Vampy's Weblog - Life of a Medical Officer

Whohoo! I admitted my first patient into hospital today! Yup... I got the chance to admit a patient into hospital today!!! By that I mean that I got to do the history taking as well as a full physical exam and I got to write all my findings into the patient's chart! Okay, I admit that when I was first asked to do it, I was scared. Hell! I'm a first year med student who knows nuts and I'm asked to admit a patient into hospital?

But I must admit that while I was doing it, it actually felt great! For the first time, I felt that I was being useful instead of being an "ornament" in the wards. But I was nervous as hell. I'm sure I did things which none of my consultants or registrar would do but I learnt a lot today through this exercise and it further strengthen my convictions that this is what I really want to do.

Bet ya think I'm going to talk about medical stuff that happen to me... Wrong! Actually the title of this post is the title of this book I just bought today. It is a story of a doctor's diary which he kept during the Second World War. I have not finish reading it yet but so far I really enjoyed it. It tells of the heart wrenching decisions and experiences of the doctor and his mates. I don't think the aim of the book is to vilify anyone but it's told in a matter-of-fact way that in war, the true nature of human's ugliness comes out most plainly.

Sat in the Asthma clinic today and it convinces me that I really want to work with kids in the future. Kids have the most infectious smiles and laughters. Saw this pair of brothers who did were grinning throughout the entire consultation (though I have no idea why they were grinning ) This other 10 month old infant was just babbling incoherent sounds throughout the consult... But hey she sounded amused for some reason again...

I'm also amazed by the working attitudes of the people running the respiratory tests. They really know how to handle the kids really well... How they got the kids to cooperate to do the lung function test (involves the kids blowing out really fast and as long as they can) is amazing. They made it into a game for the kids so that the kids don't feel stressed doing it... And when it came to testing skin allergy, other than the occasional whimper, the kids just sat there quietly and allow them to use a small blade to scratch their skin. I'm impressed!!!

You know how as kids we love to play with water... until this day i still don't understand why kids love water so much... You must be wondering why I'm talking about it. Well, cos' today while in the clinic this boisterous kid decides that it would be funny to splash water at me... He was clearly enjoying himself, chuckling all the way. Before you think that i screamed at the kid, I actually allowed him to continue it. And it's not because I'm suppose to maintain professional image.

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Oh boy, what a terrible way to start my stint in pediatrics... I got assigned to a registrar whose accent is so strong that half the time I have no idea what's he talking about. I mean I did try to stretch my ears and listen intently and asking him several times to repeat himself but in the end I just gave up... So I just stared at him with an idiotic expression and pretend I know what's he talking about... Sigh!!! :-/

Yipee! Year 1 is over today! But I feel like I still don't know anything...:-/ It's quite amazing and scary at the same time how fast the year has gone past... I'm definitely looking forward to the holis. Well, after exams we decided to go to this restaurant called "Heritage Belgium Cafe" where they serve the most delicious mussels in a large pot and they have also a wide variety of beer to go with it... I'm not a beer drinker usually but I must say the beer actually taste quite good...

I'm doing a short stint in the children's hospital for about 2 weeks starting next week followed by another stint in Emergency department. I'm really looking forward to them... (I know, I know... what kind of a would do work during the holis) but I guess I want to keep myself in touch as well as to improve on my patient skills.

Yesterday was the last clincal day of my first year in med school. What have I learnt during this past 10 months or so? Other than the obvious clinical skills, I have also come to realise that somtimes medical practiioners are so caught up with diagnosing what's wrong with the patient and treating them that they forget that behind each disease, there is a face. A face which sometimes leave you in stitches from laughter and at other times, leave you feeling like a dried sponge...

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I'm melting here.... It's freaking hot for the past few days... so hot that I had to go to McCafe to study this afternoon! Did I mention flies? I don't mind them if they just don't buzz in my face or my ears... Urgghhhh

Something is wrong!!! The patient has no pulse... Oh! hold on... he does have a pulse! What's wrong with me?! I can't feel his pulses... Seriously, whoever said taking pulse is easy should be contact me... For some reason I can't seem to feel the pulses of the patients I saw today... At least not at first go... I can feel my own bloody pulse so why I can't feel the patient's pulse!!!

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Hah! Glenn... I got you! Happy birthday to Glenn and Huiwen! Glenn hope you like the present I got for you... I'm sure you will find it very useful!!

Hi! I decided to open a new category to document my life as a medical student here in University of Sydney... Well, just an overview of the program:

• 4 year graduate-entry medical program: Means you need to have a basic degree to enter the program
• Clinical skills in hospital right from first week of course

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