i'm back again! hehe... this time for 5 days n my leave for the posting has all been used up. no more leave till i go to another posting. tht means, no more coming back KL in coming 2 months. initially thought i finally have few days in CNY no need to study... i need to study for exam in the past 5 years of CNY holiday... but it turned out to be wrong. i still need to study for NRP (neonatal resuscitation program) on 26 Feb... y i still need to study after working? but it's how this profession works. updating out knowledge every year : NRP, CPR etc etc... long life learning we call it.

already got my paycheck for 3 months... n the amount of the pay is enough to make me keep going :D think i can change my phone the next i get to come back KL. phone after CNY should be cheaper. :) n in another few more months, think i can buy a PS 3! wee!!!

working life gradually tougher now, coz more n more colleagues finishing their posting n will leave one by one to another posting... n we wont know who n when r they coming into our posting. shortage of HO means nightmare in the clinic days... but i rather not think abt it now... i only got 4 days to enjoy here.

can't believe i'm already here in Taiping for more than a month! still feels that i just came up not long ago. well, partly becoz i havent get my first paycheck, i dun feel like already a month working here...

now only i believe there IS a difference between studying as medical student n working as a house officer in hospital. even though med student n HO stays in the same ward, things they see from their point of view r so different. students may see things, but dun quite understand them. even after asking, we just forget some portion of the info when we get back to our home. as house officer, we do things n r responsible for them. so we get to remember things well, mostly becoz we dun want to repeat the same mistake.

wont say things here r easy, but think i can still handle them.  e/day get up at 5.30am... those who knows me know tht i need 1 hour to prepare myself before going out of my house.. 6.30am heading to ward from hostel. then start reviewing patient... i got 2 other colleagues in charge of that ward, so we share out the burden quite comfortably... 8 something, medical officer will come n review our reviews, a round w/ the medical officer... before 9, specialist will come n we have to start round again... about 10 something need to do some number of things: perineum inspection, update ventilators, write dicharges, review investigation results, refer any problematic babies to paeds unit (oh yeah, forgot to mention i'm in O&G posting now for 4 months, tht make another 3 months for me). then it will be around time for lunch.. but most of the time we dun get to have lunch, coz we need to complete the stuff mentioned above fast n go to clinic to see patients... tonnes of patient to be seen every mon, wed n fri. tues n thurs r operation day, and assigned HO need to go in whole day to assist MO/Specialist. clinic can drag till past lunch hour. afternoon need to see new cases admitted into the ward.. inform MO is a must if anything unusual happen... only O&G is abit strict abt tht.. HO in other posting get to do things on their own n make their decision, but not in O&G. but i think tht's a good thing, esp for newbie for me, who most of the knowledge already rotten away w/ time. :D

anyway, feel suffered n tired at first, but feel that things r getting better. every now n then looking for chance to go back KL by taking leave. hope i'll be back again end of this month. :D

Dec 1 friday will be the date i leaving from kL to ipoh. first i need to report myself to Jab Kesihatan Negeri Perak first n fill in some paperwork. maybe there will be a intro course, or maybe not. then i'll head to taiping to report to hospital. assuming i get the hostel that day, i'll settle there n start work the next day as a doctor.

still feel a bit nervous n anxious abt starting to work. but i cant remain here forever n not face the reality. guess tht's it. i'm handling lifes from now on.

starting from first day working, i'll be in tagging period for 2 weeks, meaning following a senior houseman around to do ward work n get familiar w/ things around. tagging means working around the clock from 6 am to 12 midnight. of course got time for meals n sleep. after tht i'll return to normal working hours : 6.30 am to 6 pm. around tht time lah, depending on the posting i'm doing.

think i'll be ok. i have come this far, i'm sure i'll find my way somehow. :)

just came back from a friend's wedding dinner in Royal China Restaurant. met up with some old friends from uni and updated each other about who's working where n how they doing now. one by one we lead the already foretold path by our seniors about working life: we dun need to work our brains, just keep on working n working!

countless VE and CBD in single day, w/ unexpected invasive procedures that pose certain degree of difficulty to us fresh grads n non-stop around the clock ( except 4-5 hours past midnight) pact schedule in hospitals. another good friend of mine had worked for about 2 weeks in Ipoh hospital but yet to venture to any food stall outside the hospital. tagging period following senior houseman varies between hospitals---some 2 weeks, some 2 days before they r in charge of the whole ward.

anyway, i side-tracked. this is to share the joy of my friend's, named Joy, wedding. both these husband n wife will work hard towards their future in the same hospital and i wish all the best for their future endeavour. tonight the dinner was well planned and food was absolutely delicious. we had a great time.

Whee!!! I got a new laptop! bought it yesterday from low yat. from acer company Aspire series for 2.4 K plus another few free gifts plus an original acer bag. bro n sis went together with me to browse through the laptop. initially wanted a dell laptop since i saw the price is cheaper from the info on internet, but apparently those info is not updated. we can't find a single dell laptop there except for second hand ones.

at the end, we found this acer laptop. Aspire series powered by amd turion processor, 80 G storage n 512 kb RAM w/ DVD-RW, built-in wireless system n free gifts including 1G pen drive n bluetooth n headset. all for 2380. think it's worthy n happy abt the specifications - although it's MS Dos.

so yesterdya all day long we set up the laptop into the state now... after installing all necessary protection, i transferred my old files into my new one. then installed an online game n happy to found tht the programmes run smoothly... :D

so excited but i already got worn out at the end of the day n today i felt a bit light headed.

finally after 1 whole month of waiting, the second letter reached me. didnt know have to wait for this one until i got the spa letter first. i was assigned to hospital taiping (my 3rd choice) along w/ some other friends i know well from IMU. tht's one good news abt it. at least i dun need to go there alone, n should any doubts occur, i can always ask n check w/ my friends.

anyway, i'm going to defer till Dec 1st... why? many reasons (or, rather, excuses?) havent do my medical checkup, oath taking, certified cert, buy my laptop, check for accomodation... n most importantly (the real reason :P) i'm not mentally prepared yet!!! i got the letter like yesterday, which was already 21 Oct, n it asked me to report on 1 Nov!!! hell no! (although it say can report within 15 days after tht date, but i decided to take things easy)

well, according to one of my future colleague (also my past university colleague) in taiping, tht place there rains quite often, can be very warm s/times when not raining, n not much of entertainment. but as long as there is internet access (AND my PS2 coming along with m) i think i'll make it all right. dad said food there is not bad, definitely better than batu pahat, though may not as tasty as those in KL. the hospital also was recently renovated. hopefully got nice hostel room for me to stay

as for now, i'll start making preparations w/ my documents n buying new working clothes as well as nice outfit to attend my friend's wedding dinner. for times other than those mentioned above, think i still stick back to my games. i already halfway finish tht one... but havent start FF XII yet...

new series of final fantasy turned out to be a bit similar to online game. wonder the influences came from FFXI? comparatively, i still prefer FF X battle system. but the storyline of the new series is more interesting.

Last thursday we gathered in the lecture theatre in clinical school in seremban to await our results. we had 6 people went for distinction viva list in the morning, but it seem that none got distinction in the end. anyway, in the noon we were asked to gather in the theatre for oath taking ceremony, without telling us clearly that all had passed the final exit viva. it was only from the dean's speech that we knew, he mentioned all had passed without anyone going for borderline viva. :D then with lightened heart, we took the oath in front of all our beloved lecturers and doctors:

Now that I am about to enter the noble profession of medicine,

I solemnly commit myself to observing its highest standards and traditions.

In caring for patients, and in the pursuit of knowledge for the good humanity,

in healing the sick and injured, in preventing ill-helath, in relieving pain and distress,

in overcoming disabitliy, in preventing untimely death

and in caring for the comfort and well-being of those who are at the end of their lives.

I shall seek always to deserve the trust of patients.

To this end I shall be truthful in my delains with them, defend their interests,

show due regard for their wishes, preserve the secrests which they confide in me as their doctor,

as far as my duty to society as a whole will permit, and act fairly between one patient and another.

I shall respect patients' values, beliefs and traditions, especially where they differe from my own.

I shall never abuse in any way the trust placed in me as a doctor.

I shall seek constantly to improve my medical knowledge and skills,

and to share these with my colleagues and students, in order that we may serve our patients beter.

I shall carry out my professional duties, including teaching and research,

with honesty and integrity.

In this and other ways I shall treat my colleagues in the profession and related professions

with respect and cooperate with them for the good of patients.

And, by an honorable life in the eyes of God, and in the service of humanity,

I shall bring credit to thie University and those who have taught me.

I don't think this is the original version of Hippocrates Oath, but it sound as heavy as ever. it would be a challenge to uphold every line of the oath. :)

the oath will serve as a guideline whenever we are doubtful.

but for now, let's weigh our heart with the noble duties and responsibilty pending to be put on us. we're looking forward the joy of wearing the motharboard this sat in sheraton subang hotel.

i'll be having my exit viva on coming tuesday morning in seremban. if i pass this viva, i'll graduate in mid august and after that, i'll be a doctor. 5 years of medicine course will finally come to an end. but frankly speaking i'm not looking forward to my graduation, maybe partly becoz i know housemanship is actually nothing much difference from medical student's life, except tht we will be much busier and get tired easily. other than tht, it is just work n work n work. seriously, other than practically treating patients in real life and getting more workload plus earning my own salary (finally), there's nothing much to look forward to. :P i dunno how u all will react to my comment, but tht's how i really feel. i dun feel like staying as medical student any longer, coz i'm really sick of studying now. but to work as doc means more responsibility and cautions to be practiced every single day in life. where fame and respect is, come along the responsibility and stress with them.

so, now i'm preparing the revision related to all my 14 portfolios topics i have written so far. already handed in and examiners (internal & external) will browse through them b4 ask us questions during the 30 min viva. 2 different points of view from a senior and a lecturer. the senior said we need to know every single details that we have written in the portfolio, including what prob they have, how they presented to hospital, what medication they took and the progression with detailed data of monitoring. on the other hand, the lecturer said we are not needed to present the long winded story about our portfolios and most answers they want are short answers and point form. tht's a relief to hear, but ... what they ask is the ultimate important concern.  i'm never good in face to face interviews or anything that require me to talk. not to mention this time i have to talk in front of 3 examiners (all doctors, probably dato or senior doc from oversea). mechanism of drug, how the disease occur, pathophysio of the cancer ... blah blah blah... BAH!

let's end these quickly.... i'm sick of it... :P

finally, i'm in the last week of final semester of my 5-year-course of medicine. i had just finished n handed in my last portfolio to lecturer. no more portfolio to crack my head anymore. now just i need to correct a few portfolios i got back from them.

convo mag is also nearing deadline n the stuff are not yet sent for printing yet. Can we make it in time? i foresee some problems there already.

then comes the hussle of preparing certified copies of certificates, passport photos n a resume. never wrote a resume before n i'm having headache how to do it since the school just tell us to go online n find the format... sigh... why we need a resume since we never worked before? whatever they need to know abt us, they can see from our results n certs n transcript.

but despite all tht, i'm glad it's going to end in 4 days time. :D