Tag Archives: district hospital

For colleagues, instead of patients

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A friend wrote on my FB wall today, saying how much he appreciated me doing a Central Venous Line on one of his patients with difficult veins. He was oncall and honestly I was going to end my shift when the call for help came. I then had 2 choices; to either answer the mayday or shove the responsibility to somebody else by pretending to be busy. I chose to help. Not because I felt it was my responsibilty in helping the patient get better but I did it because the one asking for the favour was a friend. A good friend who never brought me any trouble. Who never sabotaged his fellow colleagues.

Yes, I suppose it serves as a kind of motivation to do your job well and penuh amanah mun kau molah kerana nulong kawan. kerana kau sik mok kawan ko dimarah specialist or dpt susah.

A mantra Ive always hold on to,

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND EACH OTHER

Gosh.. sik ingat dah sapa madah yah..

And because a friend asked… mun sik pande molah pun kenak pande2 kan dirik… muahahaha. If not CRY CRY jak lah…

The Graveyard Shift

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“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence”

I have never done ED (Emergency Department) in my Housemanship posting. Instead I was absorbed into the Anaesthetic department and later stayed on to work as their MO. It was a good department, almost like a family and I hope to continue serving in the department even at another place. [read: mok masuk Anaes at GHM!!!]

Anyway, until that time comes.. I still have to serve in the district. This means seeing cases from the very little to the very old. And of course doing my time in ED.

For the past few days I have been doing the graveyard shift. From 4PM to 12MN. Imagine having to drive back from Jasin to Peringgit at night!. The road seems so scary sometimes that the mind too feel that it has to jump in the fun and make me see things. LOL.

One thing for sure is that ED is far more interesting than staying in the wards. What I despise however is when it comes to dispensing MCs. My gawd these people are freaking lazy going to work. Even the kids are spoilt. And their parents are not doing a good job at enforcing discipline on them as well. Ada kah diencourage nya miak ya sak sik sekolah. Like excuse me… mun menar lah aku rasa ko sik boleh keja atay skola.. nang aku merik MC bah..

Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work.
Al Capp

Then theres those who frequent the ED like its a shopping complex. Coming in for all sorts of lame yet bizarre complaints sometimes. Usually they’re not aggressive. They’ll talk to you in the most gentle tone and wonderful choice of words but theres just an inkling that something aint right. As you try to gather more history, you’d notice a piece of note written by your MA (Medical Assistant) that read, “Just give her some medicine, she’s ‘drunk'”. And the MA s are right. These group of patients will come back in another day or two with the SAME illness although its happening for the first time, saying that they’ve never sought medical treatment before. Like hello.. memori ikan emas kah apa?

ED oh ED.

Well, its only the 1st week. I have another 3 weeks to explore.

The Ward Doctor

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“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” – Hippocrates

My typical day as a Ward Doctor in a district hospital with full bed occupancy of 28 patients.

0700   : Set off from home. If I need to refill the tank, I’ll leave 10 minutes early

0740   : Arrive at work. Just in time to gather my white pocket and stuff it with my doc accessories. Swallow a vitamin and start my morning review of the patients

0800 – 1200  : Includes rounds with the specialist, preparing discharge summaries, write referrals, review medications, counsel patients regarding treatment options/procedure risk/uncontrolled medical condition and their complications/on why they are not allowed to go home that day!!

1230 – 1400 : Lunch hour –> eat, catnap, quick read on medical topics, pray.

1400 – 1700 : Attend CME. If there’s no CME, update patients 555 book, do PM review, review results and Xrays, perform procedures, make case summaries, catch up on non clinical work. [read: gossip/discuss about Cinta untuk Emelda]

1650 – 1700 : Perform Asr prayer, then wait by the punch card machine to punch out.

1750   : Arrive home. Play with Baby Zeeq. Bathe him et cetera.

Hating district

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“Its like asking a carpenter to fix your sink and asking a plumber to knit you a sweater”

I have a lot of reason to hate my current posting.

I hate clinics. I hate ward rounds. I hate having to see the same patient again and again for their illness ( in clinics). I hate that I have to write up a lot of forms and papers. I hate that our punchcard is under scrutiny always. I hate that I’ve got to be more involved in the admin side of things. I hate that I’ve got to leave home early everyday to go to work. An hour drive everyday to and fro – in a freaking Kancil. Engines gonna die! Engines gonna go up in smoke!

Have I told you that I hate clinics? Ive lost touch into TCA-ing patients, in managing chronic systemic diseases.

True. Anaesthesia too have clinics and ward rounds. But they’re far more interesting!!!

Oh how I wish they’d let me run the little OT everyday. its hard doing something that you like for a year and then forced into not doing it anymore.

but this is district life. What to do. Tadah jelah sampai sangap…

No wait. This does not even qualify as a district hospital because it is still governed by specialists. Its pseudo district. If specialist doesnt know how, they’ll agree to your plan cause it sounds better.