it really is the end of the school year.

sometime during april this year, i stared at my "MLTU (medical learning and teaching unit i think) - used to be called MEU (medical education unit)" online timetable. It was bare, even though I had finished surgery at that time because the folks at MLTU isn't the best when it comes to efficiency. Results/Lecture notes take a while to be ulploaded. This is something that we have all learned to 'accept' over the past few years here in adelaide. and when we do not accept the nonsensical 'technical errors', we all pull our hair in frustration and bitch non-stop about it.

I distinctly remembered thinking to myself: "damnit!... when would the end of the school year approach? Would I be able to fill up this list with some decent grades?"

In a blink of an eye, ok maybe a few more blinks than that, I am absolutely DONE with the year. like done. like no more medical home units and surgery home units for a long time. i think the med/surg placements in 6th year are probably the closest thing to them. it's just plain surreal thinking about it. It wasn't too bad whilst it lasted, but I want to move on. I want to learn new things (say O&G, peds etc etc) and I want to gather fresh experiences under my belt. In fact, I felt like I couldn't sit still and wait for all this exam crap to pass so that 5th year could start rolling in.

As I handed in my last assessment form for the year to Ann Francis (the lovely lady sitting at the front desk of clinical studies in Eleanor Harold), it was a true sign that, YES I AM REALLY DONE for the year.

I am just hoping I wouldn't have to repeat all this!! O.O

because...

1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
say? NO WAYYYYY.... freak out or something.

2. Do you trust all of your friends?
depends on what sort of trust we are talking about. trusting my life.. versus trusting my friend to turn out for dinner as promised.

3. Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love?
yes, because i am a hopeless romantic.

4. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
yes, or else if everything is random.. life would be harder to comprehend.

5. Name two things you would NOT tolerate in a relationship?
disappointment and .. infidelity?

6. Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor?
well, hopefully all of us!

7. Are you afraid of falling in love?
no....

8. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times?
my dead grandpa. heh, no just kidding. no one really.

9. Would you stop talking to your friends because you hooked up with a new person?
no!

10. When was the last time you flew in a plane?
end of june. SGP - ADL flight on SQ...

11. What did the last text message you sent say?
to quinnie.. telling her how much the photocopying cost.

12. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?
intelligence and humour.. oh and NICE VEINY ARMS! *slurp*

13. Fill in the blank. I _______ you in my life
would like to punch

14. Att or Single?
attached.. attached... very very attached.

15. If you were to wake up from being in a coma for a long period of time who would you call?
hmmm would i be waking up without my memory or with?
if i lost my memory.. i will be calling for HELP!
if memory is intact... calling for mum and dad.

16. How many kids do you want to have?
now? zilch.
in the future.. 2 i guess?

17. Love Someone?
yesss. plenty of people.

18. Where was your default picture taken?
erm. vic's smelly couch in adelaide!

19. What's your middle name?
wen hui?

20. Honestly, what's on your mind right now?
i should be studyiing. mugging and studying.

21. If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?
did better for the A levels?
but im happy the way life was... and is at the moment.

22. Shoe size?
hmmm.. US 8. ( i know..big feet! sob)

23. What are you wearing right now?
trackies, t shirt...

24. Righty or Lefty?
LEFTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... LEFTY! YAY!

25. Best place to eat?
Iggy's in singapore... in adelaide.. hmmm. the Manse?

26. Favorite animal?
Goat and turtles

29. Favorite juice?
most fruit juices... except banana and papaya.

30. Have you had the chicken pox?
No..

31. Have you had a sore throat?
what kind of qns is this? yes of course.

32. Ever had plastic surgery?
not yet. lol

33. Who knows you the best?
the smelly victor..

34. Do you get along with your family?
yes..

35. Do you wear contact lenses or glasses?
both. glasses because it's convenient and it makes me look geeky. lenses when i go out or have make up on.

36. Ever been in a fight with your pet?
no pets before.

37. Been to Mexico?
no.. but i would like to :)

38. Did you buy something today?
hmmm. i bought subway for lunch. and den 6 cans of red bull and 1 packet of shapes.

39. Did you get sick today?
no...? sick of studying.. does that count?

40. Do you miss someone today?
i miss my family..

41. Did you get in a fight with someone today?
does pretend-fighting with victor count?

42. When is the last time you had a massage?
LONG time ago. in june in sg.. i think.

43. Last person to lay in your bed?
me myself and i

44. Last person to see you cry?
umm. i can't rem the last time i cried..

45. What was the last channel you watched?
channel 10.

46. What are your plans for the weekend?
study.. and freaking out for the exams.
oh and go marketing for fruits and vegs :)

47. Who do you think will repost this?
no idea? don't think anyone else is as bo liao.

48. Are you happy?
no... i need to study!

49. Who was the last person you hung out with?
the boyfriend.

gosh

sometimes, i think i am the one who needs reminding!.. thursday would go down in history as the last day of 4th year med!... and i was so busy studying and doing stupid things (group presentation for radiation oncology) that i forgot it WAS the LAST DAY!.. at the beginning of the year, i could not phantom how ANYONE can go through with 36 weeks of clinical years, with only 3 weeks break in between.

but guess what? all of us did! :) i wouldn't say 4th year has been an easy feat.. learnt alot of new things, some things changed while other things stayed the same. but i would like to think that we have all got out of it stronger and wiser in one way or another.

4th year was a good time to start thinking about future career options. oh, that's what surgeons are like. *chop slice chop, scalpel please!*ooooh, physicians and their 'holistic' discharge planning *should this PT go to a nursing home? or dom care? ACAT assessment please!!*,.. and who can forget the PSYCHIATRY people? gosh.. and then there was ACC. ahhh, good times..

now i have to concentrate really hard till the exams are over. that's not going to be easy!.. but i'm sure we will all be okie!.. good luck guys.. study hard!...

IMPT IMPT!!!...

South Australian summer time (daylight saving) for 2007-2008 will be observed from 2:00 am South Australian standard time on 28 October 2007 until 3:00 am South Australian summer time on 6 April 2008.

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward one hour at 2:00 am on 28 October 2007 then back one hour to 3:00 am on 6 April 2008.

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service brought to you by the girl-who-has-nothing-else-better-to-do.

a post to distract me from studying..

surfing online and look what interesting things i found!...

starring from tod's: i like the buckle look. and the colour. woo hoo! classic look.

from chloe: look! so white, so pristine.. with key&lock too! chunky look. heh heh.

from fendi: recall what i said about the buckle? neutral colour (but probably wouldnt go well with the asian skin tone)

last but not least.. JIMMYCHOOS! ahhhh! for that gala-ball/executive dinner/charity ball that i will never go for.
otherwise, nice to oogle at :)

alright. end of oogle session.
go and study everyone!!!..

Question at hand -->
what does everyone do to keep themselves sane during the intensely stressful SWOT period? blog surfing? blogging? running? eating? sleeping? watching TV? playing games?

would lurve to hear from you :)

@.@

hmmm. After re-reading my latest entry and noticing the comments from my friends - I realised I might have kind of over-reacted to a small matter. Call me sour-grapes or whatever you want, I think I have the right to vent.

Guess life can be extremely unfair.. and extremely out of your own control.

Oh well, even if said med student gets A in one miserable rotation, his/her medical career is probably not going to be affected by it. If he/she continues to be that incompetent, surely fellow doctors would notice it. It's just a matter of time.

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and I want to bake! any good recipes anyone?

vents of frustration

how.. tell me how one can retain knowledge about things?

i swear i distinctly remembered the holistic management of COPD and asthma. However, as I read through my old (like from 2nd year med) notes, I freaked out at how much at

1) how much I seemed like I used to know.
2) how LITTLE I know at the moment.

This is NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD AT ALL!

and.. I found out that the way consultants/registrars have been dishing out the As have been WAY crazy. How can an idiot who cannot even interpret an X-ray of a wrist fracture be allowed to be considered an A student...???!?!... especially since A = above expected for a 4th year student.

WHICH PART OF MISDIAGNOSING AN X-RAY IS ABOVE EXPECTATIONS?!

argh.

i shall retreat.

and return to the old dusty notes.

the things med students do..

to keep themselves entertained can be oh-so-silly!

i got vic's (bigger) leg hung loose. and i was trying to see how many knee reflexes i could elicit at one stretch. so his poor leg was like overwhelmed with sensory input!.. jerking on and on and on. he was trying his best to contract his muscles, clench his jaw and whatsoever to try stop the reflex from occurring. Whilst I, Miss Sadistic, happily strike the hammer on his patellar tendon repeatedly. I was laughing myself silly. I was on a ball...!

oh..the things we do to keep ourselves happy (and insane)

don't worry guys. vic had a go at my legs too.
seems like my legs are less responsive than his... te he he

a bad saturday

was feeling pretty crap the whole of yesterday.

well it sort of started on fri night.. with a mild headache.
didn't think much of it, ate 2 panadols to counter it :/

woke up on saturday morning. with a headache. felt kinda crap.
thought that maybe if i had something to drink and eat (and throw in another 2 panadols) i should be fine.
went out for the wine tasting.

BAD IDEA!!!!...
the wine selection was fantastic but i was in no shape to even try like 10% of the 200+ types that they had on offer. the event was either held under a tent or inside a shed. both of which is bad if the weather was hot (which was the case yesterday). plus all that people squeezed together like sardines in a can... my headache pain scale pretty much skyrocketed.

decided to go home (alone) and sleep. vic stayed on with his booze buddy alfred.. and they each bought like a dozen bottles of wine. (nothing surprising)

i woke up. still headachy. took a cold bath and finally got some relief.
ate some porridge... and then the headache came back!.............. ()#$*)(*%$)(*%

i caved in. i went back to bed.

but i'm better today.
well i hope i will be!!..

shooeeesss.

pretty shoes!
i can't resist!
go and study daphne!!!!......


PS: i'm just really bored. drugs don't rock my sox

crazy weather.

it was 29degree yesterday. and it's going to be 31degs on thurs!.. gosh.

radiation oncology is so slack!... i could get used to this pace of life. heh. just plenty of planning in the CT simulator suite.. supervise administration of treatment.. consults with patients in clinics..it's mostly a 9-5 job. you still get proper patient contact. you are still a specialist in a field.

and something i didnt really know.. is that for all solid tumours (ie: minus the leukemias and lymphomas and a few other cancers) - 50% are cured by surgery, 48% by radiation and 2% by chemotherapy. and in alot of palliative cases, radiation can provide good symptomatic control, especially for pain. so it's not really doom and gloom :)

possible consideration as a future career? oh i dunno.. lemme deal with the damn exams first..whee!...

a snob?

victor calls me a snob.

times where i snub people.
times when i don't really include everyone into dinners/gatherings/etc
times when i come home exasperated from the day's events.

i call myself selective.

it's not like i'm rude to people i'd rather not talk to. i still say hi, do the small talk business and generally still capable to engage in a relatively benign and interesting conversation. but i do not see the need to be NICE to everyone, to help every soul, to bring out the best in every single human being. i choose who i want to hang out with, i choose who i share my jokes with, and i even choose who i superpoke on facebook.

i used to be the sort of person who was loud and nice to everyone in high school, then i realised that it was really stupid. you must be joking if you'd send christmas cards out to everyone you considered a friend. and it's ridiculous to make sure every single one of your so-called friends get a souvenir from you when you return from your little trip overseas.

as one grows older (and hopefully wiser), you just get better at reading people. on the basis of first impressions, i would now be able to tell if

a) i like you somewhat.
b) i like you and would like to be your friend. and we will be so cool together.
c) i don't like you one bit.

i know i know, it's very sad that i label people, put them into boxes and objectify their existence. but you know what? life is complicated enough as it is. all i need is a group of close friends that i can relate to and be myself. and for the rest of the world, i attempt to handle it the best i can in the way i know best.

i really need to study hard

victor the boyfriend is currently sitting NEXT to me, studiously scribbling away at his notebook, internalising all the different types of micro-organisms that God has provided this planet.

now, you might want to know what I am doing.

I was facebooking, then i was reading crappy news then now i am blogging!
what efficient use of time. there is just this weird inertia crap hindering me. i can't see it but i certainly can feel its powers. eeeick.

we went to watch the kingdom last night (another distraction... -.-") it was a pretty okie movie except the fact that the cinematography revolves around the camera shaking whenever an actor/actress starts running or shooting with weapons. i felt like i was sitting on a rocky ferry boat more than anything else. otherwise, the kingdom has excellently portray the americans as a heroic, we-save-all-in-need population of people. there were interesting plots at times but it was mostly really predictable. oh well. we should have known better i guess.

alrighty. i shall attempt to read something.
that victor chia is a studious piece of person.
he is freaking me out!!!....

warm sunday nights

the nights are getting warmer!.. the fan needs to be dusted and taken out from the storeroom already! the last day of neurology went by without much drama, if you don't count waking up late as drama. hahaha. i woke up a full hour late! because the night before i was all dosed up on red bull half studying, half watching re-runs of grey's anatomy. so dear old a/prof brophy went through my case write up with me, thankfully it was full of ticks and nods and "ahh yes, good point you made here"..

and i bought a new book shelf from ikea!.. oh dear old ikea. i love your cheap and student budget-friendly budgets :) it measures 80cm wide and 2metres tall!.. i'm gonna put all my files and books on it. it should be enough space.. and the old shelf is going downstairs to be a shoe rack. many have commented about the fact that quinnie, jess and i own enough shoes to start a shoe shop.. eeeips. they are sort of right. oh well.. we are girls what!!!..

and so, its just 3 more weeks to SWOT. 3 weeks of radiation oncology. 3 weeks of trying to study for the finals...!!!... >.<

breathe in, breathe out

3 weeks is a really short time. my stint in neuro/neurosurg is almost over! tomorrow is friday and it's the last day!.. just finished the case writeup. neurosurgeons are a succinct lot. the head of department (who's going to assess the writeup) insisted on keeping the 2 page maximum criteria. he said, "if you write more than 2 pages you automatically fail the rotation". what a contrast to the physicians and the psychiatrists! they LOVE flowerly and cool description of every damn thing, whether relevant or not to the patient's current problems. alright, they are usually relevant but it can be such a pain addressing issues surrounding a patient's ability to take care of him/herself. can this patient go home? nursing home placement in question? maybe meals on wheels?

i got my MSAs (cool abbreviation for electives that we can sorta choose) for next year. I said sorta because they gave me a damn long freaking list making it seem like we have tons of choices. but they subject us to randomisation and so you do not always get what you want. I got Pediatrics ICU [poor sick little kids], cardiology [lup dup lup dup.. lup dup dup dup..swoosh!], gastro and hepatology [sick tummies and livers] and rural General Practice [epitome of pap smears apparently lol]. i'm pretty happy with my electives! :) going to be doing rural GP with christine and jebbs. that should be fun!.. and from what i heard from seniors, the rural GPs would bring the students out on the weekends for some good ol' fashion fun - think crabbing, cycling, picnics... etc.

another weekend is almost here. eeeips!!!...