selamat Hari Raya 2011

This picture was sent in today by PetPlayground since it was 1st Syawal for Malaysia.

However, Brunei will be joining the celebration on 31st Aug. And with that, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir Batin. May this Syawal makes us to be grateful of our life.

I'm glad for being able to celebrate Raya this time with my family members. The fact that a few people that i know have left to meet Him this year, i cannot imagine how tough this Syawal will be for their families. My prayers are with all of you. May their families remain strong and united to go through this tough time.

otherwise, this marks my last Syawal before embarking on the Housemanship. I'm getting closer to the starting line!

Sent from Hanani's iPhone! Woo!

SPA update

I can't remember when was the last time i update you guys on this matter.

Well, i can summarise here that :

1. I've completed my Medical-Check Up forms. Since i did mine in Hospital Limbang, the whole process took about 2 weeks. The first time i went there, i just had my vision tested (Please bring your visual aids along. I did not use contact lenses for the visit), gave Urine Sample for UFEME and Drug Testing as well as did CXR. The reasons why the whole thing takes time were the fact that it takes about a week for the drug testing to be done as well as to queue for the MO appointment (mind you, this is a small, hulu hospital). If you want it in a hurry, then perhaps u can do it in private sectors. If you do it in the Gov Sector, it'll be for FREE since you are already considered as a government servant.

2. I've also done my Surat Akuan. I simply went to Bangunan Majistret Limbang, went to the Reception Counter and within 10 minutes, i got the whole thing done, also for FREE!

3. I have returned the Surat Terima to SPA.

4. I am surveying on the Shipping Car service from KL to Miri town.

So as of for now, i am just waiting to be called in for the Induction Course. Since most of us wanted to start the HO-ship after Raya, we told SPA to put on hold of our applications. There are pros and cons though but i guess, there is no hurry to start the terrifying "tortures".

Gone

A few weeks back, i received a shocking news that one of my Paeds lecturers, has left us forever. She died due to complications of cancer. I am not sure which one it was but probably due to Krukenberg Tumour, since she had GI symptoms and some of gynaecological complaints. It is an aggressive cancer with poor diagnosis. I was already in Brunei that time and i missed the opportunity to visit her while she was in the ICU in Selayang Hospital.

The last time i met her was in Paediatric posting, which happened to be my last posting as a medical student. I did not actually have her as my Paeds supervisor but she did give us a briefing on the posting. This was way back in May. she was as cheerful, funny as motivated as always. Noone would have guessed that she would be leaving us 3 months later, forever.

She was an inspiration for us all. She was one of the doctors who sacrificed her own health just for the sake of her patients as well as her students. A few months before she experienced this cancer symptoms, she was already in a wheelchair due to knee trauma. Despite being told by the specialist to take MC and rest at home, she still went to the hospital, cut short of her holidays and did her rounds as well as teaching the students. "Who will take care of my medical officers and even teach them if i were away?", she said. That is a quality that is rare and lacking in doctors nowadays. The Passion, to teach and care.

Today, i actually dreamt of her. I had a phone call from her, advicing me to be a good houseman as well as reminding me that the Viva questions are no longer as those of Medical school. I could not understand the latter but what i could interpret from this dream is that, i should not be worried of entering housemanship since i have many supports around me. I should also remember her, whenever i am faced with troubles or hurdles throughout my career.

To Allahyarhamah Dr Norrashidah, May You Be Placed Amongst The Mukmins. Thank You For All Your Words of Wisdoms and Encouragement. You are a precious gem, and you will surely be missed. Al-Fatihah

Her last words for medical personnels can be read here.

http://shidmikegambit.blogspot.com/

Things That I Wish I Know Before Entering Medical School

1. Your family members expect you to help with their diseases. They will be complaining about their pains and you will be clueless on what to advice them.

2. Reading non-medical texts or do non-medical activities will make you feel guilty.

3. Your lecturers will always have these quotes :
"back then, i had to handle the whole ward by myself but you cannot even prepare 1 patient well?"
" back then we did not have technologies like MRI or CT Scan, but we survived. We did not have Internet but we could still study"

4. Whenever it is your turn to present the case, you will not wonder how perfect it will be but instead, how many scoldings will you get this time.

5. No matter how long you read, you lecturer will never be satisfied with your answers.

6. You feel guilty for not spending the night in the hospital.

7. Your friends will regard u as a nerd or goody for doing medicine.

8. It is a sin to think of money or complain about not getting high salary. Everyone wants you to be sincere working as a doctor.

9. Your holiday will be shorter than other courses.

10. You have thick and numerous books that you may not even finish reading.

11. You will never remember anything. You read it last month and the chance is, you may have forgotten it by now.

12. Expect long hours of standing during ward rounds. This can even be up to 3 hours of continuous standing.

13. If you whine a lot, mostly you will be told to quit medicine.

14. They want you to have good communication skills; being able to interpret body languages, to always be nice and courteous towards patients, to not have miscommunications with your colleaguea.

15. you will be comparing yourself with your non-medical friends in terms of number of classes and the numbers of holidays. By the end of it, you will also compare their salary to yours.

16. You will feel extremely excited when you first own a stethoscope and a labcoat. The tendency to show off these apparatus is high! Afterwards, you will feel lame coz you don't know how to interpret the sounds.

17. There will be times you wish you can drop medicine or switch courses.

18. You realise medicine is not as what the TV series "House" displayed.

19. You will be confused with the techniques of physical examinations coz different doctors have different styles. In the end you just don't know whom to follow.

20. You pray hard that you will not be picked to answer questions during rounds.

All these are things that i experience during my 5 years training as a medical student. Hence, some of the facts may not be reliable, depending on where you study. Perhaps, my next list will be that on housemanship.

Sent from Hanani's iPhone! Woo!

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