Stressful in Paediatrics

Ward Paed5 had wide range of patients, ranging from simple medicine to orthopaedics and neurosurgery. The assigned ones for me was from some of the specialty mention above. Kind of stressful trying to read them up. Afterall, they are children, and these are the common diseases in their own specific discipline. So, can’t default reading on those foreign topics.

Tutorials must continued, and I am sort of lacking behind in reading, but I found a few interesting books to lighten my day up - one about paed, the other two - non-paed.

Anyway, I believe "That which does not kill me, will only makes me stronger".

the MS's story

***Just read your blog. Ermm…MS is an another endless and sad story (sometimes, but not always). My senior who just passed his prof exam, called us as MS when he met us, and then laughed happily. Definitely I know, he was just kidding, but it is true, we are still so-called "MS". "Maybe this dr should recollect where will she be when she was a medical student. Maybe she had amnesia - pity, sympathy." (Sorry, i quote your phrase sekejap). I dont think she had amnesia, most likely she has psychological problem. Maybe she suffered a lot when she was a MS, so now she tend to revenge it, just like a life-chain. I always think like that, she is a patient as well, just from another perception. Hopefully this chain will break someday, maybe u can play a part to stop it, n me too… Enjoy when u r still a (young) student ya… ^^, ***

Wow, someone actually reads my blog.^^.. I hope you dont mind that I put it up in my blog.

Still, I am having a busy hours in Paed. Tomorrow beginning my rounds at Paed 5. Just came back from there. Had a wonderful chat with 2 little angels there, 9yrs old chinese boy and indian girl.

Suffering as mentioned by Lord Buddha is the 1st noble truth. For non-buddhist, you might be wondering what is so noble about that. He He He. It is noble because it does exist, no matter you are rich or poor, young or ah pek, handsome or monster-faced… and He is braved enough to certify the existence of the diagnosis ** SUFFERING **.

For me, I believe suffering is not just the truth, but it is a choice. If you choose to suffer, you suffer. Well, I just wanna share something that some big shots had said and was published in BMJ (guidelines for medical student) "No matter how depressed you are, how terrible you failed in exam, how bad you got scolded by lecturers, by the end of the day, you are not the one having carcinoma of head of pancreas" Find out about that disease - it is bloody damn darn painful. Serious.

So, next time, you got depressed over any matters, remember the words up there.

Lastly, just want to share a joke about suffering… They said marriage consists of 3 rings: engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering. Not funny? ok, no more jokes…

Gratitude of the day: Dr. Lee from Paed 4. Great dr. Taught me lots of stuff, and guided me through lots of cases. Wonderful man.

Excellence in UMMC

Excellence in UMMC

just got back from ward P4.. covering several patients plus preparing a case for tomorrow’s presentation with Prof Chan LL. suddenly got an emergency breech prem at 32 weeks delivering in ward M1. Paed doctors rushed there for resuscitation. All medical students there, around 6 of us losers, were standing by, observing the procedures and learning paed resuscitation and most of us had to run up and down to SCN and labour ward to get the equipment and stuff needed. The nurses, most of them dispersed from the bed area of resuscitation and hang around the counter. Reason being? No idea. One of them even funnier - she shone light on the resuscitation area with torchlight, when there are obvious big lamp light available.

Then, 1 Dr quoted in lowest volume of human frequency "they are MS, useless". Yes, we are there… at least. Maybe this dr should recollect where will she be when she was a medical student. Maybe she had amnesia - pity, sympathy.

But another Dr was superb. She is a great leader and a great manager of resource. Instead of having us staying around idly, she assigned task for us - to get the stuff that the nurse were not there to deliver. Surely, we were not as efficient or speedy as the nurse. But still, in the end, obstetrically-speaking, we ‘delivered’.

The baby - ALIVE!!!

Gratitude of the day - to Dr. Shanti for a display of leadership and manager skills. Saw it. Learn it. Thanks.

P.S. She also associated me with Sodium Bicarb. why? P&C

back into the academic world

Now i’m in paed. Posted to ward paed 4, the famous ‘hot‘ zone. Still rather blur right now, going through the schedule for paed posting.

Had a wonderful journey back from Penang with King Chong’s car, together with future Mrs. Chieng(Perpetua), and Chee Hoe. Managed to got lost in Ipoh Utara and ended up at St.Michael Institution at the town area. This La Sallian school is definitely is a marvel compared to mine, but still… Nothing beats Penang life…

Had our lunch at Ipoh also together with people from Siang Lin’s car. It was a snappy lunch of duck rice. Rather tasty but costly, still it’s worth it.

Travelling together does have its positive sides. All the companionship. All the chit chat. All the jokes. All the silly ideas. All the knowledge sharing. All the football talk. All the F1 discussion. All the zzz when you finished discussing so much and so forth…

back in comfort of my home

• defaulted initial ping pong match of MUNUS on Sat

• defaulted Wesak Day help out in Maha Vihara on Sun

On my friday noon bus back to penang, received a call and found out another added defaulted event…

• defaulted paediatrics posting briefing on Fri

(n.b. dun know which idiot joker beloved coursemate of mine put up a notice stating that this briefing was on next tues)

now in comfort of my home, chowing down great Penang food plus every now and then, accompanied my mom to temple to pray and make good resolution for everyone…

Rather annoying to see a lot of donation drives around Penang. People in uniforms at the buddhist association asking for donation, some telling the public that donation around Wesak day would bring more merits. And surprisingly, some members of the public really pull out a handsome sum of money, feeling the fabric of the green RM50 before folding them nicely and putting them into the donation box. Just like some ceremonial thing, the giver will then end by putting their palm together and saluting to the box or funnier, to the person holding the box.

Creativity was also must be credited to the ‘Buddhist’ of Penang. Now, they have more gimmicks to make the devoters happier by indulging in different kind of activities. The orthodox practice over the years would be devoting josssticks, lotus candles, or flowers and occasional ‘bathing’ for little Buddha. One of the best this year that I had seen is the devotion of an artificial lotus on a clear water pond with an underwater motor which makes those lotuses goes round and round the buddha’s image at the centre of the pond. Doesn’t that makes Lord Buddha dizzy?

Lotus is indeed a magnificient flower, which grows well and gracefully in the mid of the murky muddy waters. That’s why lotus is the symbol of good arising above all the impurities of the world.

Most penangites, similarly with my parents and relatives, would indulge in the practice of praying for any deities during their ‘birthday’ and wesak is often mistaken as the birth of Lord Buddha. It is correct but if this was a valid question in the paper, out of 10, most citizen of penang would have score a solid 3.3333333…..

Wesak Day marks the birth of Lord Buddha, the enlightenment, and also the departure of Buddha from his physical body.

What is enlightenment? Well… that will be another hour of discussion (quoted from Dr.NK Chew)

Logic of female orgasm

Evolutionary scientists have never had difficulty explaining the male orgasm, closely tied as it is to reproduction.

But the Darwinian logic behind the female orgasm has remained elusive. Women can have sexual intercourse and even become pregnant - doing their part for the perpetuation of the species - without experiencing orgasm. So what is its evolutionary purpose?

Among the theories that Dr. Lloyd addresses in her book is one proposed in 1993, by Dr. R. Robin Baker and Dr. Mark A. Bellis, at Manchester University in England. In two papers published in the journal Animal Behaviour, they argued that female orgasm was a way of manipulating the retention of sperm by creating suction in the uterus. When a woman has an orgasm from one minute before the man ejaculates to 45 minutes after, she retains more sperm, they said.

Another hypothesis, proposed in 1995 by Dr. Randy Thornhill, a professor of biology at the University of New Mexico and two colleagues, held that women were more likely to have orgasms during intercourse with men with symmetrical physical features. On the basis of earlier studies of physical attraction, Dr. Thornhill argued that symmetry might be an indicator of genetic fitness.

In the 1981 book "The Woman That Never Evolved" and in her other work, Dr. Hrdy argues that orgasm evolved in nonhuman primates as a way for the female to protect her offspring from the depredation of males.

She points out that langur monkeys have a high infant mortality rate, with 30 percent of deaths a result of babies’ being killed by males who are not the fathers. Male langurs, she says, will not kill the babies of females they have mated with.

In macaques and chimpanzees, she said, females are conditioned by the pleasurable sensations of clitoral stimulation to keep copulating with multiple partners until they have an orgasm. Thus, males do not know which infants are theirs and which are not and do not attack them.

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full text at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/science/17orga.html?incamp=article_popular_1&oref=login&pagewanted=all

duties of medical students

labor ward was nearly empty on my duty day… with only 2 patients coming in with os 1cm going for IOL… long wait.. and I joined drs for C-section and bilateral tubal ligation down at the main OT…

when i am back to labor ward, the nurse asked me…

"today your exam?"

"no lar"

"tomorrow?"

"no lar… lama lagi… friday…"

With that I was told about my coursemates who were scolded by dr for just sitting down and not clerking patients and they told dr that they were having exam the next day, which was "hmmmmn… not true"

Practical and readings, does one really have to weigh more to reading and skipped our clinical practice - ward & clinic responsibilities to ace the exam? doesn’t practicality helps in exams? I wonder…

I see Masters students also grunting for leave before their exam… and one of the MO actually commented that USM master’s students actually had a whole month off from their clinical duties for their exam, and they had full 100% passes most of the times…

Let this be a beginning

Yes, today I am starting this blog, just to spurt out all my stupidity or otherwise, for all earthlings to ponder upon. You may curse, praise, swear, uplift, look down, exaggerate, worship, smile or frown upon my entry. Definitely, I will listen. Malaysia is after all is a democratic country.

A famous person once said "Comments is like an asshole, everybody has one." True enough. If you had one at this moment. Just tell me.

Alright, enough of starting a blog for the day, at 3:20am in labour ward, I gotta go back to delivering babies. Ciao.