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I am alive.
I finally feel alive after a tortuous and mind numbing spell...
Today I have been reminded once again why I decided to do medicine
Today I was up at 5.45am because I had to be in at the hospital at 8am. First day of attachment to Regent's unit : ENT surgery
when the alarm went off, it was almost muffled by the howling wind outside my window.
I just managed to drag myself out of bed and set about getting ready and changing.
I almost felt that I should just call in sick and stay in bed.
But I made it out of the flat and caught the 6.45am bus into town and then onto the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary ( apparently one of the top teaching facilities in the UK and Europe according to Dr. Lawrie the JHO. I think it truly deserves that title).
Ward rounds start at 8 and I was there at 7.45. sitting outside the ward wondering
what the hell am I doing here???!!!
I could barely keep my eyes open...then my Regent came.
No way out...just had to follow him.
Introductions after introduction
'1st year medical student. Observing this easter holiday. she's my regentee.'
Gasps ....1st year and easter holidays somehow dun equate.
(Regent @ guardian appointed by school, either part of the academic teaching staff or part of the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary or both. )
Background recap on Regent : Mr Kim Ah-See, Consultant ENT surgeon with special interest in Head and Neck Oncology.
He is not asian as his name suggest. His dad's mauritian chinesea and his mom's scottish. Born and Bred in aberdeen.
Met the nicest JHO (junior house officer) I've ever met. Dr. Alastair Lawrie.
Frank, Jovial, Handsome, Married (sorry girls....:P)
he was kind enough to explain how stuff was carried out, how to clerk, allowed me to sit in whilst he was admitting someone (he actually referred to me as his junior colleague....what a dubious title if you ask me...how much more junior can u be than a JHO?? apart from med student lah)
he bought me lunch and then showed me how to get to the children's hospital where I was to sit in for paed ENT clinic that afternoon.
And I also met Peter Wands, 5th year medical student.
quiet, gentle fellow who's also sugoi nice.
told me what to expect in my upcoming years, and shared insight about life in the wards
which were the nice wards and stuff like that.
discussed stuff about the school too. He might want to be a GP and he's landed a job in edinburgh. Lucky chap.
I am so impressed and touched by their display of generosity.
In all my clinical attachments, this has been the first time when I've not been treated
like a potential rival or an obstruction to someone's climb up the ladder of hierachy.
They really taught me alot not only on technicalities and procedures
but also on what it really is like to work as a team in the medical field.
and they were so earnest in teaching a clueless fool like me.
Impressive.
After lunch, I attended Mr Ah-See's paed ( paediatrics) clinic.
That was super interesting.. ... and educational.
He was telling me one of the reasons that attracted him to ENT was the fact that
he could deal with the horrible, tragic stuff like head and neck oncology which he specialises in
in the morning, and in the afternoon when he has paed clinic he gets to play with children.
Clinic was really interesting, I have to say again.
Although most of the cases today were
basically ear infections and gromit displacements, and holes in ear drums,
tonsilitis, and mucky ear discharges and wax, i found it really interesting
And that was because he took time to explain and discuss each of the cases that were
presented and he even gave me a demonstration on how gromits were placed in
the eardrums. he even opened a sterile pack of gromits for his demonstration.
However, I must admit that the case of the girl with recurrent epistaxis (nosebleed) was the
most fascinating...haha.
he had to cauterize (burn) this tiny artery in her right nostril in order to alleviate the bleeding,
and he did the cauterizing with a silver nitrate cauterizing stick ( which looks like a huge matchstick)
I was wondering how do you cauterize something just by sticking a 'matchstick' up their nose
and afterwards he was explaining to me how, once silver nitrate gets in contact
with moisture such as mucous layer in the nose, it's melts and generates a termal reaction
that burns the artery or whatever needs to be burnt.
Today was a day of revelation.
A day when I realised that there are truly people in the medical world, who know what they are doing, and are doing it for the right reasons.
And it is truly a blessing that such people are generous and willing to inculcate in the next generation this same spirit and to pass their knowledge freely and without any strings attached.
Today was the day where I got to see that below that calm, professional and somewhat
intimidating exterior of my Regent, he really is a funny, and nice man.
This revelation was confirmed by the ease and warmth at which the children took to him, and how sensitive he was to their needs and pain.
it's unfortunate, but I suppose expected, to say
that I experienced such revelations here in Aberdeen and not in Singapore.