come to me and ask me who "US" referred to and don't ask me who Mr I-gonna-complain-to-your-mama is.

MedBlogs

Recently, there's an article on Medscape on Medblogs entitled Web Logs Offer Viewers a Rare Glimpse Into the World of Medicine.

It's a pretty interesting article about blogging among healthcare workers. In fact, there's even a url in there where you can find a whole bunch of MedBlogs. This webpage has feed (Er, RSS feeds is it?) from various doctors', nurses', patients', medical students', residents' blogs, and also feeds on Med News, Health Biz and other stuff. A pretty comprehensive page, IMHO.

Back to the article...

Although those blogs may not contribute much to the practice of medicine, he said, "to some degree they enhance the transparency of medicine." Patients reading those blogs see a human side of doctors not readily apparent in the office, and other medical professionals feel a close connection with each other that often is absent in practice.

Ideally, medical blogs may be able to foster greater understanding among different branches of the medical world and with patients, though even the most ardent advocates recognize their limitations, too.

Makes me wonder, how will Malaysian blogging Drs react if they know that their patients read their blog?

What CVS Did To Us...

These were stuff that happened in this little place in Bukit Jalil a few days ago... (on top of those that I posted about previously)

1. Someone decided that she wants to try her hand at hairdressing and well, someone else became a victim.

2. A decided that he wanted to say something witty about J's pigginess and gets chased around the apartment, knocking down his cactus and ended up being locked out at the balcony.

3. A decided that he wanted to practice his vocal chords and starts singing at 2 in the morning.

4. Everyone has become texttwist experts... well, apart from J.

5. People reported of dreams of drug names and clinical manifestations.

6. Sleep is reserved for after the sun is up.

7. Blasting music in the middle of the night is acceptable.

8. Dining table & study table & rubbish-dump lookalike are synonyms.

9. 2 1.5L of coke appear in the apartment and promptly disappears the same evening.

10. Warm drinks also find a rise in popularity in this apartment. (Where normally no one drinks anything that's remotely un-cold)

I Feel Silly

I just sat for the CVS end of system assessment today, a 1 hour paper which will contribute 5% to my Sem 3 EoS. It's a 1 hour paper but most people in my batch have been losing weeks of sleep over it, getting stressed up like crazy, pacing the corridor in the middle of the night etc. (I'll post 'bout the situation in my apt the few days b4 the paper later on... it was crazy)

Sometime this afternoon, I suddenly found myself thinking, "OI!!! DUMBO!!! Why are you so stressed up??? Why are you getting yourself sick? It's only a ONE hour TEST" And suddenly it dawned upon me that I've changed a lot since JC/Sec Sch days...

Those days, tests were things you study 2 days beforehand and applaud yourself for even bothering to study. Exams were things you study 2 weeks before and you feel super proud of yourself. And in the midst of all these studying, you still get at least 5 hours of sleep everyday.

Now... I start studying for a test 2 weeks ahead of time and I feel as guilty as can be. As for sleep? Er... did you say sleep??? One week, 15 hours, maybe? Let's just say that I've been watching quite a few sunrises these days. Beautiful things. :) Maybe I'll take a pic of it one day. Oh yah, must also take a pic of the night view from my balcony... pretty!!!