On The Feet

My poor feet. They hurt. My heels hurt. The balls of my feet hurt. It hurts. So much walking. So much. I've been walking up and down between 3-4 floors for at least 6 hours a day...on a light day. My tibialis anterior aches...there's a first (of many firsts since starting this surgery clerkship). Oh well, it's excellent exercise so I can't complain. Honestly, there really shouldn't be any doctors of size in surgery due to all the walking we do. Our consultant still has a bit of a belly though and he walks the wards like nothing. But then, he's got years of practice on his feet. Gotta learn how to stand and walk properly.

I haven't really done much since Monday. Yesterday I sat in on out-patient appointments so, thankfully, I got to sit...albeit I sat for 5 hours and went right through the lunch hour (resulting in me growing hungry around midday, to remain that way until I had the luxury of time for food...which was when I returned home after 5). Today, for the first time this week, I was able to have some time to myself and ate lunch at 1:30! I must be learning some degree of control over my hunger reflexes since I really wasn't hungry until I got to the hospital cafeteria to see and smell the food...then I was hungry. I could be wrong, but only time will tell. I didn't get only 1 hour for food, I got 3 hours of free time! Naturally, I sat in the cafeteria and studied up on hernias.

I learn a lot on the wards when I listen to people present cases and answer the consultant's questions...so much so that some of it's lost along the way. This is why I make note of stuff I need to read up on (most urgently) as the day goes by. That, by the way, would encompass a lot of reading and a whole lot of brushing up on the anatomy I learnt 2 years ago. 

On Sunday, if I get a chance, I'd like to sit and simmer in a nice little bubble bath. That sounds just spiffy!

Back to the books!

Day One

It's all fun and games until it's real-life.

My feet hurt. My back hurts. I'm sleepy. I have case notes to write up and present tomorrow, so I'm told. I have stuff to read up on. I'm sleepy.

To summarise my first day in real-life medicine (surgery clerkship):
I attended an occupational health workshop in which I learnt to properly wash my hands.
Due to the workshop ending at 12:30 pm, I had to rush to the hospital to meet with my surgery clerkship coordinator at 1:00 pm. No lunch. No snacks. Nothing since breakfast at 8:00 am.
I met a couple of persons on the surgical team to which I was assigned. I discovered my team is on call.
I removed sutures and observed a urinary catheterisation and IV set up.
I missed the usual dinner time and still had no snacks. No solid food since breakfast at 8:00 am.
I watched and recorded an intern clerk a patient.
I stared at two patient X-ray films and tried to decipher them.
I left the hospital at 9:30 pm, arrived home and ate at 9:50 pm, finally.

Honestly, I'm surprised I even made it through the day with nothing but breakfast and some occasional sips of water. See how important they must be? And I was walking up and down between 3 floors all afternoon too. Between the wards and A & E. Maybe tomorrow, if I find time, I can be more detailed with my thoughts. Anyways, that's the day in a nutshell. I may have said this before: I'm sleepy.

Now, I have to go write up some case from today and head to bed. I'll have to save the fun reads till tomorrow, you know, before post-call ward rounds at 7:30 am.

Ah boy, did I mention that I'm sleepy?

SocialVibe: Support A Charity!

If you've visited my blog before, you may have noticed something new (apart from the new post of course). I've added a widget in the sidebar from a website called SocialVibe which I recently joined.

SocialVibe is a website that allows you to support your favourite charities without having to actually spend money. By completing and sharing activities by sponsors with friends you can help support a cause. The sponsors will donate to your charity of choice and you'll have done a good deed!

Please, help support my choice charity! It's Hunger & Poverty which gives its donations to a number of organisations like Charity: Water and The UN World Food Programme.

Did you know that every six seconds a child dies from hunger, malnutrition and other hunger-related causes! So, give the widget in my sidebar a click to help support this cause so that the children who need it most can be fed.

Thank you!

EDIT: I decided to remove the widget but you can still help out here!

SocialVibe: Support A Charity!

If you've visited my blog before, you may have noticed something new (apart from the new post of course). I've added a widget in the sidebar from a website called SocialVibe which I recently joined.

SocialVibe is a website that allows you to support your favourite charities without having to actually spend money. By completing and sharing activities by sponsors with friends you can help support a cause. The sponsors will donate to your charity of choice and you'll have done a good deed!

Please, help support my choice charity! It's Hunger & Poverty which gives its donations to a number of organisations like Charity: Water and The UN World Food Programme.

Did you know that every six seconds a child dies from hunger, malnutrition and other hunger-related causes! So, give the widget in my sidebar a click to help support this cause so that the children who need it most can be fed.

Thank you!

Out of the classrooms and into the clinics

The time has come for me to step out of the comfort shoes I've worn for years into newer, less comfortable ones...from the comforts of classroom teaching to the mesh of real-life learning. This semester marks the transition into a new book of my life: real-life medicine. It's not all about grades and textbooks anymore. It's about what you know and your work ethic.

I'm terrified of what's to come. I know what to expect but at the same time, I don't. I'm slightly overwhelmed at the prospect of what's to come and slightly excited. There's so much to learn. The old study habits now have to go away, for good this time. If I intend to be the doctor I want to be, there's no room for bad study habits. I've walked this far now, there's no turning back.

Naturally, this calls for quite a bit of prioritising and sacrificing. I've done this already so I'm not so far behind. It's time to put these goals into practice. Once successful, Facebook should become obsolete and Twitter should be rarely visited. I'll still be around, just not quite like before. Computer time should generally be reduced and I've virtually already cut off instant messaging unless the need arises for its use. Things are gonna be a bit different with the way I'm schooled now as move into the clinical years of medical school and my lifestyle needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Of course, I'd never give up my complementary & alternative health blog for as long as I can help it! I'm going to try posting every 4 days, if possible. So, be sure to keep up there. Natural medicine is my passion, I couldn't possibly give up on the source that keeps me searching for new information in the field as I prepare myself for a degree in naturopathic medicine (most preferably at Bastyr University!). Blogging is a fun temporary escape from the throws of life so I'll still be posting here as well! =)

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. ~ Samuel Johnson