I update this blog so infrequently that nearly every time I do bother to write something, I want to start with "It's been a long time since I've posted...". Well that is kind of boring and pointless, so I won't do that this time hehe. It has been over two months though since I've posted anything, and a lot has happened in these two months. I had my last ever exams as a student, I went on a road trip with my gf around the south-east coast of Victoria, I graduated, I went to Hong Kong for ten days, and I went on a cruise with my family to New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Also, in a bit over two weeks time, I will be starting my working life. I look forward to the regular income and not having to study as much, but the long hours and paper-pushing shitwork that is part of being an intern isn't as appealing. But it should be a good experience and I do hope to learn a lot of things.
Soon it will be 2007 and the topic of NY resolutions again rears its head. My previous resolutions have not been overly ambitious in my opinion, yet I don't think the resolutions were achieved or maintained. This article shed some light as to why that may be so. The author of the article believes that change rarely, if ever, is achievable as "problems" are part of ones make-up and not amenable to change. But I still think that the desire to change, to improve oneself, to strive to learn from ones failings, is a nobel intent and one worth at least the effort of drawing up a NY resolutions list. Even if it doesn't go much further than that :)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
What a Shitty Day
Title of this post says it all. Well not really, so let me elaborate. Saw some cool rare stuff today at the GP that I'm currently posted at, like a patient with Volkmann's contracture and another patient with dextrocardia (heart on the right instead of the left!), the GP told me to examine the man, hoping to trick me, but I picked it correctly! Actually his abdo organs were swapped too, so liver on left etc, but i forget the medical term for that. But then something really really scary happened, but I think I should be ok.
Then later I put huge scratches on the side of my car because of shitty parking. I am normally so careful with parking but this time I wasn't, I was tired and the garage is tiny so hard to manoeuver into, so i scrapped it against the corner of my garage opening, now I have scratches about 30cm high and abt 30 cm long on the side >< They kinda superficial so might be able to reduce the ugly appearance with some polish, but the scratches will still remain.
Then later still, someone became pissed off at me for something I have very little control over. The entire situation is a good example of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, and no matter what I do, someone is going to get pissed off. I really don't need this shit less than 3 weeks before my final exams ><
Well as they say, tomorrow is another day...
Then later I put huge scratches on the side of my car because of shitty parking. I am normally so careful with parking but this time I wasn't, I was tired and the garage is tiny so hard to manoeuver into, so i scrapped it against the corner of my garage opening, now I have scratches about 30cm high and abt 30 cm long on the side >< They kinda superficial so might be able to reduce the ugly appearance with some polish, but the scratches will still remain.
Then later still, someone became pissed off at me for something I have very little control over. The entire situation is a good example of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, and no matter what I do, someone is going to get pissed off. I really don't need this shit less than 3 weeks before my final exams ><
Well as they say, tomorrow is another day...
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Yellow Fever
OMG best thing I've seen in a long time, so fricken funny and relatable...deals with similar issues to this recent blog posting on TheAge.com.au
Monday, October 16, 2006
BSG4EVA
Battlestar Galactica.
Best. Show. Ever.
Don't roll your eyes just because it is "sci-fi", it is so much more than that. It is a spell-binding examination of human frailty and imperfection. It gives insight into what people will do and will risk in desperate times. It delves intelligently into current issues such as the Iraq occupation, except from the viewpoint of the occupied people struggling to fight against their oppressive occupiers. It makes the viewer question whether terrorist tactics such as suicide bombing are justifiable in the name of freedom.
Buy the DVDs, borrow it from a friend, dl it from BT, whatever. Just watch it.
Best. Show. Ever.
Don't roll your eyes just because it is "sci-fi", it is so much more than that. It is a spell-binding examination of human frailty and imperfection. It gives insight into what people will do and will risk in desperate times. It delves intelligently into current issues such as the Iraq occupation, except from the viewpoint of the occupied people struggling to fight against their oppressive occupiers. It makes the viewer question whether terrorist tactics such as suicide bombing are justifiable in the name of freedom.
Buy the DVDs, borrow it from a friend, dl it from BT, whatever. Just watch it.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
OK Go - Here It Goes Again
It has been around for a while now, but I can't get enough of this classic music video! Looks so tiring...and would be so annoying if someone stuffed up while filming and they had to restart again haha.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Long Time No See
It has been a long time since I've posted, mainly due to laziness and time-constraints. A lot has happened these last few weeks (months?). Let me try to remember what has happened since my last non-random post.
1) During the mid-year break we got our intern job offers for next year, and I got offered a job at Austin Hospital, which was my first preference...woot! Think I just scrapped in since a lot of my friends didn't get in, and of the people who I know who did get in, they are all much smarter than I. So guess I'll be the dumbest intern at Austin...how wonderful.
2) Started this semester at the Northern Hospital, on the northern outskirts of Melbourne. I was in a surgical unit under the hilarious Mr Hong, who is known by us med students not only as an excellent if eccentric teacher, but also as the father of two twins who are both studying medicine in my year, and who are both hardcore smart. Apparently one twin got 1st in the state for his VCE, and the other got 6th in the state. Sounds like a very intense household.
3) I had my wisdom teeth taken out during the second week of my surgical rotation, thinking that it would be a simple day procedure, and I'd need one day, maybe two days tops for recovery, then I'd be back at uni. But things didn't turn out that way. I had it done under general anaesthetic under recommendation from my surgeon, and when I woke up from the GA I was drowsy as hell and coughing terribly. Only later when I was more lucid was I told tat I had aspirated some blood since the incompetent anaethetist pulled out my endotracheal tube too soon. Since it was only a day surgery centre, I had to be transferred to a tertiary hospital for assessment, then to a private hospital for convalescence. This entailed two ambulance trips, which worried me since in Victoria you have to pay around $800 per ambulance trip if you haven't bought ambulance insurance, and I had not bought it! The 2nd of the ambulance trips would have been especially outrageous, since the trip was literally 100m down the road and took barely 2 minutes. But luckily I still haven't gotten any bill yet for the ambulance trips, and I think it was because they knew I was a medical student and didn't charge me (this is somewhat common practice, for example my two previous surgeries also didn't cost me anything). So anyway, I stayed two nights in a private hospital and it was pretty sweet: private room, excellent hospital food (seriously!), nice nurses (except for the gay male nurse who I swear was watching me sleep...), and nothing to do but lounge around and watch tv or read newspapers. But I was fairly dependent on supplemental oxygen for those two days, as I would get light-headed from oxygen desaturation whenever I tried going without the oxygen, or if I was exerting myself in any minor way (mundane things like having a shower or going for a walk down the hall). Guess I have a bit of understanding now how it feels for a patient to be sick and in hospital, and how terrible it is for your body to be weak and unwell. At least in my case I knew that I would get better quickly, so my weakness didn't get me down. I don't think other patients (especially the old ones) necessarily have that hope.
4) My housemate and I had been thinking about moving out of the city for a little while, and two days after I got out of the hospital I decided to put up some ads around Melb Uni, to force myself out of the house (since I wasn't well enough to return to Northern Hospital to resume my studies). The ads were basically to find someone to take over our lease, since we still had about 4-5 months to go before it ended. The very next day after I put up the ads, I get a call from some two girls who wanted our apartment and wanted it in one weeks time! Not being prepared for such a quick response (and I think not really being mentally prepared for the eventuality of actually having to move), we quickly had to find a suitable place in the area we wanted, apply for the place, pack and move all our stuff, all in one week! Luckily the girls managed to delay when they needed our place by one week, and we managed to do everything in time. But it was such a crazy two weeks, especially after just having been sick. I think we located about 30-40 suitable apartment ads, inspected about 10 of them, applied for about 6 of them, got rejected by 2 (but they were so damn nice that they would've had lots of applications), and finally got offered 2 places. The place we eventually moved into was offered to us a day after a less suitable place was offered to us and we had accepted, so I had to ring the agent for the less suitable place and tell her that we were renegading on our original agreement to take the place. Since we hadn't signed the contract yet there was nothing she could do, but she sounded so disappointed (since she did a lot of paperwork to get the contract ready for us to sign), so I felt pretty scum...hahah oh well, the important thing was that I got the place I wanted :)
5) After finishing the 5 week surgical rotation, I'm currently back at the Austin Hospital doing a 5 week medical rotation. The hospital had a new ward tower built last year, so the wards are very clean and beautiful, and the student common room is huge and fantastic. Lots of comfy couches, a pool table, a table tennis table, and facilities for making lunch. Saw the junior doctor's rooms and they are even better, with a massive plasma tv and dvd player, so can't wait to use that next year! Going to Grand Round is usually the highlight of my week at the hospital, which is basically a presentation done by a different specialty unit each week, then the best bit, a fantastic free lunch paid for by drug companies! And with the Intern education session having free lunch (which we students go to), and talks by either medical insurance companies or accounting firms nearly every week (with free lunch of course), I barely have to bring my own lunch twice a week! But I can see why some older doctors are so fat...hahah...all these free lunches aren't too healthy.
6) Med Ball! Shamefully this is the first time I've been in the 6 years I've been doing med, tho I have been to two Pharmacy and two college balls in past years. The theme was "Glitz and Glamour - Spend a Night in Monaco", and they gave us fake money to use on casino tables they had set up (playing poker, blackjack and roulette), so that was pretty unique. The food was nothing special and the bar tab at the afterparty was non-existent, so the value-for-money was terrible, but the night was still very enjoyable and memorable. Here are some photos:
7) A scary thing happened last week. I was on ward round on Friday afternoon (the only reason I was still in the hospital at the time was to go to a talk by a medical insurance company, with you guessed it, free food and drinks), and I got a page from the clinical school. I called them, and they said that Melb Uni had placed a ban on all student taking blood and put in IV cannulae, because a 4th year student had gotten a needlestick injury while taking blood, and the patient was HIV positive! Apparently the student was inexperienced and was being supervised by a doctor, but the doctor should not have asked the student to do it in the first place. Surely the doctor knew that patient was HIV positive...maybe he/she forgot or didn't think about it ><" The worst bit is the student won't know for certain if they have contracted HIV for another 3 months. 8) To end on a happier note, my cousin Stella has recently gotten married! Congrats to Stella and Michele! My sister got to goto New York for the wedding, so lucky!
1) During the mid-year break we got our intern job offers for next year, and I got offered a job at Austin Hospital, which was my first preference...woot! Think I just scrapped in since a lot of my friends didn't get in, and of the people who I know who did get in, they are all much smarter than I. So guess I'll be the dumbest intern at Austin...how wonderful.
2) Started this semester at the Northern Hospital, on the northern outskirts of Melbourne. I was in a surgical unit under the hilarious Mr Hong, who is known by us med students not only as an excellent if eccentric teacher, but also as the father of two twins who are both studying medicine in my year, and who are both hardcore smart. Apparently one twin got 1st in the state for his VCE, and the other got 6th in the state. Sounds like a very intense household.
3) I had my wisdom teeth taken out during the second week of my surgical rotation, thinking that it would be a simple day procedure, and I'd need one day, maybe two days tops for recovery, then I'd be back at uni. But things didn't turn out that way. I had it done under general anaesthetic under recommendation from my surgeon, and when I woke up from the GA I was drowsy as hell and coughing terribly. Only later when I was more lucid was I told tat I had aspirated some blood since the incompetent anaethetist pulled out my endotracheal tube too soon. Since it was only a day surgery centre, I had to be transferred to a tertiary hospital for assessment, then to a private hospital for convalescence. This entailed two ambulance trips, which worried me since in Victoria you have to pay around $800 per ambulance trip if you haven't bought ambulance insurance, and I had not bought it! The 2nd of the ambulance trips would have been especially outrageous, since the trip was literally 100m down the road and took barely 2 minutes. But luckily I still haven't gotten any bill yet for the ambulance trips, and I think it was because they knew I was a medical student and didn't charge me (this is somewhat common practice, for example my two previous surgeries also didn't cost me anything). So anyway, I stayed two nights in a private hospital and it was pretty sweet: private room, excellent hospital food (seriously!), nice nurses (except for the gay male nurse who I swear was watching me sleep...), and nothing to do but lounge around and watch tv or read newspapers. But I was fairly dependent on supplemental oxygen for those two days, as I would get light-headed from oxygen desaturation whenever I tried going without the oxygen, or if I was exerting myself in any minor way (mundane things like having a shower or going for a walk down the hall). Guess I have a bit of understanding now how it feels for a patient to be sick and in hospital, and how terrible it is for your body to be weak and unwell. At least in my case I knew that I would get better quickly, so my weakness didn't get me down. I don't think other patients (especially the old ones) necessarily have that hope.
4) My housemate and I had been thinking about moving out of the city for a little while, and two days after I got out of the hospital I decided to put up some ads around Melb Uni, to force myself out of the house (since I wasn't well enough to return to Northern Hospital to resume my studies). The ads were basically to find someone to take over our lease, since we still had about 4-5 months to go before it ended. The very next day after I put up the ads, I get a call from some two girls who wanted our apartment and wanted it in one weeks time! Not being prepared for such a quick response (and I think not really being mentally prepared for the eventuality of actually having to move), we quickly had to find a suitable place in the area we wanted, apply for the place, pack and move all our stuff, all in one week! Luckily the girls managed to delay when they needed our place by one week, and we managed to do everything in time. But it was such a crazy two weeks, especially after just having been sick. I think we located about 30-40 suitable apartment ads, inspected about 10 of them, applied for about 6 of them, got rejected by 2 (but they were so damn nice that they would've had lots of applications), and finally got offered 2 places. The place we eventually moved into was offered to us a day after a less suitable place was offered to us and we had accepted, so I had to ring the agent for the less suitable place and tell her that we were renegading on our original agreement to take the place. Since we hadn't signed the contract yet there was nothing she could do, but she sounded so disappointed (since she did a lot of paperwork to get the contract ready for us to sign), so I felt pretty scum...hahah oh well, the important thing was that I got the place I wanted :)
5) After finishing the 5 week surgical rotation, I'm currently back at the Austin Hospital doing a 5 week medical rotation. The hospital had a new ward tower built last year, so the wards are very clean and beautiful, and the student common room is huge and fantastic. Lots of comfy couches, a pool table, a table tennis table, and facilities for making lunch. Saw the junior doctor's rooms and they are even better, with a massive plasma tv and dvd player, so can't wait to use that next year! Going to Grand Round is usually the highlight of my week at the hospital, which is basically a presentation done by a different specialty unit each week, then the best bit, a fantastic free lunch paid for by drug companies! And with the Intern education session having free lunch (which we students go to), and talks by either medical insurance companies or accounting firms nearly every week (with free lunch of course), I barely have to bring my own lunch twice a week! But I can see why some older doctors are so fat...hahah...all these free lunches aren't too healthy.
6) Med Ball! Shamefully this is the first time I've been in the 6 years I've been doing med, tho I have been to two Pharmacy and two college balls in past years. The theme was "Glitz and Glamour - Spend a Night in Monaco", and they gave us fake money to use on casino tables they had set up (playing poker, blackjack and roulette), so that was pretty unique. The food was nothing special and the bar tab at the afterparty was non-existent, so the value-for-money was terrible, but the night was still very enjoyable and memorable. Here are some photos:
7) A scary thing happened last week. I was on ward round on Friday afternoon (the only reason I was still in the hospital at the time was to go to a talk by a medical insurance company, with you guessed it, free food and drinks), and I got a page from the clinical school. I called them, and they said that Melb Uni had placed a ban on all student taking blood and put in IV cannulae, because a 4th year student had gotten a needlestick injury while taking blood, and the patient was HIV positive! Apparently the student was inexperienced and was being supervised by a doctor, but the doctor should not have asked the student to do it in the first place. Surely the doctor knew that patient was HIV positive...maybe he/she forgot or didn't think about it ><" The worst bit is the student won't know for certain if they have contracted HIV for another 3 months. 8) To end on a happier note, my cousin Stella has recently gotten married! Congrats to Stella and Michele! My sister got to goto New York for the wedding, so lucky!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Randomness 3
1) 18 Tricks To Teach Your Body - I'm not convinced that they are all true or would work. I'm especially unconvinced about number 10, since the explanation seems illogical, and I know that I personally get stitches only when I go running and I'm unfit (like yesterday). When I was fit (e.g. when I used to play competitive soccer), I'd never get stitches.
2) Video Games Stereotype Asians - I don't remember there being Asians in Warcraft III.
3) Public Hospital Doctors Happy To Score 9% Pay Victory - Yay pay rise! For next year anyway.
4) Crap you do not need - Having just moved into a new apartment, I realise now that I've been thinking a bit along the lines of the Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club excerpt. How terrible...
5) Weird Al - He's still got it, after all these years :)
2) Video Games Stereotype Asians - I don't remember there being Asians in Warcraft III.
3) Public Hospital Doctors Happy To Score 9% Pay Victory - Yay pay rise! For next year anyway.
4) Crap you do not need - Having just moved into a new apartment, I realise now that I've been thinking a bit along the lines of the Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club excerpt. How terrible...
5) Weird Al - He's still got it, after all these years :)
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Randomness 2
1) Top 5 Myths About America
Bashing America, it's all a bit too easy really...but this was interesting, especially myth #4 and #5.
2) Lateral Thinking
3) Interesting article. There's a saying that in war, history is written by the victor. Well this opinion piece expands on that, with reference to the current Israel-Lebanon conflict.
4) Zidane. What can I say that hasn't already been said? A brilliant player whose career ending on a low point. But whether Materazzi really deserved the headbutt (Zidane should've headbutted Grosso instead for cheating Australia), I believe that people will remember Zidane more for his great career and the joy he brought to the masses, rather than this one unfortunately incident that proved that even the greats are human.
What is it with Italian soccer and cheating? The Azzurri did it in the World Cup, now Juventus, Fiorentina and two other clubs are relegated for match fixing. They are a country with so many talented players, why do they need to cheat? If only they were as good at playing fairly as they are at making people pay outrageous prices for pasta dishes (i mean $15 for something that must cost them less than $5? It's just pasta, cream, and tiny morsels of meat!)
One last thing about Italy and the World Cup that really pissed me off. What happened to Fabio Grosso after he cheated Australia for THAT penalty. If there was justice in this world, if one believed in the concept of karma, then he'd have broken his leg the next game or something. But no, he goes on to score the winning goal (and a ripper of a goal) in the semi-final against Germany, then scores the last penalty in the penalty shoot-out in the final to win Italy the World Cup. God is cruel.
Bashing America, it's all a bit too easy really...but this was interesting, especially myth #4 and #5.
2) Lateral Thinking
3) Interesting article. There's a saying that in war, history is written by the victor. Well this opinion piece expands on that, with reference to the current Israel-Lebanon conflict.
4) Zidane. What can I say that hasn't already been said? A brilliant player whose career ending on a low point. But whether Materazzi really deserved the headbutt (Zidane should've headbutted Grosso instead for cheating Australia), I believe that people will remember Zidane more for his great career and the joy he brought to the masses, rather than this one unfortunately incident that proved that even the greats are human.
What is it with Italian soccer and cheating? The Azzurri did it in the World Cup, now Juventus, Fiorentina and two other clubs are relegated for match fixing. They are a country with so many talented players, why do they need to cheat? If only they were as good at playing fairly as they are at making people pay outrageous prices for pasta dishes (i mean $15 for something that must cost them less than $5? It's just pasta, cream, and tiny morsels of meat!)
One last thing about Italy and the World Cup that really pissed me off. What happened to Fabio Grosso after he cheated Australia for THAT penalty. If there was justice in this world, if one believed in the concept of karma, then he'd have broken his leg the next game or something. But no, he goes on to score the winning goal (and a ripper of a goal) in the semi-final against Germany, then scores the last penalty in the penalty shoot-out in the final to win Italy the World Cup. God is cruel.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Fucking Bullshit!!!!
If you said this new blog template was ugly then I'd have to agree with you. But I changed it so I could display the above picture without it being obscured by the sidebar. It was worth it...classic picture. Read the fine print too. (Click for larger pic)
Monday, June 19, 2006
Randomness
Those who know me know that I waste an awful amount of time surfing the net randomly and unproductively (but at least I am entertained). Thought I might start putting up some of the cool stuff I find, so that maybe others can enjoy (if not, then at least I'll have a record of what I waste my time on).
1) http://duke.a-13.net/
Classic...for all you old-skool gamers like me...who remember playing Duke 3d using keyboard, before Quake and mouse-look came along...haha
2) http://www.hemmy.net/2006/05/19/creative-advertising/
Creative advertising...nuff said.
1) http://duke.a-13.net/
Classic...for all you old-skool gamers like me...who remember playing Duke 3d using keyboard, before Quake and mouse-look came along...haha
2) http://www.hemmy.net/2006/05/19/creative-advertising/
Creative advertising...nuff said.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Omen-y
What an auspicious day to have a baby. Given the date, nobody seems keen to have their baby today. I've been on labour ward this week, and the two deliveries I saw today didn't have much choice. Both were caesarean sections, though one was elective for breech presentation so I guess they could've scheduled it for another day. But the other was an emergency caesarean so it had to be done. I was scrubbed in for both, and it was quite exciting, especially the emergency one, seeing how fast everyone reacted to the decelerations in fetal heart rate on the CTG reading of the baby and got the mother to theatre and got the baby out. And to those women who think that caesareans are the easy and painless way to have a baby, well painless yes, but risk-free it ain't...it is surgery after all. Significantly riskier than vaginal delivery in general.
Yesterday was also strange in that the three deliveries I saw were all instrumental deliveries, two were with forceps and the other was with Ventouse vacuum device. Funnily enough, I still have not yet seen a regular uncomplicated vaginal delivery (which should be the rule, not the exception!). My viewpoint is skewed by such experience, but I am a bit put off having a baby now. I mean I would love to have a baby, but the actual process of birth...not sure I want to put my partner through that. There needs to be an easier way...like the Stork can bring me one in the middle of the night.
Anyway, speaking of today's date, apparently Triple M were offering $1000 to any baby born today whose parents name him Damien. Cute...and the midwives on labour ward were saying that media were ringing the hospital PR department and asking how many babies were born today...and one of the midwives said they should've answered "6"...heheh
My mind is kinda numb from only getting 5 hours of sleep the last two nights, since I have to wake up at 5:30am to get to the hospital by 7am for handover, and I'm so used to sleeping at 1-2am that I struggle to go to sleep much earlier. Plus I have cover letters and application forms to fill in to apply for an intern job for next year, so I should go do that...
P.S. Belated congrats to Stella and Michele! Pity I can't be there for your big day -_-
Yesterday was also strange in that the three deliveries I saw were all instrumental deliveries, two were with forceps and the other was with Ventouse vacuum device. Funnily enough, I still have not yet seen a regular uncomplicated vaginal delivery (which should be the rule, not the exception!). My viewpoint is skewed by such experience, but I am a bit put off having a baby now. I mean I would love to have a baby, but the actual process of birth...not sure I want to put my partner through that. There needs to be an easier way...like the Stork can bring me one in the middle of the night.
Anyway, speaking of today's date, apparently Triple M were offering $1000 to any baby born today whose parents name him Damien. Cute...and the midwives on labour ward were saying that media were ringing the hospital PR department and asking how many babies were born today...and one of the midwives said they should've answered "6"...heheh
My mind is kinda numb from only getting 5 hours of sleep the last two nights, since I have to wake up at 5:30am to get to the hospital by 7am for handover, and I'm so used to sleeping at 1-2am that I struggle to go to sleep much earlier. Plus I have cover letters and application forms to fill in to apply for an intern job for next year, so I should go do that...
P.S. Belated congrats to Stella and Michele! Pity I can't be there for your big day -_-
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Fearless
I'm back at home for easter break, and have till this coming Sunday. I would say it has been relaxing so far, but what with the pressure of having to study, and not actually getting much productive study done, it has been somewhat stressful. But it has been fun being back, catching up with family and PS2.
Watched the the latest Jet Li movie Fearless which was really good. Both in an action sense, with awesome fight scenes, and a philosophical sense, covering issues like respect for others and national pride, among others. But strangely, what I found most interesting was seeing not only the fantastic martial arts skills on show (boy are Jet Li's fists fast!), but other shows of skill and ability, like the drummers at the final tournament. To have the discipline to really apply oneself consistently, to constantly strive to improve and to be really really good at something, that is both amazing and admirable. When I look at myself I regret not having that sort of self-discipline, that sort of passion to strive to be the very best at something. The only thing I've been marginally good at was soccer and maths, but in neither was I brilliant, nor did I really try hard to be the best at. Especially now in my final year of uni, I'm getting more and more lazy. Not only am I questioning how I got to the position where I am, but how I am going to cope with the increasing work demands and study demands once I graduate. Hmm... -_-"
On a lighter note, I went surfing for the first time today. It is this council run program where they teach people to surf over 4 days, for 2 hours each day, and today was the 1st day. Was friggen hard at first, especially since I'm a slow swimmer and so paddling out was a struggle, but balancing on the board wasn't too bad and I even managed to stand up on the board twice, albeit for a few seconds only. All in all, it was tons of fun and I can finally (somewhat) understand why surfies want to go surfing day after day and not get sick of it. But I think I'll be quite sore tomorrow...
Watched the the latest Jet Li movie Fearless which was really good. Both in an action sense, with awesome fight scenes, and a philosophical sense, covering issues like respect for others and national pride, among others. But strangely, what I found most interesting was seeing not only the fantastic martial arts skills on show (boy are Jet Li's fists fast!), but other shows of skill and ability, like the drummers at the final tournament. To have the discipline to really apply oneself consistently, to constantly strive to improve and to be really really good at something, that is both amazing and admirable. When I look at myself I regret not having that sort of self-discipline, that sort of passion to strive to be the very best at something. The only thing I've been marginally good at was soccer and maths, but in neither was I brilliant, nor did I really try hard to be the best at. Especially now in my final year of uni, I'm getting more and more lazy. Not only am I questioning how I got to the position where I am, but how I am going to cope with the increasing work demands and study demands once I graduate. Hmm... -_-"
On a lighter note, I went surfing for the first time today. It is this council run program where they teach people to surf over 4 days, for 2 hours each day, and today was the 1st day. Was friggen hard at first, especially since I'm a slow swimmer and so paddling out was a struggle, but balancing on the board wasn't too bad and I even managed to stand up on the board twice, albeit for a few seconds only. All in all, it was tons of fun and I can finally (somewhat) understand why surfies want to go surfing day after day and not get sick of it. But I think I'll be quite sore tomorrow...
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Closure
I thought I'd share a really lame joke that Shaun told in our PBL tute today (guess you had to be there):
"There are two types of people in this world. Those who don't need closure, and........................"
I think I'm the second type ><"
I found out that a high school friend recently changed his first name. As in he had it legally changed, from his old korean name, to "Mark". Apparently he had a friend who had difficulty getting a job after graduation, but once he changed his name he got a job. So the parents of "Mark", being the typical asian parents paranoid about racist aussie bosses, forced him to change his name too. But in thinking that a name change was the key in getting that other guy his job, I think they are confusing association with causation. An example would be if you look at all the people that had a car accident in the past year, and see how many of them ate bread on the same day of their accident. It isn't unreasonable to assume that perhaps half of them ate bread, so statistically you could say that eating bread is associated with car accidents (as ludicrous as it sounds). But can you say that eating bread actually causes car accidents? Of course not (unless it were alcholic bread or something haha). Anyway, I think I'll still call "Mark" by his old name. I wonder what name I would pick if i were to change mine.
"There are two types of people in this world. Those who don't need closure, and........................"
I think I'm the second type ><"
I found out that a high school friend recently changed his first name. As in he had it legally changed, from his old korean name, to "Mark". Apparently he had a friend who had difficulty getting a job after graduation, but once he changed his name he got a job. So the parents of "Mark", being the typical asian parents paranoid about racist aussie bosses, forced him to change his name too. But in thinking that a name change was the key in getting that other guy his job, I think they are confusing association with causation. An example would be if you look at all the people that had a car accident in the past year, and see how many of them ate bread on the same day of their accident. It isn't unreasonable to assume that perhaps half of them ate bread, so statistically you could say that eating bread is associated with car accidents (as ludicrous as it sounds). But can you say that eating bread actually causes car accidents? Of course not (unless it were alcholic bread or something haha). Anyway, I think I'll still call "Mark" by his old name. I wonder what name I would pick if i were to change mine.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Di George
Suddenly it is nearly mid-March. Been back in Melb for about 5 weeks now, and time has flown. Had a few days off before going back to uni, currently based at the Royal Children's Hospital and it pretty nice place. They say paediatricians tend to be the nicest doctors and it seems to be true, and it is very enjoyable seeing smiling kids and cute babies every day, even though some of them are quite sick. Was holding this 3-4 month old baby the other day, and even though he drooled all over the shoulder bit of my shirt, I was so tempted to take him home! He was so cute! A friend suggested the library should lend out babies, just like books, so we can play with them and have fun, but hand them back when they need a nappy change or start crying...hahah.
Anyway, had some great experiences overall, the most memorable so far was sitting in with two cardiologists as they counselled the family of this 6 year old girl with incomplete Di George's sydrome. Even though she has been sick her whole life and had numerous open-heart operations (for those who care, she was born with pulmonary atresia and MAPCAs [major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries]), from the half an hour I spent with her, it was obvious she was a beautifully vibrant and sweet child, the kind any parent would hope for. But while she seems fairly healthy at the moment, she isn't expected to live for more than a few more years. Very tragic...I think it is one of the hardest things, for a parent to see their child die before them. But the consultant cardiologist handled it with empathy, compassion, and wonderful kindness, and it was obvious the family appreciated it and walked away confident that everything possible would be done to ensure the best quality of life for their little girl in whatever time she had remaining. I just felt privileged to witness and experience what I did, and if as a doctor I can exhibit half of the qualities that that cardiologist did, then I would be very happy.
But while the experiences have been fulfilling, the study has been stressful. Still kind of in holiday mode, but this semester is about ten times busier than last semester, with twenty times the stuff to study. Trying hard not to get too stressed, and to maintain some semblance of balance between study, exercise, and time with my gf...
Anyway, had some great experiences overall, the most memorable so far was sitting in with two cardiologists as they counselled the family of this 6 year old girl with incomplete Di George's sydrome. Even though she has been sick her whole life and had numerous open-heart operations (for those who care, she was born with pulmonary atresia and MAPCAs [major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries]), from the half an hour I spent with her, it was obvious she was a beautifully vibrant and sweet child, the kind any parent would hope for. But while she seems fairly healthy at the moment, she isn't expected to live for more than a few more years. Very tragic...I think it is one of the hardest things, for a parent to see their child die before them. But the consultant cardiologist handled it with empathy, compassion, and wonderful kindness, and it was obvious the family appreciated it and walked away confident that everything possible would be done to ensure the best quality of life for their little girl in whatever time she had remaining. I just felt privileged to witness and experience what I did, and if as a doctor I can exhibit half of the qualities that that cardiologist did, then I would be very happy.
But while the experiences have been fulfilling, the study has been stressful. Still kind of in holiday mode, but this semester is about ten times busier than last semester, with twenty times the stuff to study. Trying hard not to get too stressed, and to maintain some semblance of balance between study, exercise, and time with my gf...
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Ped vs Car
Anger is a good performance enhancer. Beat my previous best 4km run time by nearly 45 seconds. Maybe I should get angry more often haha.
So haven't blogged properly for a while, mainly because I've been lazy. Guess I mainly use it to vent, as a form of catharsis.
I'm currently halfway through an elective in the ED of Gosford Hospital, just hanging around seeing patients, learning from assessing patients the way a proper doctor would and tagging along with other doctors if they have intersting cases, practicing my IV cannula and venepuncture technique, etc. Saw this interesting trauma case yesterday, the first major trauma I've seen so far. The patient was an old guy who as a pedestrian apparently got sideswipped by a car which had just collided with another car. He was rushed in with a variety of injuries including minor head trauma (GCS 14), a 'degloved' right forearm (ie the skin had been ripped off), significant hypotension (60-70 systolic) among other things. But the gory bit was his legs. On his right leg, he had an open fracture dislocation, with his foot completely dislocated from his tibia, and the distal end of his tibia sticking out of the wound. His left leg had a fractured tibia and fibula, and nearly his entire calf was 'degloved'. It reminded me of doing dissection in my 1st and 2nd years of uni, the way the underlying muscle of his calf was clearly visible. Anyway, it was interesting seeing the ED doctors stablising him, doing the usual trauma stuff like primary survey with ABCDEs, chucking in IV lines, a urinary catheter, and a chest drain for a suspected haemothorax), intubating him, XR of chest/abdo/cervical spine, and basically trying to find any source of bleeding to explain his hypotension, which persisted despite 10 units of blood and 10 units of colloid being pumped into him. The way they reduced (ie popped back in) his dislocated foot was also cool...seeing 3 big boofy doctors straining like mad to get the thing back in. So yeah, it was exciting stuff...beats an office job any day. One of the nurses said it was like watching an episode of ER, but since I've never watched it, I couldn't agreed with him.
Well that trauma patient was yesterday, today I went up to ICU to follow up on him, and he's had his fractures fixated, on fluids and inotropes to maintain his blood pressure, but with his past history of stroke and ischaemic heart disease, and his generally poor condition, his prognosis is pretty grim. Even if he survives and manages to avoid the sequelae of long hospitalisation like infection, DVT/PE etc, it'll still be months before he can walk, if ever. Poor guy. Sometimes I think it would've been more humane if the car had killed him outright. After all, he's lived a long life (he's like 80-90 odd) and he'd definately had suffered less if he hadn't survived. But then, who lives or dies is up to a power greater than I.
So haven't blogged properly for a while, mainly because I've been lazy. Guess I mainly use it to vent, as a form of catharsis.
I'm currently halfway through an elective in the ED of Gosford Hospital, just hanging around seeing patients, learning from assessing patients the way a proper doctor would and tagging along with other doctors if they have intersting cases, practicing my IV cannula and venepuncture technique, etc. Saw this interesting trauma case yesterday, the first major trauma I've seen so far. The patient was an old guy who as a pedestrian apparently got sideswipped by a car which had just collided with another car. He was rushed in with a variety of injuries including minor head trauma (GCS 14), a 'degloved' right forearm (ie the skin had been ripped off), significant hypotension (60-70 systolic) among other things. But the gory bit was his legs. On his right leg, he had an open fracture dislocation, with his foot completely dislocated from his tibia, and the distal end of his tibia sticking out of the wound. His left leg had a fractured tibia and fibula, and nearly his entire calf was 'degloved'. It reminded me of doing dissection in my 1st and 2nd years of uni, the way the underlying muscle of his calf was clearly visible. Anyway, it was interesting seeing the ED doctors stablising him, doing the usual trauma stuff like primary survey with ABCDEs, chucking in IV lines, a urinary catheter, and a chest drain for a suspected haemothorax), intubating him, XR of chest/abdo/cervical spine, and basically trying to find any source of bleeding to explain his hypotension, which persisted despite 10 units of blood and 10 units of colloid being pumped into him. The way they reduced (ie popped back in) his dislocated foot was also cool...seeing 3 big boofy doctors straining like mad to get the thing back in. So yeah, it was exciting stuff...beats an office job any day. One of the nurses said it was like watching an episode of ER, but since I've never watched it, I couldn't agreed with him.
Well that trauma patient was yesterday, today I went up to ICU to follow up on him, and he's had his fractures fixated, on fluids and inotropes to maintain his blood pressure, but with his past history of stroke and ischaemic heart disease, and his generally poor condition, his prognosis is pretty grim. Even if he survives and manages to avoid the sequelae of long hospitalisation like infection, DVT/PE etc, it'll still be months before he can walk, if ever. Poor guy. Sometimes I think it would've been more humane if the car had killed him outright. After all, he's lived a long life (he's like 80-90 odd) and he'd definately had suffered less if he hadn't survived. But then, who lives or dies is up to a power greater than I.
Forgotten
Wow I can't believe it, but I am not looking forward to returning to Melbourne as much as I usually do. Of course it will still be nice...but less nice than usual.
It is terrible how easily I get pissed off, over something that in hindsight is probably not that big a deal. But hindsight is yet to come, as I'm not yet past what happened. But knowing me and my poor memory, I'll probably wake up tomorrow and have forgotten why I was so angry tonight. Hopefully.
But yeah, it was less about what happened, and more that I wasn't taken into consideration. Forgotten even. Grr...
It is terrible how easily I get pissed off, over something that in hindsight is probably not that big a deal. But hindsight is yet to come, as I'm not yet past what happened. But knowing me and my poor memory, I'll probably wake up tomorrow and have forgotten why I was so angry tonight. Hopefully.
But yeah, it was less about what happened, and more that I wasn't taken into consideration. Forgotten even. Grr...
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