Induction week

'Whats that test you do for ppl you suspect have an MI? Some cardiac enzyme....not amylase...?'

'Yup, like that Ventouse family.' 'You mean Von Trapp family?'

'What would you like to do for this patient?'................'I'd like to investigate him.'

'Hi, I'm Jonathan. Oh, you're doing medicine too? Brilliant! Er, are you up for swopping on calls?'


And meeting a whole group of people whom I've never met before, there must be at least 60 of us Foundation Year 1 doctors starting in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital this August, a period of time known as the F1 phenomenon, where patient admissions drop, and mortality rates go up. Fun fun fun.

AT least I'm not on call first week.

Just wondering

With the start of work, comes responsibility, trepidation, and the slight regret of not being able to sleep til 10am every morning.

WII is fun to play, but for some reason I'm not very good at it. Don't think I'd like one for myself though - still prefer PC.

The Dark Knight was as good as the reviews painted it. Heath Ledger was unpredictably scary as the Joker, and while the last 45 mins went by too fast to really make sense to me, it was thrilling enough not to matter.

Prince Caspian was not as good for me, simply because of how much it deviated from the book. Having said that, it did keep me entertained for the duration, and was definitely more action-packed and climactic than the first one.

Whenever I hear a line in a movie that echoes the book word-for-word, shivers run up my spine. I think that's because those are the books I wanted the most to be brought to life. And that what I'm seeing onscreen will from that point on BE what I imagine the book to look like.

I need to pass my driver's license soon. GBP100 is way too much to throw away.

Madrid 08

The inside of the bull-ring
The botanical gardens

A long overdue post about our trip to Madrid in...sometime near Easter!

Ai Lee (also a doctor now) joined us from Msia, together with Jack and HP, the 4 of us set out to see the sights of Madrid with Lonely Planet as our guide. Besides Madrid, we explored the towns of Segovia (known for its castle, upon which the iconic Disneyland Sleepy Beauty castle was modeled) and Toledo (a old walled city apparently home to previous kings of Spain).

Above one of the castles in Segovia.

Countryside view from the castleAqueduct in Segovia built without cement

Madrid itself was ok. Like any other large city, it had a certain fammiliar feel. Its divided into various districts, and has many squares dotted around the city. If you've watched the film Vantage Point, you;d have seen one such square.

Plaza Mayor

The food was interesting in that we had tapas for nearly every meal (when we weren't having paella). They are small-ish dishes that accompany drinks, and range from baby eels to ham to blue cheese to roast pork. It didn't help that many of the places we went to seemed to have inhabitants that spoke mainly spanish, leaving us to guess at which dishes to order. Having sangria constantly kept us in a good mood however.

Museo de Jamon - Museum of Ham
Baby eels
Sangria with lots of fruits in
Bits of ham - they keep these for years at a time before serving
Cocido - a peasant sort of stew

The flamenco dancing and the bull-ring were interesting, but what kept us going back for a few nights was the churros con chocolate. Looking and tasting a lot like yau char kueh, you dipped it in chocolate that came piping hot in bowls and ate it before the crispyness disappeared. Nice stuff. Together with coffee ice -cream (thats ice cream with hot coffee poured over) which is served in every establishment including McD's, that kept us going throughout the day.

Where we had...
These bad boys ! Churros
Flamenco at Cardamomo
Las Ventas - the largest bull-ring in Spain

The rest of the time was spent wandering around gardens and parks, and avoiding unsavoury characters by pretending to be couples out on a holiday.

Our trip ended with us getting detained at Liverpool airport for fear we were terrorists, but other than that, the journey was uneventful. Barcelona seems to be a must-visit still.

I'm still alive

Really.

It doesn't get said often enough..

Thanks for the last 25 years, ma.
See you in June!

I think they call this a plug

Its been a busy week, but finally, Bank Holiday weekend is here!

While on my morning surfing rounds, I stopped by some blogs that I'd not visited in a while , and this is what I've found.

3 friends have started off their own company...behold...

TESTIFY WEAR !

Had a look at their site, I think its pretty cool, and that the reasoning behind it is pretty sound - I mean, clothing being a great platform for making a statement, not to mention that t-shirts are a staple in hot Malaysia.

Plus, these guys are a testament of taking what they believe in into the marketplace, and being another influence in the mainstream media.

Have a look, especially if you're back home:-)

Today was good

For myself, to start off the week, Isa 40:28-31 was a good reminder. Embodied in the form of the song 'Everlasting God' which we sang today, the lyrics speak for themselves.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord....

The chorus is particularly uplifting:

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles.

Its a much-used passage, but it rings true time and again. Something to hold on to on busy nights on call, or while waking up to the prospect of another day at work.

Happy holidays

I've always said that one of the nicest feelings one can get is when you wake up and realise its the beginning of the holidays.

Having said that, its early, and we're off to Madrid for a much-awaited break.

Had a good dinner with Ai Lee and the rest in Philharmonic last night. From now on, its tapas all the way! With the odd churros y chocolate thrown in!

In the meantime, because its not likely to stay forever on my hard drive, here's a photo of Jack practising his endoscopy skillz.
Random is good.

Here's hoping Madrid's weather will be kind to us.

Lately

This is a nice big picture of the Mount of Olives. Where Jesus spent a lot of time with His Father.

Its relevant for a couple of reasons. I gave a talk to the youth in church on Sunday about 'Learning To Be A Leader' and this picture was involved. To those of you who answered my leadership survey questions, many thanks! A number of them responded to the call to increase their sphere of influence and to be open to leading in various areas in the future. All by God's grace of course, as the powerpoint kept failing on me, and my words were rough at the best of times.

The picture is also relevant as I'm considering getting a camera to replace my 3 year old Pentax Optio which was stolen last summer while I was back in Malaysia. I've been relying on my Samsung 2mp camera phone to provide quick shots, but lately I've realised I'm not as keen to take photos as before. Which may be a good thing, but it means less things remembered. So I'm considering a new digital compact.

If I had the cash, the Ixus 860IS would be great, but since I don't, I'm looking at the Panasonic Lumix FX-35 or FX-30. Both not top of the range or the newest, but they have enough megapixels (8 i think) to keep me happy, plus the draw of the 28mm lens for more panoramic shots is very tempting. Also looking at the Ricoh Caplio R7, which also has the above features, is cheap, but apparently is pretty noisy (and not talking picture noise here) in operation. All of the above can be had for around GBP150 which translates to about RM1k, and I realise its probably a lot cheaper in Msia, but hey, I can't be buying stuff and shipping them overseas forever.

Anyone with any experience of using the above cameras? Would be glad to hear from you and also from anyone with more suggestions of cameras around that price range.

Interesting...

Some new research has come to light recently...being a soon-to-be doctor, I heartily urge all interested people to read this article from the British Medical Journal.

Being slightly tech-conscious, I know a techie wonder when I see one. Anyone looking for a new laptop, consider this Airbook from Logitech.

WoW fans, check out this ad for the latest expansion!




An update to the Starcraft 2 new unit roster: the Tauren Marine!

Finally, if you're still interested, here's a link to the history behind it all...

Free-er

Just had the busiest Easter of my life. Started off with a plan to act out the much-copied skit based on Lifehouse's Everything. This eventually evolved over a month, into a mini-musical with two main characters who sang and mimed rather than acted their way through a storyline that involved the obligatory non-Christian finally realising the meaning of Easter.

We tried our best to stay away from stereotypes; the non-Christian being involved in classic 'bad' behaviour eg drinking, illicit sex, drugs, the lot. The Christian, on the other hand, would typically be a 'good person' and hold a whopping great Bible.

Didn't really work the way we wanted it to...in the end, we settled for a typical picture of a uni student's life (henceforth A)- studying, messing about on his laptop, playing sports, going out pubbing at night, hanging out with a close-knit group of friends, one of whom recently had become a Christian (B).

Songs used were Switchfoot's This Is Your Life (in which A challenges B as to whether she wants to spend the rest of her life trusting blindly in an invisible God) and If Only, written ages ago by Jin for a youth musical back home.

Btw, Jin, everyone who heard the song thought it was very well written.


It was fun, working with a group of 6 to make this work, something which I haven't done in a while.

Easter weekend saw me preparing also to lead on Sunday morning, which was a combined service. A first time for everything, including leading congregations of English and Chinese people into worship, and singing hymns, something I'm very grateful for my Methodist background and all those hours in front of the piano with just Joel on the drums back home!

Easter weekend was completed on Monday, which saw us catching the first day of the North England Easter Conference in Wales, which our church was in charge of organizing. True to form, our preparations for 'teambuilding games' were last minute, but thankfully still worked.

Its hard, I suppose, not to bond, while thinking of integrating movie quotes such as 'You jump, I jump' or 'Luke, I'm your fatherrr' with the Prodigal Son story, or the Jonah story. Considering NEEC this year had people of all ages mixing around in groups, it was great to see them participating equally in everything that went on.


This weekend, just passed my theory driving test, and have taken the rest of the day off. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane, as I'm looking at my list of things to do, and I've crossed off less than half of them.


Btw, my rotations which I've received for my first year as a doctor: Respiratory(most of which I've forgotten), Clinical Pharmacology (sounds scary), Urology and Colorectal Surgery.

*UPDATE: just a bit of fun - Wey Chung uploaded some of the NEEC group parable-cum-movie quotes-sessions up on his blog, if you don't mind a long streaming time:-)

SUPER SCARY

This is it...the movie that scared me when I was still in shorts, that stopped me frequenting beaches, and is probably the reason why I'm such a rubbish swimmer...

Tagged?

Siew Lee, this was supposed to be a 'revenge tag'?

why?

1) What is your favourite movie?
Lord Of The Rings, definitely.The only movie which I was genuinely eager to seemore than once. Helps that I like the book too.

2) Who is your favourite singer?
Don't know many. It used to be Michael W Smith butI think I don't really have a fav one now. Listen to whoever that sounds vaguely interesting.

3) Which song gets you grooving in the morning?
Cornflakes gets me up, coffee keeps me awake. Anything else makes me grumpy.

4) What is your favourite fruit?
Mandarin oranges. Pears when they're just getting soft and sweet. And this fruit which I always eat when I'm back home. I'm not actually sure what its called; its red-purplish and knobbly on the outside, but inside its small seeds surrounded by sweet white flesh which is great just taken out chilled from the fridge.

5) Who is your best friend (excluding your family)?
I can't think of any at the moment, sadly. Which doesn't mean I'm an antisocial monster, just means I have good friends in a number of places and at different times of my life.

6) Name one activity you would like to indulge in, in your free time.
Sleep sounds really good, especially this past week. Otherwise...one only? Right now, it'd be relaxing with a good movie in front of my laptop.

7) When was the last time you laughed so hard till your sides hurt?
Must have been one of the random conversations we had when all of us housemates in Liverpool are together in one room. We tend to have better and more witty conversations then...maybe its because we dont gather together as much as we used to.

8.) Do you recall your last dream?
Not the specifics. It wasn't a pleasant dream I recall, and involved death and dying(not me but someone else) in a weird sort of way. Was quite glad when I woke up.

9) What is your all-time favourite hobby?
Reading. Though I haven't done much of it recently.

10) When was your last holiday without the children?
When I get children I'll tell you. My last holiday was probably Christmas back home in Malaysia. Next one: Madrid!

Choices

This week I submitted my choices for programmes that I would like to do during my 1st year as a doctor.

A decision I had to make was whether to choose the more traditional general medical/surgical rotations or whether to plump for the infectious diseases/paeds/upper GI rotation. My big worry was that I wouldn't have enough general medical experience had I gone down that road, however I was curious enough to consider it seriously as I had always had a sneaking interest in ID.

Speaking to various docs, and hearing from different people, I decided against it eventually, and decided on rotations that I hoped would give the widest range of experience. Diabetes, geriatric medicine and haematology were the only ones I ruled out.

Time will tell which rotations I finally end up with.


I also did for the first time, a formal hour's teaching with 2nd year med students.

I really think the guys/girls whom i had knew way more than I knew back then. How many 2nd years would know to test stroke patients for Factor 5 Leiden? It became more of a interactive discussion session on stroke (which was the topic I was given), and I brought them to see a patient so they could practice their exam skills. I hope I didn't go wrong anywhere, but I think it was fair to say they were checking on me all the time....one girl had her text book open most of the time:-)


Easter is fast approaching ....what with the outreach, and NEEC and my theory driving test after, I'll be the busiest I've been for the whole year.

Looking forward to a holiday in Spain for my next reflection week...time to start saving!

We officially graduate on Friday 4th of July!

So I'll be able to make it for grad ball on the 28th of June, then down to London to welcome the Parents!

Things are falling into place...

**

"Where your treasure is, there your heart is also...not the other way around"

Onward!

Have been looking for this video by John Reuben for a while.

A busy week ahead, where I have to learn Microsoft Excel, read up for a teaching session on Wed, get a speaker for student fellowship next Friday, hear from various fellowship leaders (hopefully) re NEEC '08 all while juggling my rotation work and an audit on mortality rates post-endoscopy, which is why I'm learning Excel in the first place.

Joseph tmrw - I'm expecting great things!

"The best way to kill wisdom is to keep talking."

Ate a large pizza for lunch and I'm still full.

My room is feeling cold, but i'm sure its not just me.

**

I have a list of things to buy once i start working, not sure how much thought was put into it:
- food processor
- desktop computer
- keyboard (not the computer kind)

I'm sure there was more, but these are all i can think of for now.

Alternatively, I could spend my money on:
- paying council taxes, bills
- getting insane amounts of insurance
- registering with every other medical organization
- setting aside for exams/courses

What I really should be spending money on, in light of the future:
- Stocks and bonds
- Swiss bank account
- anywhere that'll beat the current inflation rate should i leave the country in future as i probably will have to do in light of the crazy regulations they keep putting up every now and again.

I really do need some form of economic accountability - that definitely needs sorting out.

**

Programme choices are here at last, along with a note for accomodation as a foundation year 1 doctor. GBP 352 a month....wonder what that includes. works out to about GBP 90 a week....sigh. Still, I'd be near the hospital.

**

Want to go watch the All-England Badminton Championships but cash flow dictates I should focus on things nearer my heart.

**

I was at a friend of a friend's memorial service yesterday. Held in a Catholic church, close to a 100 medical students of all years attended. It was a first for me: seeing yearmates in a church setting, and seeing how death and remembering those that had passed on brought people together albeit briefly.

A quartet sang 'Run' by Snowpatrol. Slideshows of his time spent in the hockey team, on stage and as a hospital partner were shown. I wonder if anyone else was struck by a sense of their own mortality that night.

**

No disclaimer needed I trust.

Opportunities abound, they just need grabbing.

"For a self-proclaimed dreamer, you are incredibly inward-looking and hard to wake."

Update

We had an earthquake recently, which received minimum coverage.

Was listening to music when I felt the house shake. Not too much, but the fluid level in my alarm clock was moving, so it wasn't me suddenly developing resting tremors. Brought me back to the time I thought I was shaking my legs a little too violently, back in Vista Komanwel. This time around, I thought it was a lorry passing by our house, which is by the main road. Maybe I just like normalizing events.


Have just started a gastroenterology rotation at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, where I'll be working come August.

Proof that patients say all sorts while you do stuff to them:
- Had a conversation about ferrets today, discussing the relative merits of having one as a pet.
- Discussed my career path options, and why I chose medicine in the first place.
- Had people compliment me on my Liverpool accent.
- Another discussion on my views of marriage.


Other thoughts taking up brain space include:

NEEC '08, which I should really have paid more attention to before this. Ernest from church is doing his level best to organize things and I've finally decided to get on board. Trying to contact fellowship leaders from different churches, though a tad late, but hopefully things will get moving soon.

Easter outreach, in which I've had tons of time to think, but am afraid to act on my thoughts. Every single thing I thought of, I'm afraid to do, as it seems so ambitious. We're set on doing a short skit and a song so far, though.



I find myself questioning why I do things now. Something I should have started doing a lot earlier in life.

David and Goliath

This is old news by now, with Novak Djokovic winning the Aussie Open 2008 but I'm amazed every time an underdog (though in this case, Djokovic is no one's canine) snatches a win away from the jaws of the mighty Guy-Who-Wins-Every-Match (Federer in this case).

Brilliant serves under pressure, brave shotmaking into the corners, and unforced errors are the name of the game here. Not particularly the best tiebreaker I've watched, but considering the result, I'm happy.

One more for the underdogs!

Though I have to say, I'm happy to see Federer is every inch the sportsman people claim him to be.

Will's Lullaby

Joshua Radin - Everything's Gonna Be Alright.

For Dr Tan Cher Han, who reads this space to go to sleep:-)

Church, Crime, Culture, Comedy

A rather jagged month. Hospital is still consuming days, where I'm becoming increasingly integrated into the role of a doctor, so much so its scary. I get plucked out of ward rounds to write discharge letters, to prescribe fluids and to answer calls from departments I never knew existed. Needless to say, most of the time I'm pretty clueless. Having witnessed my total inadequacy, I'll be very surprised if anyone in the Acute Medical Unit welcomes me with open arms should I get to work in the Royal.

Speaking of which, most of us around UK in our final year know where we're going to work come August 08. Except us applying into Merseyside. Should know any day now I guess. Not sure exactly how many of us got what we wanted/expected/thought we deserved, but in the words of Ed, life's like that.

Liverpool is the capital of culture this year. Not of England, or UK, but of Europe. Meaning it encapsulates the grandeur of Paris, Rome, Berlin, and just about every other superstar city in Europe in terms of culture.To that end, weird stuff seems to be happening. Like as I was walking to town last Saturday, this parade was happening, and everyone I talked to had no idea what it was about.

Watched a stand-up comedy as part of a friend's bday-going out-getting pissed routine. The comedians were very much like what one would see in youtube, only they focussed on Liverpool culture, sex, Liverpool people, and the Liverpool accent. Had a pretty good time, all things considered. The atmosphere was pretty intimate, with people clustered around small tables facing a small stage, and a bar at the rear end of the room. Good crowd interaction was the order of the day, with the noisy people getting singled out by the host of the evening. Jack's interested now, so we might have another comedy evening out sometime soon.

Walking back from the event, I passed by a couple wearing hoodies. Unwittingly caught a whiff of their conversation which consisted of the guy saying "....where's the rest of your five hundred?" Pausing for a minute to look back, the girl seemed pretty much at ease, not tense at all. Was wondering whether to stop and observe further, but decided against it. Afterwards was running through possible scenarios - she could have been mugged, or she could have been buying drugs from him, or.... Upon discussion with other people much much later on, I concluded that in future, should the same situation occur, I will:

1. Stand at a respectful distance
2. Pretend to be talking into my mobile phone
3. Yell or call the necessary authorities if necessary (which i could do with the mobile anyway)


Ken Lee, a John Moore's graduate in mechanical engineering, flew back to Malaysia for a holiday and to celebrate CNY before planning to come back and work. We sent him off with a (of all things) dim sum brunch at MeiMei's, incidentally the first time we'd eaten there as a group in weeks.

Read Max Lucado's 3:16 over the weekend, when I really should have been doing my report on pulmonary embolism. I havent read any of his books in a long, long while. He always writes great stuff, starting with his page of dedications, in which he never fails to mention his family, particularly his wife, in the most affectionate terms. The book itself dissected John 3:16 (yes, from the bible) word by word, devoting a whole chapter to each. There was a particularly good chapter on Hell, which according to him, does not get mentioned often enough nowadays, compared to when Jesus was around (apparently 13% of his ministry comprised talking about hell at some point).

If anyone is in Liverpool, has a thirst for reading, and has access to a Wesley Owen outlet, they have this great book called Spread The Word, which consists of chapters taken from books by various authors. Its meant to be a taster for the different books, in the hope you'll be attracted to buy them at discounted rates. And its free. Max's 3:16 is in there too. Not sure if this is available in all Wesley Owen stores around UK, but its around till April 08 at least.

Wow, that took long. I'll leave the 'church' bit for a later post then.