Seniors

Dinner with IIUM seniors at the Filipino Market

Big reason for my choice of Kota Kinabalu for my housemanship is because I know there are good seniors from my uni there, though I never really knew how good us they would be.

Transportation and commuting was a big problem during our first few weeks. Big is perhaps an understatement. We traveled mostly with expensive taxis. During work time, tagging times when we finished late at about 11pm - 12am, even taxis were not available, especially at our Likas Hospital. We could only rely on 'pirates', hired cars, to bring us back home and come again the next morning at 6.30am.

Rozaimi was a big help especially. He showed us around, brought us to some place to eat and shop, and sometimes lent us a ride or his car when his A&E shift was at night when he couldn't come home.

For that we owe him a lot.

I realized that our bonds with students from the same Alumni runs deep. Perhaps its the university binding that kind of loyalty or just an individual's personality. But I know that a seniors' worth is a lot. Their wealth of experience to 'survive' during the first few weeks, months of 'life' is invaluable and most often unrepayable.

What I'm writing here is only a fraction of their contributions. Later there'll meet other seniors in the posting, regardless of the year they started. A first poster can be your senior even if he or she came in only a week earlier. Your medical officer is definitely your senior never mind consultants. They will be your teachers, in medicine and in life.

Respect your seniors, and you'll do well.


Tips:
- Respect, rapport with seniors from medical schools onwards. Don't be an asshole.
- Shop til you drop before you start your first time tagging. You might not see daylight for the next 2 weeks and starve. (Haha gila 30 days of night!)

Pilot

(retrospective)

I saw egrets through the windshield of the plane I came to Sabah on. They were the first birds I saw.

I came with my mom, God bless her. We arranged for a hotel to stay at for the next few days with the help of dad's friend who lives here.

What was my feelings then? Excitement was most of it. I was about to start real life. Working life. I'll be so far away from where I'm used to and I'll get used to here from now on, hopefully.

Met a friendly cab driver whom soon became our personal driver (at a cost of course). He was responsible for taking us around later and while we searched for a more permanent place to stay. I arrived a day earlier while Nadhir and Jazmi came in next day. I was ready to live alone but at the same time I am glad to have familiar faces.

Kota Kinabalu Sabah was my choice. My only choice. I hoped that I won't regret it. I can't turn back now.

My mother did not say it but I knew she needed me here. To start my own life and able to support my family later on. I know she is hopeful. That's the whole reason why she came all the way here with me.

Respect

As a housemen, or wherever you work, there will be someone (your superior) who's slow, garang, always makes lousy decisions, unusual or weird habits.

They make topics over meals or dinner of facebook notes (or status) where people start bashing them up.

Regardless I think this is not the right attitude (although I am guiltily sometimes a part of the bashing action).

Regardless of how that person is, I believe he deserve some sort of respect. Even if he is wrong, there's absolutely no need to downgrade the person. For all you know somebody is bashing YOU over lunch.

I think bitching attitude should be out of the circulation in working life. It would make working less stressful without all that negative thoughts and feelings (especially when you work with that hated someone). Besides, no matter who you are or where you are there are bound to be someone you hate that you'd have to work with.

Cope with it bah.

And stop bitching too much.

Sometimes You Gotta Be Hard

Saw my MO scolding a kid today becaused he refused to cooperate for chemotherapy treatment through his central venous line (Hickman's catheter).

Kid's a 4 year old boy with acute promyelocytic leukemia. He was due for chemo which he didn't want to cooperate as he wanted to continue watching Masked rider or something like that. He got a scolding from my MO which he then cooperated.

My MO told me that as a kid patient he had 2 roles, one a the sick role, and as the kid role. The sick role deserves to be treated, but the kid role must be disciplined. I agree with him in a way. Kids when left to be treated like kings, even when they are sick will become spoiled and ironically become harder to cooperate for treatment. This is made worst when the parents pamper the child more.

I suppose life goes on even for the sick kid with cancer.

How much privelege would one get being sick then? Later for that...