Physician Know Thyself!

to all those medical students out there who are stumped (like me) and don't know what to do for their specialty in the future, try the algorithm below. most of you would have seen it anyway. hahaha.. it actually made it to the bmj :) according to this, i should be a dermatologist/opthalmologist cos I'm lazy. boo. haha.. i want to do surgery, but i'm not mean i don't think??!! but i guess if i "make belief" that I'm hardworking, and I AM nice.. I can do paeds too/physicians training :)

Veysman B. BMJ 2005; 331:1529

Summer Movies!!!!

Geez.. so many movies to watch. so little money so little time. not to mention, i've been DEPRIVED of movies since coming back to Adelaide!

I've been wanting to watch Narnia since FOREVER! I love CS Lewis! Now it's not even showing in the cinemas anymore :( *sigh*

KungFu Panda! from the moment i watched the trailer, i knew i would like it... unfortunately, no i have not. *double sigh*

ok, my last hope! Any musical-cum-movie type thingy should be good.. i bet it's gonna be good. next week with the girls perhaps? :) *fingers crossed*


Done with Paeds ED :) woohoO! and on my last day, i actually felt like i was gonna miss that place. i saw a resus case, it really made me feel like.. wow. yeah, that's what being a doctor is all about. the relief on the parents face when the team of doctors brought their child out from a status epilepticus - so surely, and so in control.

Essential Guidelines to ICU for Dummies (ie. medical students)

1. You're not expected to be ICU specialists. At least, you don't have to know how the ventilator works and the funny numbers that are associated with it. Ha!
2. When in doubt, wash your hands.
3. The tea room is the most important place (quite paradoxical really, because after all.. it's the coffee that matters!) -_-"

So that's what we learn on our first day in ICU. hehehe.. of course, they were just being nice (and cheeky). Intensivists are the nicest kinda doctors. I would say, they are the "Gold Standard". *happy sigh* i'm starting to like the RAH. i really am :)

Busy week ahead. but in for a good start :)

hellooo civilisation :)

as of tmr morning.. i'm bck to the comforts of my room, my baby, my church, my central market, my pho.. hahaha.. it's been a wonderful 3 weeks and i thank God for that. the last week was a bit of a drag because after chris, chuen, ken & lenghui spent the weekend here, i realize i missed adelaide so much more! and also because my faourite gp went on leave.. so yeah. haha.. nevertheless, my last day was spent taking bloods, giving jabs, catheter insertion and also removal of sutures. i reckon i could give you a flu jab blindfolded and take your bloods with my arms tied around my back *beams*

enjoyable things about this 3 week stint:

-i get to do it with jebbs :)

-we get to live in such a niceeee house!

-country people are happy people..

-a good insight on what general practice is all about: the trust that's built between patient & doctor, the variety of clinical presentations that you see in one day, plenty of hands-on clinical experience, continuity of care.

-head start/preview to paediatrics (child development) and O&G (antenatal check-up).

-the opportunity to understand the aboriginal community's predicaments better, and also the importance of aged care. even had the chance to experience "chiropractic" manouver first hand!

-my friends came to visit! and we had the awesomest time spent touring the yorke peninsula.. i *heart* moonta bay & port hughes.. and also mr rod gregory for the excellent "beginner's" lesson on wine tasting and for being such a good host :)

-just the whole setting.. of being able to do what i want to do, study when i feel like it, go online, cook, bake, sleep and still have so much time in hand!

-last but not least, bask in His presence, being mesmerized by the work of His hands.

tmr, i head bck to Adelaide. back to the "grind". start ACC2 nxt week :) ready, set, GO!

More of the "ruraL" life :P

I know I've done a slip shot job on the previous picture post. I am sorry. slide.com does my pictures injustice.. This is to make up for it. Enjoy :)

my bedroom! yes i actually brought my teddy, my own pillow and duvet :P

the living room, where me & jebbs have our meals, in front of the tv. ahh, sweet life! :) lately the light went bonkers, so we've been having pretty 'romantic' meals in the dark! haha..

we made scones!!! yum!!! after alpha course that day, i could not stop thinking about scones and jam and fresh cream. ooh yum!

me eating scones!! yer, so greedy looking right?

it's the weekend!! we decided to make each of us a BIG and SCRUMPTIOUS BREKKY!

next up, road trip to the Copper Triangle (Moonta, Wallaroo & Kadina). Dr Duah (one of our GPs), offered to bring us around (so nice of him) the Yorke Peninsula on Saturday. I don't think I take the best pictures but I think you should give me some credit cos most of these pictures were taken from a moving car!

Moonta Bay. If you were actually there, you would faint. The water.. is so amazingly blue and sparkly and invite-y.

This is a lovely beach house. I want it!

Port Wallaroo. God is such an amazing artist! Picture perfect! *heart*

This is a factory that handles all the farm products - wheat, lentil, barley etc. Yorke Peninsula prides its farming/agriculture industry, with very good harvest each year despite the draught because of its location that's close to the coastline.

Cooper Marina Residences. WAH! So nice lah. I want to live here.

The other side of the beach @ Port Wallaroo

Wallaroo Hospital! The specialist hospital for the Northern Yorke Peninsula. That's where all our patients get their CT Scans and Ultrasounds done because Maitland don't have :(

WOOLY'S @ Kadina. Boy were we glad! Hehehe..

Farmlands. All the way. Wherever you go, travelling from one town to another. FARMS everywhere!

Family Christian Church AOG, Minlaton. Sheena introduced me to the Whittaker family and Kelly, one of their daughters brought me & Jebbs to church today. It was so homely and cosy and everyone was just so nice and warm. It really lived up to its name - familY! That elderly couple on the right? They are so sweet. Holding hands, and giving each other pecks on the cheek, calling each other dear. aww...

Bluff Beach

where they conducted their Water Baptism :)

Taking their step of faith.. Welcome to the family :)

Kelly, me & Jebbs :)

the adorable little kids...

i am contemplating... whether or not i should shift my blog to wordpress.com hum dee dum... yes? no? what are your thoughts?

Christine (and Jebbrine) goes Rural!

you must be thinking. gone case! 2 blur girls.. or blur and blurrer girls (haha you know which is which) actually decided last year.. that they want to embrace the whole "rural" experience. and specifically changed their MSAs so that they can do it.

Thank God we're doing it together.

The day we left, both of us were like.. uh-oh! have we made the right decision?? 3 weeks away from the comforts of your own home is.. unthinkable!!! well, almost.

much to our pleasant surprise.. and just so you all know we're keeping well..

The experience has been great so far!!

the place we're living in is so HUGE! and COSY! and WELL-EQUIPPED! (cf. KKB houses that IMU provides)

by well equipped i mean, there's wireless internet, TV, washing machine + dryer, baking utensils (yippeeee) and queen sized bed for each of us. every room is fitted with a heater. actually it sounds more like a holiday villa than anything else. hahaha..

the town IS quite small. the people here are at an average age of 80+. there's only ONE IGA supermarket which i foresee becoming our favourite hang-out for the nxt 3 weeks.

but the best part is not about the place, or the environment. it's the people!!! they are so super duper nice and friendly.. everyone!!! it's like a happyland. and in clinics, we get to do everything!!

thank You God! for such a wonderful experience.. although it meant missing all-girls breakfast, mini mamak night, getting set for SET, being AMC's surrogate patient.. i know it's worth it!!

such a place of rest. and of spending time with You.

pictures to follow soon.

p/s: i do miss my baby though!!

Once again...

i am at this crossroad of my life... where i'm writing a literature review (yes again)! and each time i'm stuck, i MUST blog. haha.. of course, that's after praying ady, doing some self motivating speech to myself, and settling down, feeling good that i start to think... hey! i feel like blogging :P

if only i wasn't so easily distractable, i would've completed my write-up since... Easter weekend? but. it's not that i was lazy, or procrastinating or anything like that. i was just very, distractable. i would cook, i would bake, i would go out and meet people, even read all my journal articles, but when i actually sit down to do it. *blank mind* *blink blink* can't consolidate all that information into 2 pages. so i decide to play games la, listen to music la, go kacau chris la... ok fine. that's a form of procrastination.

but even when i actually sit down and force myself to write something.. i can't! it's different this time around. maybe cos it's for prof R and we all know how high his expectations are.

after my embarassing time at the x-ray room (mistaking a pleural effusion for a pneumonectomy, and i've seen the x-ray before. pls swallow me up big black hole), and forgetting his very important "cardiac dullness" which i have crossed my heart to always remember since MHU days, except that i was too preoccupied remembering all my other lung segments while i percuss and auscultate..

so obviously i need to hand in a super keng chau, bombastic write up la.. maybe i'm thinking too much, because he's actually been very nice, did not penalized me, even said that i did a great job during my observed case. and i have learnt quite a bit from this rotation and find myself liking respiratory a lot more (i used to think it was the boringest subject after haematology and endocrinology). maybe it's just me being to conscious because it IS prof R after all.

oh well, one more page to go..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAMMY KHOO! may you stay a cute hamster always ;) haha..

updates - my literature review is finally done!! wooHoo~

being a medical student...

i slept for 10 hrs!!! ahh!!! i'm soo not medical student material. sigh.

i remember the old days when htin aung would drum into my mind - "you shld only sleep 4-5 hrs a day. 2 hrs for eating/basic hygiene. the rest shld be used to study! and then he continues with the i've read gray's anatomy 42 times etc etc."

i took the day off today :) cos it's memory unit clinic today and the consultant isn't arnd so clinic's cancelled. while i'm happy that i got the day off (finally!), when i woke up this morning, i found myself missing being in the wards. i miss my patients! especially the old ones. they are sooo cute!

there's one that keeps falling asleep while you talk to him. he's always wrapped up in a blankie cos he's cold. and there's another old man who's a little deaf in his ears but always so obliging, keeps nodding his head and smiling although (i bet) he can't hear a thing we're saying! haha.. and when we ask him a question he'd just smile :) now i speak loudly into his left ear! that makes a huge difference! and there this little italian lady, who keeps asking me to stay with her.. cos she can't cope at home and doesn't want to live in a nursing home.. she even claims to have a bedroom prepared for me. aww..

tmr's gonna be my last day at neuro. while i felt i didn't learn much in theory (i still find neuro too complicated a topic, since imu days), i'm beginning to love old people more (not that i didn't before, the keyword here is MORE). maybe it's a transference thingy, cos i can't be close to my grandma while she's in hospital. but yeah..

i've also come to appreciate the extent of the healthcare system here in aust. respite care, ACAT, meals on wheels, nursing services, hospital at home etc. the list goes on and on and on. even if you do have a very sick family member, they've got all these lined up for you, the support given by the govt is tremendous.

tmr! i'm giving 2 presentations and that will end my stint @ the neurology unit. i'll do some brushing up today and hopefully give a good one tmr!

just want some of your thoughts, if you had a family member, close to 90, suffered a major stroke, drowsy, confused, demented, immobile.. but alive. very much alive. would you:
a) nurse him back to his premorbid state
b) give him comfort care (only pain relief, and tranquilizers)

and if you decide on b) and in a few days, he actually becomes more alert because all the medication is withdrawn, food and water is held -> less drowsy, dries up his effusion and stuff.. what would you do now? you'd wonder whether u've done the right thing? would you reverse it?

i think it really makes a difference what your belief system is. although it's logical that, he's not having a good quality of life, he can't move, can't talk, can't recognise anyone. there's no point in living. but at the same time, this life belongs to God. who are we to determine if he lives or he dies?

i would go for a). how abt you?

Research

my current relationship status with the abovementioned is: LOVE-HATE.

it's interesting that so many new studies are taking place. it's intriguing in fact! especially when you get cool topics like mine - patent foramen ovale and cryptogenic stroke. but then it's sooooo tedious to collate data, do referencing, and write a literature review *sigh*

this is just one component of it. last yr i experienced the formulating part. hard work. but essential. essential for the future.

S.C.R.U.B.S

Modbury Hospital has the coolest scrubs! there's purple, green, baby blue and yellow!! hehe.. surgery rocks~!

oh yeah, btw this is my new "short bob" hairstyle :)

2 embarassing moments in less than 24 hours!!

ahh, yesterday night, i was supposed to go to jebb's place to study.. her apartment is just adjacent to mine, but one floor above me (u get what i mean? i don't know how else to describe). haha.. anyway, yeah. but i don't know why, as soon as i climbed up the stairs, i automatically went to the apartment nearest to me -_-"

me: *knock knock*

chinese girl: *opens the door* hi..

me: hi! i'm looking for jebbrine *already half walking into ppl's house!!!!*

chinese girl: but there isn't a jebbrine staying here..

me: *omigosh, what kind of housemate is this? don't even now her new housemate???* she's in room 4, don't worry i'll find her.

chinese girl: *shrugs* oh ok.. *heads back to the kitchen*

so weird.. anyway, i walked to jebb's room and realizes "her room's" light is off! weird!! i just called her!!! it suddenly dawned upon me that indeed i MAY have entered the wrong house! ahhh!!!

me: err.. btw, what apartment number is this?

chinese girl: 68.

me: -_-" *longs for a HOLE to swallow me up* sorrryyyyyyyy.. *runs away, face the colour of a beetroot*

sigh.

then, then, then!!

today i was at the operating theatre's tearoom yeah. and i see this guy who looks like my batchmate. as in, i THOUGHT he WAS my batchmate. so being the friendly person i am, i nodded and smiled. the guy stared at me with this bizarre and weird look!! i was like??!! huH?? only to find out from jebbs later that.. that guy was actually the brother!! the brother??!! how could i make such a mistake? tell me?

malu. malu. malu. i think not having enough sleep for the past few days has its toll.

on another note, today is my second day with the ENT and Facial Plastics people. i must say, i'm thoroughly enjoying this rotation! it's really interesting. the best part of ENT is, you get both adult and children patients! not to mention, we are under a great team, both consultants and regs are so helpful, enthusiastic and they are awesome teachers!!

we spent the whole day in theatre today.. standing 9 hours straight is no joke. with only a 20 minute lunch break. but i do find myself liking surgery a lot.. possible career path? of course paeds and cardio (or both) are still my top priority, but it's always good to keep your options open hey?

tmr's our day off. woohoo.. see, they are nice people :) haha.. i can sleep in. i cannot afford to embarass myself again.

pineapple rolls

i'm not sure how many people out there are crazy about pineapple tarts/rolls, i for one definitely am!!! so crazy that.. i can eat the entire container on my own (i mean the tarts, of course)!! so so crazy that i made them! hehe.. turned out pretty good hey? so much cheaper than buying too. but it was no easy feat :/ (i've probably built some muscles in the process ;P)

i brought it to adelaide for the villagers to try. unfortunately, the "FRAGILE" sticker was ignored by the cargo crew :( when i opened the box, it looked more like pineapple crumble than anything else!!! grrr..

oh yeah. and yes. i am back in adelaide. sigh.. uni starts tmr. too soon for comfort.

ENT & Facial Plastics (at least the topic is interesting, haha). oh, and did i mention the hospital is just a stone's throw away from Tea Tree Plaza? :P haha..

2 whole days devoted to packing, cleaning, and re-arranging the furnitures in my room. ta-daa.... i'm so proud of myself *pats myself on the back* hmm, let's hope it stays this way for the rest of the year ;)

p/s: erm, i think there's something wrong with blogger. it only allows me to post one picture. bleh~

p.p/s: visit MakanClub's blog for a review on Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

Halfway Dinner :)

so halfway dinner is to celebrate the fact that we're halfway through med school :) which really is something to celebrate! it's been 3 years!!! at the same time, it made me miss the imu ppl even more!!! cos it would have been so much more meaningful for us if we celebrated it together. miss you guys!!!!!!

baby surprised me with tulips!! so sweet :) thks..


our only decent picture together, *sigh*


i love the preparation part, of getting dressed up & be pretty!! :)


and that's us, just before leaving.. we look smashing ey?


another one, while waiting for the taxi..


joanne dear, me & lenghui :)


me & shiau cern

me & Ms Immeculately Dressed, yin yee :)


me & sarah


gomolemo & me :) u made ACC fun! miss ya!


the main course.. it tastes as yummy as it looks :)


me, chris, jenna & grandpa sun! :P


pls refer to facebook for their names. haha..


the girls :)


more girls :D


say cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese :D


one more timeeee...!!!


me, kenneth (aka grandpa), jebs, shiaucern & josh


we loveeeeeeeee taking pictures


me, robert & chris (robert's wearing a tie...........!!!! :-o)


self shot when i got bck. you know why?!!!! BECAUSE my camera ran out of battery halfway :( and i didn't get to take a picture of myself. i'm leeching off other ppl's camera. will post more as i receive them, OR alternatively.. you can check out my FACEBOOK :)

twas a lovely night...

sorry i didn't get to post the pictures up earlier.. had a busy-as-a-bumble-bee weekend! there was OxyGen on saturday, and the fantabulous UV Lifegroup (phew-it! Ernestine!! Jia Ching!! We love youuuuu.....) were chosen to present a skit - What Can I Do for You?


UV rocks!!!!!! ernestine, why u cover ur face?????


me & wing sun :)


dramatic moments, during the skit.