Brown
You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy.
Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart.
With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision.
Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music.
Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view.
Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.
Tickle yourself with this TICKLE test.
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It sounds too good to be true. Am I really like that?
Sometimes I feel that we have many different colours in us, each colour for every different situation.
Although we may have a dominant colour (mine may be brown), but we are no less capable of demostrating yellow, red or grey if the situation deems it.
So, as brown as I am, sometimes I like to be yellow and sometimes I'm just blue. Don't get me all red, or I'll just be grey.
MSAT
Medical Speciality Aptitude Test Came across this test in BarbadosButterfly's blog.
Tried it once ages ago, couldn't quite remember the results but I think it was similar.
To test the reliability of this test, I did it twice. Once, in the hospital where I did it in a short period of time and another at home where I took my time to ponder my answers.
Hospital
- general surgery
- colon & rectal surgery
- radiation oncology
- ophthalmology
- gastroenterology
- med oncology
- hematology
- rheumatology
- dermatology
- pediatrics
Home
- colon & rectal surgery
- general surgery
- dermatology
- radiation oncology
- gastroenterology
- radiology
- pediatrics
- ophthalmology
- urology
- hematology
Quite a surprise to me. Never really considered the specialties above. Maybe I don't know myself well enough.
Maybe...
Surgical SIPMaybe it was the inertia from the 1 week break we just had.Maybe it was the nearing mbbs that is making us feel the urge to study every moment.Maybe it was all the talk that surgery sip would give us the time needed to revise.Maybe it was the sense of impending doom everytime I looked at the timetable.Maybe it was all just psychological.Maybe it was just a really slow and low start.The day dragged on, I wasn't having fun, wasn't learning much and just generally didn't feel up to scratch.And realising I left my wallet in the locker when I reached the mrt station did not help to make it any better.
Merry "ah-choo" christmas
Nothing like a bout of flu to enhance that christmas mood.
And I have not been to China, Vietnam , Romania or had any contact with anyone from that region.
Cramming
This week is designated cramming week.
I always tell my non-medical friends, we don't have holidays, we have study breaks.
Most intepret the term as a break from studying.
In our case, it's a break to study.
Thanks for the memories
This SIP posting has inspired some of the most memorable posts from end Nov to mid Dec.And needless to say, this has been a great posting. I was just talking to Liping and we both agreed that this posting was especially memorable because we went through hard times.There were times when we were on the verge of a breakdown, times when we were so busy we couldn't squeeze time out for lunch, times when we were so tired we just wanted to sit and stone and times when we doubted ourselves in our ability to manage patients. But there were also happy times. Times when we joked with the nurses, times when the doctors thanked us for our help and times when the patient shows appreciation and understanding of the work that we do. All these made our work worthwhile.Thanks for the memories, we enjoyed the posting very much. And to be honest, in the euphoria of the end of this posting, I would love to come back and work again in the department, which is like a large happy family.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's me and Dr Tan WM, the first HO i was attached to. He was so intelligent and confident, I took him as a role model.
That's Dr Lim YC, the second HO i was attached to after the rotation at the end of the month. She was so independent and strong, and yet very 'motherly'. I could always ask her for help.
That's me, Liping and Jasmine. The SIP interns posted to the department. (Jeremy is unfortunately absent in the photo) Chicken rice anyone?
For a bonus photo, that's Dr Tan MH, my blogder! (yay, I have a fan!) Dr Tan was always so philosophical and cheerful. Would have loved to meet his rabbits.
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Not many postings have inspired me to post photos. This was definitely one of the best.
Others include:
Changi Sports Medicine Centre electives (5th June entry)
Geriatric Medicine posting (8th July entry)
Eerie coincidences
The grim reaper has been hanging around the ward this past few days.You could sniff death in the air.The hospital PA system decided to aid in enhancing the atmosphere by playing soft music in the background. Lest you think they were playing dragostea din tei (the catchy song from chicken little), it was actually 'Amazing Grace'. For the uninitiated, amazing grace is the standard funeral hymn.And the ultimate eerie incident to cap off the day.I was riding the train home when I saw the back of the newspaper a man was reading. And I couldn't help but notice that it was an obituary. On closer inspection, I realised it was actually a patient of mine that passed on yesterday.What were the chances of that happening? And the patient was actually someone whom I had seen since I started SIP, whom I've seen him go through diagnosis, palliative care and death."Death is a distant rumor to the young." ~Andrew A. Rooney~Not to me, at least not this week.
Survivor
Patients collapse suddenly, deteriorate overnight and leave this world in an eye-blink.
Sometimes I wonder if I'll see the patient again at the morning ward rounds the next day.
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"With great power comes great responsibilities."
This is probably the cliche line of the year, but it is so true.
My HO is on leave this few days. As I yearn to prove to myself that I am ready to take care of patients, I am happy to have the chance to take on the responsibilities of the HO.
It feels great when I manage to do some of the HO tasks competently. Helping out with morning rounds, doing up changes, calling to trace results, clerking new cases etc.
Alas, not all things are wonderful in this world.
When I fail to finish a task, I feel lost.
When my HO was around, I felt protected. I knew if I couldn't do something, he/she would be there to help. Now, I feel like I must complete the task. No one else can help me do this. It's my job, my responsibility, my duty.
Sometimes that scares me. It's like suddenly swimming without a float in a deep pool when all this while, I've been wading in the baby pool.
But it's a learning curve. Maybe I'm just on the steep end of the curve now.
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"You are down, but you are never out."
Danni - survivor guatemala winner
Bad Days
Some days, the plugs just won’t go in.
There are a few scenarios that plug setting can play out.
The best ending: plug successful set in 1 attempt and patient says you are good.
The worst ending: plug failed to go in despite multiple attempts, patient hates you and complains loudly (screaming in pain is even worse as every other patient now knows you as the ‘boo-boo shooter’).
Then there are the in-betweens:
1) Successful plug but requiring multiple attempts, patient slightly grouchy but who cares, you got the plug in.
2) Failed plug but patient is still so understanding. You apologise but patient says it’s all right.
Today, I was the latter.
Makes me feel really bad for failing.
The thin line between the worst ending and my situation is probably all PR (public relations). Read Geraldine’s account.
Making sure the patient understands why you failed and apologizing for causing pain to the patient helps to ensure the worst ending is avoided.
Dr Tan said: “It’s okay to have bad days. Just don’t let it get into a downward spiral.”
Tomorrow will be a better day.
Last run of the year
All the races in the past year are just training runs. They culmulate into this final run of the year. The ultimate race, the race of your life.Yup, the standard chartered marathon.I'm happy with my timing this year for the half-marathon.I'm even happier with the way I finished the race. Cramp-less.Ran a 6min18sec pace on average. But I was doing a comfortable 6min pace up to the 10km mark. slowed down a bit at the 14km mark, walked 2 sets of 5 mins to try and stretch out my calves. Finished in 2hr14mins49secs. Personal best.I think I've had enough of long-distance running for a while. Will cap my max distance at 10km, at least for the next half year.Meanwhile I've got other sports to try.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, a photo of me running that actually looks decent. At least I look fresh even after 21km.
ICE ice baby...
Adventure enthusiasts have just found themselves a new hangout in Yishun, with all the trappings to relieve those thrill-seeking urges.
The new SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre will be home to Southeast Asia's first artificial ice-climbing wall.
The experience is as real as it gets to climbing a real icy mountain. You get to scale 18 metres up using ice axes or take on Singapore's tallest climbing wall at 25 metres. (CNA)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now my fingers feel itchy. Better get my harness out fast.
