Total Hip Replacement

The surgery I'm not meant to see.. Total Hip Replacement. Went into the OT today hoping to witness a Total Hip Replacement by Mr Naveed, but was chased away by OT Sister. No reason given. Just a "You can't be here". O well, OT sister, being OT sister if u know what I mean.. sigh.

Asked a senior about it, apparently its to maintain sterility. That seems to be the reason to chase us out of OT, bar us from going in as well as a darn good reason to screw us early in the morning for no apparent reason. The things we medical student go through just to learn. Perhaps its much easier to be lazy. I'm sure some people (look above) will be happy if we are lazy and just stay at hope rather than be in the OT.

I'm extremely backed up on my studies and its already the middle of week 3. Looks like I need to stay in Seremban the next 2 weekends just to catch up on my studies and to revise for EOP and MCQs... :(

Ortho Week 2

Day 2 of my 2nd week in Orthopedics posting.

There seem to be a tonne of things I need to complete. I need to study for TBL, Seminars, examination, anatomy and I cant remember the things that I have covered (which means I need to go through them again rite?). I also need to go to OT to see all the procedures, go for A&E calls to observe acute management of fractures and etc. Not to forget clerk patients!! I have not been clerking enough patients. Clerking meaning actually sitting down and taking a proper history. Damn. Im so packed I dont have time to breath.

Unfortunately, I am also starting to feel burnt out. I cannot burn out. I don have the time to burn out. I need to chill abit, but I cant afford it. If i chill, i will be lagging behind and work will pile up. Man. Why does it have to be this tough. Sigh.

Maybe its because of the hectic schedule today. Started my day with CP at 7.30am. Ankle Examination class at 10am. Lecture on amputee rehab at 2pm and then Seminar at 4pm. All back to back the whole day. After class, I had to clerk patient for tomorrow's TBL. By the time I reached the ward, even opening the case file was an uphill challenge. I feel tired, bored and abit of anhedonia (lack of interest). Depression perhaps?

I hope its just a temporary thing. An acute feeling after a hectic day. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day. I hope it will be. It better be. It has to.......

Psychiatry, Orthopedics and all the books in between

This blog is really really pulseless.. hahaha i guess im not the blogger kind of person huh.

O well. I made it through Sem 6 in one piece. Passed all my exams. Barely made it, but i passed them all so that matters most. hahaha

Entering Orthopedic, I can feel the difference in me. I went through Psychiatry using the 2 thinnest books i can find. First Aid for Psychiatry Clerkship (great book btw) and Oxford Core Text.

But now that I'm in Ortho, i suddenly felt extremely hardworking and went and get myself the 800 pages Apley's System of Orthopedics. Crazy huh.. I also have 2 Examination books plus another Orthopedics Illustrated.. I must have gone mad in Psychiatry or something. Inflated self confidence that i can finish all these books perhaps? Mania? hahaha =P

I also started camping in library again after 1 semester away from the library. habits are hard to die huh. ;) Hopefully my hard work will pay off. Looking forward to Obstetrics at the end of Semester 7. Hopefully I dont get too excited and kill myself in the process.. very likely to happen hahahaha

Really? Do we?

Do we really need to extend our compulsory service to 5 or 10 years? Thats a looooooong time. We will be old uncle by that time.





http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/27/nation/20100127132105&sec=nation

Time

Everyone wishes for more time. Yet its how we make use of the time we have in hand that really matters. Make your day meaningful. Get the most out of it.

A taste of things to come.

For the 1st time in my life today, I was allowed to scrub in at the OT and assisted in an operation. A patient came in for an emergency open appendectomy and the operating doctor allowed me to assist her.

I expected the surgery to end 90 minutes but things got complicated. A surgeon had to be called in and the surgery prolonged to slightly more than 3 hours.

Yet the experience was priceless. From scrubbing in, fumbling around trying to wear my sterile gloves with the "closed" method, to assisting an operating MO and finally a surgeon, it was indeed worth staying up till 3am in the OT. Being only in my 6th week of Clinical School and my 1st ever posting, i do consider myself lucky to be given this opportunity.

I did not have any major role. I was basically an extra pair of hands to hold retractors and pass instruments as well as an extra pair of hands to get in the surgeons way. hahaha Nonetheless, it was a great experience. Its like an introduction course to the life of a HO on OT call, somethings that I hope I will be doing in the not too far distant future. After the 6 weeks i spent in surgery, I am considering Surgery as my pathway in the future. I rank it 2nd to ObGyn which has been top of my list for many years.

To the doctors who granted me this opportunity, Mr Loo, Dr Tiong and Dr Jan Jan, thank you very much. Cheers.

The truth about life.

Death. It is something that none of us can run from. We will all face it sooner or later.

Yesterday I experienced loosing a patient for the 1st time. A young man in his 30s came in with signs of MI and was in Ventricular Fibrillation. The MO and HO tried really hard to rescue him but was unsuccessful. We medical student help by doing chest compressions. Unfortunately. all available resources are eventually used up and the bad news has to be broken to the patients wife.

It was an emotionally intense moment. Of course it is. Imagine waking up one morning, all things well and suddenly you lost a loved one. One with no known medical illness. The truth would be hard to accept. When faced with this situation, I am reminded how fragile our lives are. In a second or two, we could lose everything we have, everything we are, everyone we love. That's the frangibility of life.

Don't take things for granted. Never waste any moment of our lives. Make the most of what we have and give every day our best we ever have.

To the patients wife, friends and family members. I wish you my deepest condolence. May you be blessed with the strength, love and support to get through this difficult time in your life. May you overcome this obstacle and may you be well and happy.