Another reminder to soon to be HO

Lately, the nation is shocked with the death of a Houseman in Hospital Kajang. Some said it was a suicidal attempt but other said he might be overdosed with the stimulants since he was on 5 consecutive calls.

I cannot comment much on this matter simpy cause we need two sides of the story before pointing our fingers to whom might be responsible. What i can only mention here is to share my experiences as a half a year HO.

I was one of the lucky lots who managed to Go through the 2 systems. My first posting was O&G which is usually an active call. I usually ended up sleeping about 30mins per night. on very bad days, i could not sleep at all! It was very tiring and exhausting. Imagine this. Today i will be oncall which means i start from 7am and only to go back TOMORROW at 5pm. Then, i continue to work the day after. Then i'll do on call the day after that. I really feel like i did not have a life. I would be doing 8-9 oncalls per month!

Then, with the introduction of the shift systems, i do feel a bit of relief. My average calls drop to 5-6 per month. We are allowed to go back by noon considering that our job is done. Of course, we lose a few hundred ringgits allowances but the rest worth em all.

for now, i do not complain much on the workload. I dont whine with my oncalls. In fact, i am grateful with the shift. The number of new housemen coming in is also rising. Hence, more manpower is around to distribute the job.

I am not sure how hell life in the hospitals can be but i guess to those who are still looking for hospitals to choose, please do come to the East Malaysia. I do not recommend however going to the big hospitals such as Sarawak General Hospitals and Queen Elizabeth. My hypothesis is that The less HOs there are in the hospital, the less likelihood that the seniors will trash you simply because they appreciate the manpower and they know you work hard.

So, be adventurous and please be mentally and physically prepared before you embark on the housemanship. It's tough and challenging. You've been warned.

Anyway, before i go, the picture above is a view of KK from the plane during my KK visit last weekend! Well, when you work hard, travelling is the way to go!

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/