Tag Archives: MO ship

Simple detective work – to look for people

Posted in All in a days work by

How do you find a particular someone in a sea full of people? Well.. I was put on a test today.

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A few weeks ago, a middle aged lady was referred to our centre from a private GP for subsequent management. After this lady was assessed by an attending specialist, Specialist M, at our hospital, it was decided that she needs further investigation at a tertiary hospital where the facilities were more advanced – in this case, they had a CT scan machine available.

After the patient was transferred there, I have quite forgotten about the case until Specialist M wanted to see her again – for educational purposes. *gasp*

I did the easiest thing I could imagine, I traced her Casualty card to get her number. I then met Panic & Horror as the phone number belonged to someone else. Patutlah tak angkat.  The first thing that crossed my mind was, “OMG.. do I really need to get the police involved in this – to track her down and get her number?!!!” That is like so dramatic right..

I suddenly remembered that she brought along a relative who happened to be working as part of the private cleaning company in our hospital. Too bad I don’t know her name since she is not working in our unit. I tried my best to describe this particular relative to the other workers but alas, they are unable to recall who this lady tembam2 with tudung is. I was at wits end, I even tried to google her name in case someone mentions her on the web. Or if she by chance has a Facebook account. kerja gila.. I know. 

After much silly effort within that long 30 minutes, HELP came in the form of a friend.

“She was referred from a GP right?”

“Yes”

“Why don’t you call the GP and ask for her details. When patients register for the first time, they usually get their contact number and all”

OH bless him! And indeed he was right. I spoke to the GP owner herself, explained my predicament and voila.. I managed to give the patient a call and confirmed an appointment. Now that is one way how you find a person in a sea of people.

A possibly tragic October

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life by

Just thinking about next months roster and added responsibilities are already making me an emotional wreck. Not to sound melodramatic, but family time would be affected and my son would probably not recognize me as Mummy. Maybe the mumia mummy. Huhu.. exaggerate lebih.

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But then again, who am I, a little medical officer in a district setting to complain? oncall sikit pun nak cakap banyak? yah yah.. Im sadapping. I’m sure my counterparts in the tertiary hospital are having yo-yo feelings regarding their job as well. Their job demands are tougher, they deal with more lives than we do.

Big, profound changes are coming my way soon. I would say most are half-baked ideas but then an orthopedic surgeon once said, if you can’t give a solution to the problem, don’t even think about raising the issue”

So yeah, keeping mum.

 

The best freebie drug-reps could ever give is a pen

Posted in Everyday Life, Medicine/Health by

In fact, most of the time the main objective of going to a drug talk apart from the Continuous Medical Education (CME) points and the food – is for the pen. The greedy lot would even shamelessly ask for more pen or a stack of notepads.

I, on the other hand, is happy with one pen. Happier with two. Most happy if I could nick the pens from other peoples goody bags who couldn’t attend the CME in the first place.  ha ha ha.

I understand that most MDs need a pen but sometimes this need escalates into obsession. The euphoric feeling evolves into a cheap thrill when one gets their hands on these precious pens. And these are ordinary ballpoint pens, mind you. With half-lives of less than a trimester. Some surviving in  less than 2 weeks. Yet we all love it. Especially when they come in black ink.

I just got back from an update session regarding a hormonal drug at Holiday Inn hotel today. It was a surprisingly good turn up with female practitioners filling up half of the audience. In the goody bag I got a pen, a notebook and a few brochures regarding the company’s products. I’m already a happy woman with that pen.

Of passing exams …

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life by

My colleague and I passed our skills exam recently. The questions were not leaked like the recent UPSR paper thus the success felt more sweet and deserving. We studied diligently for the theory and practical aspect of the exam – we pooled our resources and shared what we knew with each other. All this for an exam of a 1 day course. 1 day theory, next day exam. Ha ha. Even Mr Husband was impressed that I was reading something serious. LOL.

“Omg.. I can’t believe my wife is studying … you haven’t opened a proper book for two years!!”

Yes, his exact words in his sarcastic, sing-song tone. Ahem.. I have been opening my books in between traffic light stops okay..

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On my part I did not feel the need to hide any extra information – I never was the type who would do that anyway because I honestly think that there is nothing to lose by sharing the ‘extras’ that we have. In fact, the more we share.. the easier it is to achieve a certain goal  – in this case, saving a patient’s life – because we are all thinking along the same line of thought.

While some advocate for an exam-free environment, I for one is a strong supporter for the implementation of a formal exam to gauge one’s competence in skills and theory. An exam should not be the sole measure of one’s ability though, and should be supported by ongoing informal observation of one’s character and interaction with others in his/her daily duties. At least that is what Pan-Ro in Good Daughter, Hana (Korean drama) thinks. And I agree.

Nevertheless, the passing or scoring on an exam is not to give one a reason to gloat over the success. It should in fact serve as a reminder that many aspects come into play to get such good results – hard work, smart play and team effort. On top of reinforcing the knowledge that we thought we have and is doing it right and safe.

Now that I’ve passed – I feel more confident to guide my colleagues who didn’t have the chance to participate in the course. At least I can say without doubt,

” aku dah belajar canne nak buat from specialist – come I teach you and we learn the proper way ” 

 

20 Syawal.. and Eid is still lingering

Posted in Everyday Life, Good Things, Just For Fun by

I was actually looking for the kids from the orphanage centre – just to say HI – but none were to be seen. I take it its because I  have arrived fashionably late for the annual Eid gathering organized by the hospital committee. I was after all scheduled to come in for the evening shift thus honestly not keen to arrive early for the ceremony. The plan was to sneak into the hall, grab some food, take selfies and proceed to my worldly duties. Indeed, that was what happened last Friday. I joined the fun in just under 30 minutes. Chomp chomp, Nom nom, Smile Smile, and off I went.

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People were dressed in colourful dresses, baju kurung and kebaya. Food was awesome. Laughter and jester was heard from every corner of the concourse.

 

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It also brought out hidden photography talents among colleagues. I wished those who could sing would go on stage and hum a tune or two. No one claimed to have such talent though. Selfies took place like mad. We had a ‘family photo’ as well and I thought it was interesting regarding a colleagues technique in trying to make us smile.

It wasn’t the classic ‘Cheese’ or ‘Kimchi’. Instead, at a count of 3 at 2.. he would abruptly scream ‘senyum!’ in a loud commanding voice and by 3, we were grinning or laughing hysterically.

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Apart from a chance to have good, delicious food, it was also a moment for myself to get to see my colleagues family – those who bring their kids and stuff. It helps to put a face to a name especially when they talk about these special people during casual conversations at work.

20th Syawal today.. and the Eid engine is still running like the Snowpiercer. Already I have another 2 invitations for another Eid gathering this month.

My dieting regime is going down the drain… Oh noooo..