Day 9
I suppose being a good listener does not only encompass areas of sharing with other people, but also on ward rounds, when you have to really listen to what the registrars are blurting out at a quick rate, and sieve through what's relevant to write in the patient's notes (not easy, since I tend to zone out early morning), but at least my note writing abilities have improved. I now take almost half the patient's case files on rounds for write-ups, and can do 2-3 discharge summaries per day.
The problem with neurosurgery is that when I asked the resident, "How many interns are there in the ward?" the answer is NONE. Since neurosurgery is a rather sub-specialised field, residents do the interns' work. Most interns are in departments with broad scopes such as general medicine or surgery, where Year 5's can at least see what to do. I had to ask what is the job scope of an intern in Australia, since I'm literally walking around the wards aimlessly like some blur, dumb fellow not knowing what to do most of the time.. "Oh, interns basically help run the ward (run the ward? for me run around here and there got lar).. clerk patients and present to the consultants on rounds, do referrals, liaise with staff from other departments when it comes to investigations.. basically you got to know your patient.." Ok, not too much different from housemen in Malaysia, but the way I'm going, I think I'm on the right track, except could have been better..
1 suggestion which I might consider forwarding to Monash for Malaysia campus' final years who are coming over to Australia next year is to have a slightly earlier 1-week orientation (so-called informal grace period) for exposure to the hospital and ward environment (be it exploration, ward rounds, sit in clinics etc), since the interaction with patients/staff and way things are done can take a while to get used to.
17 year old girl admitted to emergency department for a cervical / spinal fracture due to a high speed motor vehicle accident. Ended up a quadriplegic. Enough said.
Why me?
Our Daily Journey (ODJ) had an article which spoke to my heart for the past week of devotion. Basically the author is a cancer survivor who wonders why did God let him survive and not others, why did he have to go through certain things. Then, it mentioned about Hannah, how she cried out to God in anguish because she could not bear a child for a long time, and eventually God blessed her with a boy, Samuel. Samuel went on to become a prophet, to anoint David king over Israel, the line where Jesus would later come from.
Lesson is that God hears our cries when we face difficulties, but then He reveals His will based in His good pleasure. Regardless of the outcome, we can respond in faith by praising Him for who He is. It is ok to wonder "Why?" sometimes, but we can trust in God's sovereign, loving hands all the time.
Yes, I dread the ridiculous hours to wake up and go home when other people can go home at 2pm or enjoy the weekend, neuro is my weakest aspect of medicine, and it does not help that I have 2 presentations to be assessed by my consultant supervisor this Monday (prayers appreciated - thank you :p). The list can go on, but I've learnt to see that there is some good to it - it prepares me for housemanship, it trains up my neurological examination; since I can practise it as many times as I want it, I get to assist in brain surgeries which might only be a once in a lifetime experience, and I learnt to count my blessings as He sustains me.
Speaking of sustenance, I was going to wait 5 minutes for the 6.30pm bus back to Clayton from the hospital but the standstill traffic jam all the way to the train station was terrible. But if I wait for the 6.30 bus, I might only arrive in Lifegroup around 9 something at night, as it is I'm already missing dinner. So I was deciding whether to walk (you got to be kidding, after a tiring day, with my lousy stamina and the train station over 1.5km away).. but then I decided, "God, I wanna honour You. I choose not to compromise or miss LG" So I did. And as I went on, I overtook not 1, but 2 of the buses which had left earlier, and as I crossed over to the train station, I caught up with the 3rd bus which supposedly left at 6pm. Hopped onto a train after a few minutes and I'm off.
Now, a new problem arises. Clayton has not buses until 7.39pm. 2 Huntingdale buses leave at 7.14 and 7.15pm respectively. I told God, "I need a favour. Can make this train go a little bit faster and make the buses delayed until I arrive ar?" It's a problem coz a number of people were complaining that the trains arrive after the buses had left. I arrived at 7.19pm, and as I ran over to the bus stop, guess what - there was a bus over there, and it was literally EMPTY!! Waiting there for me as if it had been sent specially prepared to pick me up :p
Little lessons which just made my day.. when doing something for God, don't look at the task at hand, fix your eyes on Him, coz He is able to do much more than we can ever imagine :)
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