Interesting yet controversial

Here are a few interesting statements that I came across this week in the the hospital. Some of them were overheard, some of them were directed right at me.

In order to maintain confidentiality, I will not mention who said it, but will just label them as Staff A, B, C etc... (my thoughts on the statement will be written in Italics)

"Oh, I hope he hasn't gone away to google the solution to the problem here!" said staff A, on a cardiologist registrar. (how rude and unprofessional, and its not like staff A knows much about cardiology anyway)

"That surgeon has no idea....she is so stupid!" said staff B. (other specialty commenting on other specialities is a very common thing in the hospital)

"Out of these few names, who will you choose to put the CPAP hood on? Chantelle, Fred, Tiffany, Kieran?" asked staff C to the team members. "Of course you will choose Fred, coz he sounds more like someone who will cooperate....Chantelle/Tiffany will be too worried over their looks." (judging people even before meeting that person)

"Most haematologists think that all their patients have an excellent prognosis." (hmm..i dunno, I am no haematologist. if the specialists think so, i would believe them)

"Are the registrar here?" asked staff D to me, after reviewing his patient. "No, I am the SHO here," I replied. (Staff D looked at me up and down, and turned away. He did not want to tell me his plan for the patient...prob coz I am the SHO)

"I don't expect you to know anything." said a fellow registrar to me. (hmm....i might not know alot about advanced ITU things, but I do have medical knowlegde, you know?)

Any thoughts about these statements?

Freaking Out!

Now that I'm back in the UK, reality has started to sink in, once again.

There are 4 weeks left to my PACES exam in June....and honestly, I am shitting myself.

The last time I had a proper OSCE style examination was during medical school years, which was many moons ago! I recalled sitting outside the examination rooms extremely nervous. My heart was thumping hard, fingers icy cold, palms sweaty, and I had a churning/crampy feeling in my tummy. Gosh...I really hated that feeling. It was worse than taking my UK driving test or Grade 8 piano exams or presenting at a regional meeting. I also remembered saying to myself," I don't ever want to have these feelings ever again."

Well, come 20th June, I know that these feelings will come back to haunt me. Ok, I know that I have no choice. I have to take the exam in order to make a step closer towards specialisation. If I pass, then I will be over the moon! But if I were to fail, which is a very high probability, then, I will have to face the exam again...

Life is so unfair! :(

Today, I attended my first PACES teaching session. I really thought that cardiovascular examination is probably the only examination skill that I have mastered properly.

Huh! dream on!

I forgot to test for a collapsing pulse, missed palpation for the apex beat and got my special murmur manoeurve all mixed up! Its amazing how being put on the"hot seat" made me fall deep into a hole.... sigh.

Bearing this in mind, I don't even want to think how I would perform a good and sleek neurological examination!!!

I seriously need to put my arse into gear...practise! practise! and more practise!!

Monkeys Caught in The Act

I visited the Botanical Garden in Penang on Monday. I haven't been to this garden for yonks! And I have to say, I am pretty impressed with the garden. The landscaping was beautiful, and there were some information written about specific trees/plants in the garden.

Dad suggested that we take a tram ride around the gardens first, and so we did. Sitting on the slow tram reminded me of my childhood days....hmmm

One of the things that haven't changed is the presence of monkeys. These monkeys are pretty wild, and they could potential bite you if you are not careful. There are many signs in the garden asking visitors not to feed them, but as usual, Malaysians being Malaysians will naturally ignore them. And as a result, the monkeys can be seen fighting for the food given to them. Check these pics out:

The battle to see who gets the food first!

The winner, enjoying an ice cream.

I know that history has linked us to apes in the past. Just look at the way the above monkey held the ice-cream. It kinda looked like a little boy enjoying an ice-cream on a sunny day. Recently, The Star newspaper published a picture of a orang utan smoking a cigarette! hmm....bit disturbing, no?

Anyway, while strolling in the garden, I also saw a few monkeys shading themselves under the trees.....and this was what they were doing.... (look at the pic)

This is what we call "kutu searching." Too bad the pic is abit tiny, otherwise, the monkey on the left actually had its eyes closed during the kutu hunt. haha.

We spent about 2 hours at the garden. Although the weather was burningly hot, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, soaking up the tropical breeze, and letting my skin tan a little!

Here are more pics (not of monkeys) taken at the botanical garden.

Big Cactus at the cactus gallery

Interesting plant coz its new leaves are white in colour

Cannonball Tree (named so coz of the shape of the fruits)

At the entrance of the botanical garden