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| Sometimes, instead of going all gung ho trying to do and be everything, it's good
to sit down somewhere nice, watch the sky change colour, and just think
about random stuff in life.
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| summer of 08There is no more denying it, but i'm so damn frail. If there was
an epidemic happening nearby i think i'd be the first one to succumb to
it.
Just had a birthday recently. There is so much uncertainty in my
life that i don't know where, how, and with whom i'll spend my brithday
after the next with.
I get fatigued really easily, even when i'm just doing
attachments. I'll probably be one of those burnt out residents in
the future. Or if i survive that long, i'd be one of those
stressed out suicidal docs. Hematology is pretty fun. You'd
think anemia when you think of hematology, but i see mostly leukemia,
lymphoma and myeloma patients. Sometimes i wonder if there is any
justice/fairness in life. Some people just get hit by an array of
unfortunate events. I see it in many of the patients. The
only comforting thing is that many of them are upbeat and mentally
strong, or at least they seem strong.
I'm listening to more classical music lately. I miss my piano
playing days. Sometimes you need a channel to project your
emotions. Even when it is projecting it to yourself, you'll feel
a teeny bit better. Well, having said that, i was listening to
some metal while reading last night and it felt like a cup of coffee
first thing in the morning. Oh, and singing karaoke on youtube is
quite fun.
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| still alive and kicking
Peggy's Cove
Getting the hang of classes now. A lot of psych interviewing
skills, pediatrics, and adolescent stuff. I'm trying to be more
of a people person. I feel like i'm bipolar lately. Happy
in the morning, quiet and moping towards the end of the day.
It's not loneliness, but i can't explain it. Maybe it's because i
think too much throughout the day, and i doubt my abilities more
now. Life isn't about music, kung fu, or movies now. It's
90% medicine from this point onwards.
Got myself an appointment with the international students admin
people. Hopefully we will be able to fight to be able to be paid
for clinical school in Sept. It won't be much, but it will
definitely make our lives here a lot easier. Clinical school, or
clerkship, in North America is very
structured, arduous, and it is pretty much like doing housemanship in
malaysia except that you are doing it in a sheltered learning
environment. That
means being on call, making house calls, being in the first line to
interview and admit patients, ordering diagnostics, and writing
prescriptions. We feel it is unfair
for international students like us not to be paid for it.
International students were paid up to 2 years ago when they decided
to abolish it.
On a happy note, i received a package from my koalie last night
:) A shirt from ebay that i have been looking for sometime.
It's been sometime since i received surprises in the mail.
Thanks a lot!
The nurses and doctors working over at Learning Resources are the
nicest people ever. We were invited over for dinner, treated like
family, and they brought us over to Peggy's Cove. I think it was
the best time for many of us.
God i really need to get my usmle studying together.
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| too busyto update for now. It's been 2 weeks since i got here.
Things are moving way fast. Haven't really had any time to catch
a breather. Class, CSU, anatomy lab sessions, meeting people,
moving, cooking... it's been a trip.
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| Oh canadaIt's been a week. A looooong week. Finally, i am here, in
Halifax, Nova scotia. It's been quite a trip - trying to pack all
my books and winter clothing into 2 bags, meeting bob on the plane from
Heathrow, moving into the temporary halls, meeting the other IMUans
joining us, bumping into seniors, walking around the city like there is
no tomorrow, meeting the people who we will be working with in the link
program, meeting the dean, meeting the class we will be joining in
sept, and taking in the new sights and sounds. After a week of
orientation, we will be starting hte link program, which is gonna be
quite intensive, 8 - 4 for about 3 months before starting clerkship (or
clinical school) in Sept.
I think i'm glad to be here. Scared as well. I'm glad to be
here but scared shitless. I'll definitely be getting a good
education and doing things i won't be able to do in other PMSes.
The people im here with, we have grown pretty comfortable with each
other... somewhat like a lil IMU family here. The IMU seniors
have been really nice, informative, and all of them looked happy to be
here. The canadian classmates are pretty cool as well. Some
of them are my age, but many of them are in their 30s and have children
of their own. We have been offerred to go on summer camping trips
with them. The graduating class have offerred to give us their
microwaves, furniture, and other things. Hopefully we will be
able to mix well with them. So far, they seem like extremely nice
genuine people. I'm going to look forward to feeling like a
doctor for the
first time but in a sheltered environment. We will be given
pagers and be on call. (man.. its like i'm
paying to do housemanship here?) It will be very hands on, and man.. from what i've heard from the seniors, we
will be seeing plenty of patients, admitting them, taking their vitals,
doing ward rounds, assisting this and that, yada yada yada... man it
will be quite a mission. There are too many things for
me to take in now, and my brain is muddled for the time being - health
insurance, moving into our new apartments, starting hte link program,
usmle studies, making calls, trying to acquire furniture, what to do
for food, choosing tracks for clerkship, etc etc etc. Whew.
I haven't even started school and i'm quite exhausted (mostly from the
endless walking).
The weather. Yeah you must be wondering abotu the weather.
It is frikin cold. It's not Alaska, but the weather now in May is
like the middle of winter in New Orleans or Melbourne. I came
down with an upper respiratory tract infection. Lost my voice for
a while. Didn't really lose it actually, but sounded more
manly haha. I was growling for days and felt like crap.
Traffic. This is the only place i've ever been to in the world,
where whenever you want to cross to street, you can probably forget
about looking out for cars because the cars will definitely stop and
wait for you to cross first before continueing. This applies to
both small and large roads.
Well, i better go study now. Time's a wastin'
Below are a few pictures of the place.
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