Category Archives: All in a days work

as a medical officer

10K steps a day – walking the talk

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life by

It has been 14 days since the Sihat Itu Saya challenge started. I am in a group made up of 20 participants. On most days, I can contribute one star for the team with a minimum of 10K steps a day. Since my job is sedentary, my phone could only pick up fewer than 1K steps for the whole day. Sometimes it is as few as 500 steps. This means that I’ll need to do my own walking at home till I complete my target.

While on the walking pad, it had me thinking. Would 10K steps from physical activity be as beneficial as putting 10K on a focused brisk walking session?

Since my side quest of losing weight is ongoing, obviously, I’d want to indulge in activities that would keep my heart rate up. The plan was to ensure that I get a complete 10K on my walking pad regardless of how much I got while working. However, I realised that time is an important factor to consider. Will explain more on that later. So the plan now is just to top up my steps till 10K. The most I managed so far is up to 11K.

The top performers in my team were getting more than 20K per day. They jog, play badminton and are known to be very active physically. They are the biggest contributors to our ranks. Any steps above 10K are rewarded one star. However, it is the average step of each team that determines the ranking. Thus, getting ‘gold’ is possible, but for the top ranks, all team members need to be active. At the moment, we are still in the ranks of 130 to 150.

S.i.S

Posted in All in a days work by

The brisk walking challenge has started. I joined for two reasons.

  • To support my colleague. The ‘champion’ of this programme.
  • I thought it would be a great opportunity to start getting active again. I have been on a very long hiatus since my umrah last year. Prior to umrah, I was on a roll, walking a few thousand steps per day. After umrah, I got a bit lazy. So this would hopefully be a great adjunct to my meal plan in the hopes of (again) losing weight. minciBMI25 is still a goal.

I did not manage to get even 5K steps today. I had less than 3K, but it is OK. I will build the momentum daily and see how it ends in 3 months. On the other hand, my husband has been very enthusiastic about this challenge that he is hoarding the treadmill in the early hours of the morning and night. It’s a good excuse for me to get a walking pad and put it in my study. At least I can watch Netflix or enjoy a YouTube video on my PC while walking. I am still waiting for it to arrive. After that, I can create another piggy bank to save up for one of those fancy watches that count steps.

6-year itch?

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The longest time I have stayed at one workplace is 6 years. That was a district hospital setting. I was beginning to feel the itch 5 years in, instead of the infamous 7-year itch. Simply because I was beginning to see more of my great colleagues leaving one by one. Most left for private practice. If I had not given birth to my daughter, I think I would still be there to continue serving the district.

However, I, too, left due to family commitment. My family was growing, and my husband’s career was already finding its footing in Public Health. Since anaesthesia was no longer an option for me, we felt that serving in a clinic setting would be more practical. Hence, I took the plunge and began my journey in Klinik Kesihatan (KK).

I served 3 years in my first KK. In my second and current KK, it is approaching 6 years, and I am already feeling the itch. Every year, we have medical officers coming and leaving. Sadly, those who left surpass those who came. Some chased dreams. Some had to fulfil work obligations. With each person, they bring in skills and experience from their life. And left with hopefully good memories of our workplace. It is hard to ignore this itch, as I felt that it has started to affect my ‘jiwa’ for this line of duty. A dedicated healthcare worker needs to be passionate and knowledgeable in their work. I don’t even have the urge to keep up with the latest guidelines and clinical management of diseases.

Recently, we had a farewell and Eid celebration at the clinic. Two pensioners and a few transfers. I have to say that it is too early in the year to have so many staff reshuffled and moving away. The workplace dynamics have certainly shifted, and the tension is palpable. Office politics are inevitable as work must go on. I mean, I make the roster for the medical officers. Honestly, I feel sorry for my friends because on most days, we are always short on people. Sometimes I wish that instead of the minimum 3 or 4 people we have in each zone, we could have at least 5 or 6 people to support the team. This is not always feasible as we have courses, special clinics and people on leave.

This 6-year itch has become increasingly noticeable and annoying. Will I make it to 8 or will I succumb to the 7 year itch?

Eid trendy challenges with colleagues

Posted in All in a days work, Just For Fun by

If by-the-book millennials run this place, these videos would not have been produced. We just don’t have the energy.
Thanks to our full-of-life colleagues who are in the younger age bracket of Gen Y and the older age range of Gen Z, we were able to participate in this fun video. All the ‘older’ us have to do is just follow their instructions. They do the recording and the editing.

I really appreciate their enthusiasm for taking the effort to include everyone in this annual fun activity.

Complaining is finding faults

Posted in All in a days work by

It is inevitable that when you deal with human beings, miscommunication is bound to happen. Whenever I get a patient complaint, I am always reminded of this image. Their version of the story is not wrong. I accept that.

But so is mine. And when I want to present my side of the story to the original complainant, I am either stuck with the third person who was not even there in the first place or met with a disregardful response. So, macam mana nak selesaikan masalah or membuat penambahbaikan if you don’t want to meet me face to face? Interestingly, the ones with the ‘loudest voice’ are females, and then they send their men to fight me, another woman. Why don’t you do the deeds yourself?

A few weeks ago, I saw a lady who came in for a fever. To cut things short, in her point of view, I am questioning her request for an MC based on my tone of voice. All of a sudden, I have a 180cm husband barging through my consultation door, demanding to see and asking why I am questioning her sickness.

To be honest, I was a bit puzzled by the accusation. It is because he was not even there in the first place to understand what went on. In my defence, I wanted to help her without knowing that there was a background story of what actually took place before she came to see me. So, it kind of makes sense as to why the husband was angry. However, I did tell the husband to invite the wife to sit together with us, so that we could get to the bottom of the problem properly. Instead, the husband said the wife was stressed and not willing to join in.

I don’t buy that.

Experience tells me that if the original complainant is not willing to sit together, that means the version of their story as told to the third person has been distorted to their advantage. Thus, they are unwilling to face the consequences of the little white lie. That’s when I knew that no matter what I say afterwards, the husband or so-called ‘negotiator’ has made up his mind on how he wishes for the outcome to be. He has no intention to correct the matter. He has no intention to ‘improve on the services’. He just wants to ventilate and blame somebody.

The public loves to threaten government services with SISPAA. Complainants would submit their issues to the platform, but with the intention of wanting the staff to be expelled. To them, that is the only justice that should be served for their problems. When in fact, counselling services, temporary suspension and transfer to another unit are also meant as ‘action taken’ to prevent escalation of the problem.

So, what happens in situations like this? When you are faced with an angry relative or patient?

I let them win. I will apologise. I will say it is my fault. I will feed their ego. I will retreat as the weak side of the party. Then I close the chapter and move on. But before I close the chapter for good, I will make one prayer to Allah. I will pray that they will be bestowed Allah’s blessing. For example, the husband or the original complainant will receive a work promotion with a bigger salary and be transferred to a place further away from where I am working. Let them be other people’s headache, or perhaps they become the receiving end of the headache that they once imposed on others.

I just made a similar prayer today for a different complainant. That this person may find peace and understanding amidst our altercation. I did offer my apologies and reconciliation by calling her back. She hung up mid-conversation. Let’s hope that she’d find a way to see through the problem and see how it was from my shoes.