monash medical student

THIS BLOG HAVE MOVED TO WORDPRESS. LINK ON. :)

2006-11-22T16:43:00.000+11:00

this blog has MOVED. i still keep it here for memories' sake. i like the template!

http://jeffreyleow.wordpress.com

I found Wordpress to be better. Please update your bookmarks and/or links from your blogs. Thanks for your support.

To what extent ?

2006-11-22T14:50:00.000+11:00

1. To what extent will Jeffrey go to save 75AUD?

14 Nov 2006, Tuesday. Today is the day I leave Melbourne for Singapore for summer holidays over Christmas and Chinese New Year. What I will be doing in these few months is not within the scope of this particular discussion.

At the Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, I checked in, with my 30kg luggage, and tried my luck with my 10kg Krumpler bag-pack (containing some of my textbooks). Service personnel informed me it was overweight since she thought I was on a normal ticket, but when I informed of my student ticket status, she mentioned they allowed only 30kg! (Oh yeah, I knew full well before that).

The spoilt extending handle on my luggage proved to be a blessing in disguise. I had to take back all my luggage and ensured it was wrapped up in plastic film to minimize damage to my luggage and others, and thereafter return to the same counter. I suggested to the lady that if I reduced it to 5kg, would it still be fine? And I got a textbook answer of “Its still over 30kg so any excess will be charged.” (Oh come on give me a break, I’m of Asian origin as well, you ABC, don’t you know when to use bias?)

9 AUD flew away just like that. Unnecessary. Managed to get the handle whacked down quite a bit and glad-wrapped before I proceeded back. Using wits, I obviously didn’t go back to that inflexible lady. I headed to the Business Class counter.

“Hi, I’m flying on economy but I was told to come over here, there was some problem with my luggage or something”

“Sure no problem, could I have your passport?” came the cheery reply. Darn, why can’t all of them be this nice?

I checked in the 30kg luggage plus my 5kg Krispy Kreme boxes (also glad-wrapped). 10kg was too much to flirt with, 5kg would probably be fine. SCORE! She didn’t charge me. There you go, my savings. 5kg X AUD 15 = 75 AUD saved. Would have had to pay that 9 AUD to wrap up my luggage in any case.

~

I was about to save ANOTHER 150 AUD before that alert staff suspected my backpack and laptop carrier bag’s weight.

“Sir, could I get you to weigh your luggage over here? What class are you flying on?”

I couldn’t get myself to lie. Business Class would have gotten me away with it, if he didn’t check my ticket. Didn’t take the risk.

Back I went to the Austrian service counter, a little down that I have to face that manager Julie again.

“How strict are you guys with regards to hand-carry luggage?”

She weighed it and 20kg came up.

“Normally no, but with 20kg its just ridiculous!”

(Darn.)

So I had to pay 150 AUD for my 10kg of excess luggage.

I saved 75 AUD, could have saved 150 AUD. But all’s good and I’m now waiting for the gates to open.

2. To what extent, on the other hand, will Jeffrey let X AUD flow out in one swipe of his bank card?

Oh, just ask my girlfriend, from the time I started dating her in 2002 – 2003 during junior college (JC) days, in 2004 – 2006 during my conscript days, and even now from 2006 onwards as a medical student overseas, scrimping and saving so I have that excess cash at my disposal

Sorry to my friends at Monash for being pretty anal about change and settling bills together. That is my core reason.

Another group of people you could ask would be perhaps my VS friends. I missed their 21st birthday anniversaries since I was Down Under. Alvin Tham helped organise a birthday get-together on 18th Nov when I am back so that I can meet up with them and celebrate my birthday on the 12th , and Ben Tung’s birthday on the 2nd.

I hope 5 of them would like the Nike tshirts I bought them. It would be so cool if all of them wore it at the same time. Yitch will get one as well. It says “No diving allowed – Soceroos 2006”, appropriate cos’ its made in Australia, and has Aust. Soccer related wordings, plus a Nike Melbourne carrier bag. Hope they all like it.

Krispy Kreme as usual. Bought one for Josh in a gesture of friendship. Thanks Josh for all the interactions we had throughout the year for which your car facilitated – the late nights at Glen Waverley before or after Man United matches, the time you always willingly volunteer the services of your car – how very nice. Sincere thanks.

I hope my canoe team mates can get to try the Krispy Kreme donuts. They are just fantastic. Screw the calories that they are going to put on, it’s worth the enjoyment. What’s the point of dying old and yet you haven’t enjoyed the fine things in life – dining, travelling, social interactions, family, church. But that’s just me. The good thing about life or some say the love of God has provided mankind freedom of choice. Ultimately it is the life that we have in which we consciously make decisions for.

Lunch with Dr Tow and co.

2006-11-20T18:23:00.000+11:00

Food glorious food. Summer Palace at The Regent, Singapore.

I met Dr S.H. Tow as he was walking into the John Sung sanctuary at Calvary Pandan yesterday minutes before service began at 1030hrs, and broke into a casual conversation with him.

It ended up with him saying, "I should treat you to a meal one day. Give me your number."

I did and this morning, he called me for lunch at the above mentioned restaurant.

Yum.

I found out a lil more about him. He carried gifts in a simple plastic bag. Chinese books - probably evangelical, and a church calendar for 2007. He must have been a regular customer at Summer Palace. The waitresses knew him, the captain knew him. He remembered their names, and tries to remember the new people he meets. He chats them up, in a jovial and warm way, finding out where they are from, what dialect, and speaks that dialect. He gave 2 of them a book, and a calendar each. I received a calendar from him.

I asked an open question, "What do you think of abortion? I have always been wondering" "Oh, we use it for birth control. But its bad." he said. "Are u speaking from a gynaecological point of view, or a Christian point of view?" i probed. "Both. Its bad." Seeing he didn't want to speak more about it, i diverted my attention to the sumptious tim-sum in front of me, and the other conversation around the table - his wife, his family member (don't know who) and a couple (his friends).

After he paid and as we were heading toward the lift, he asked me, "So Jeffrey, what do you do for recreation?" "I run." (first thing that could come to my mind) "Oh, me too! I just ran 4000m last week..... Around the swimming pool. 20 rounds." I raised my eyebrows, "Isn't that rather monotonous?" He replied promptly, "Oh, i run a few rounds, and then sit down to memorize Bible verses, and carry on."

Interesting.

Maybe i should do that, but memorize medical facts instead. He has retired in glory from his medical career, i am just starting mine.

Blessed afternoon. He will head off for Melbourne to do the hand-over of the church building for Ebenezer BP Church. It is an exciting time ahead for our church there.

Class of 2010, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University

2006-11-18T18:54:00.000+11:00

Spent Sat. morning setting up this thingy after gathering some support.

Looks promising.
Give it a visit.

(For Monash Medics, sign up for a Wordpress account, tell me your email that you used to set up this account, and i'll add you as a contributor, so you can start posting in this combined blog as well)

One Blog to Rule Them All.

U.S. Ends Ban on Silicone Breast Implants

2006-11-18T13:03:00.000+11:00

Good news for women!!

"Because the implants containing silicone gel are softer than saline implants currently available, plastic surgeons said they would quickly become preferred among the more than 300,000 women in this country who have breast implants each year."

Here are some plastic surgeon's blogs as i have mentioned; take a look, its quite interesting initially. After a while, it seems pretty bitchy of those surgeons to be commenting on every single feature of celebrities that i lose interest.

Plastic Surgery Blog - by MyBodyPart.com

The Truth in Cosmetic Surgery

Awful Plastic Surgery

Celebrity Plastic Surgery Pictures - before and after

Enjoy.

Women More Interested in Part-Time Surgical Training Than Men

2006-11-17T13:50:00.000+11:00

Summary: "In light of recent concerns about decreasing applications to general surgery training programs and a need to appeal to students with greater interest in controllable lifestyle careers, a more flexible approach to surgical training could boost interest and improve applicant caliber," the researchers conclude.

It is indeed heartening to note that in the U.S.A., they are finally giving consideration to reducing working hours and the surge in professionals seeking flexible lifestyle options over career. I reckon it could be due to the increased emphasis on family, recreation, other interests apart from just pursuing a career, reaching the top, and feeling all empty and regretful.

This movie depicts it pretty well i feel. I watched it again on my Austrian Airlines flight back from Melbourne to Singapore on Tuesday.

"Click"

On a more serious note, the American College of Surgeons website details advice on lifestyle choices whilst balancing it with a fulfilling and rewarding career in surgery. Have a surf around in that site, if u're interested.

I am merely using surgery as an example for the hectic kind of lifestyle a doctor or any professional, like an accountant, engineer, businessman, financial analyst, lawyer, etc, would be facing. So, friends, do not be turned off, this is NOT one of the exclusive medical crap the irritating medical students like to engage themselves in. It's all about the PRINCIPLE, and thence applying it, u reckon?

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Female Bishop Takes Helm of Episcopal Church

2006-11-16T12:00:00.000+11:00

This is outrageous. How can the leader of a church believe in all these crap?

Just look at what she believes in:

Jefferts Schori, who is married to a theoretical mathematician and has a 25-year-old daughter serving as an Air Force pilot, voted in 2003 to confirm the election of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Anglican prelate. She has also supported blessings for same-sex couples, and she has said that, although she believes in salvation through Jesus, she does not think Christianity is the only path to God.

She is pro-homosexuality. AND she believes in "another gospel".

That is why Paul the Apostle wrote to the Galatians to defend the Gospel. At that time (around A.D. 53 - 57), there were false teachers arising who claimed that one had to be circumcised, just like the Jews before their salvation can be assured.

Similarly, in the current modern context, there are many false teachers who believe likewise. I can easily name who they are, but the point is not about pointing fingers. It is about knowing what my church and what i believe in - the doctrines of the Bible-Presbyterian Church.

It is just amusing to see how churches in the world turn out to be. On the other hand, i find it a little disappointing, that these leaders of churches, knowing so much, devoting so much of their time to what they believe is the right cause, and yet are leading their followers to believe the wrong thing. They might be sincere, yes, but they could just turn out to be sincerely wrong.

Let us turn to the King James Bible for an authoritative view on this issue:

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

The Gospel according to St. Matthew:

24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

May the God of all give each and every one, believer or not, the wisdom to discern what is right and wrong, and bless us with the faith "which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3)

Singapore - are you a stayer or quitter?

2006-11-15T04:05:00.000+11:00

This is probably long overdue every since then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong raised the issue. Here are some resources of what happened then.

I was chatting to Mingjian on MSN.

[03:33:06] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
who's the girl u intro all the singaporean attractions and stuff? i dunno one rite
[03:34:15] {jeff} says:
dunoe lar ah bu den
[03:34:35] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
haha
[03:34:48] {jeff} says:
but too bad she not v chio, darn
[03:34:49] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
anyway..gd to see u safe and sound..
[03:34:50] {jeff} says:
s korean
[03:34:53] {jeff} says:
same here
[03:34:57] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
korean girls are fat..
[03:35:00] {jeff} says:
ha, quite
[03:35:10] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
except the actresses.. they are really pretty...and the MOST IMPT..
[03:35:18] {jeff} says:
good for plastic surgeons, haha
[03:35:25] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
U GOT GF alreay la...
[03:36:12] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
dun let vann know u hit on ugly korean girl on the plane..later she feel insulted..haha
[03:36:29] {jeff} says:
i didnt hit on her lar, i just being a helpful singaporean, using my zai advertising skills to advertise for singapore food and tourism le. im sure STA will be how happy. reaping the profits for S'pore economy le.
[03:36:41] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
haha.. juz j/k la..
[03:37:13] {jeff} says:
spore is still my homeland no matter what

they say, is it worth staying to fight for, to make a sucess in, etc

i say yes. other countries may be better, like australia. things may be easier, but hey, if everyone thinks like that, how can spore progress

they train us up, we just ciao, u dun feel bad ar? (quitters)

[03:39:10] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
i juz think that things may be different 10years down the road..and there are so many things that may change..so i dun wanna say whether i die die also muz come back or wad..
[03:39:17] {jeff} says:
haha
[03:39:22] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
but i'll definitely finish specialising b4 i come back, or go to whereever i may go
[03:39:26] {jeff} says:
well its called conviction, and intent. if u intend to, the others are just excuses

the difficulties are real, and everyone knows it.

and i dont deny that at all.
[03:40:36] {jeff} says:
pple probably will settle down in the country they have built u their career in
contacts, environment, family

so the initial thinking that you'l waanna head back to spore once u get ur specialty, pretty wishful / hopeful

more over, ur patient base is zero in a new country. so the only way u can come back, is to have a sub-specialty that is in demand, and then work for govt. which means less money definitely as compared to private in aust (of cos it ain't all about money)

then u start all over again.
[03:42:20] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
then juz dun come back la..
...

see how the situation is like..

10 years is too far away for me to see what its like
[03:42:47] {jeff} says:
(walau, "then just dun come back lar" sounds very.. ungrateful to me)
[03:44:21] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
aiya..i may have spent my whole life here..but i feel that in the end i wanna be like uncle eng lin.. have the experience of living in several countries while i'm still young..esp japan..
[03:44:48] {jeff} says:
haha, ok, thats all good

but i was just thinkingand reflecting on all that anti-sporean thingy that has been going on

it does us no good

its good to be aware i don't deny

and true, nobody owes s'pore a living

well, the idealistic and naive me tells me sth in the line of "filial piety" and "patriotism" - what is that truly? its not the mere simple fact im born in singapore then im a sporean, but the fact that i know its better elsewhere, but i CHOOSE to stay cos it was the environment that brought me to where i am today, and will be in the future, and that it is a future worth fighting and moulding for our next generation of sinagporeans

[03:50:09] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
ya..true..in the end, i still think its too early for me to come to a decision..i dunno how i'll change over the next 5 years...
[03:50:11] hikari - back in singapore and feeling great... ;) says:
see how la..

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I feel disappointed. People should start asking what they can be doing for country, and not what the country can do for them. This is so applicable now as a Member of Parliament in Singapore pointed out. People are too whiny complainers. The Channel News Asia forum has some discussion going on in there.

So, my fellow Singaporeans, will you be a stayer or a quitter?

My fellow Monash Medics, will you be a stayer to come back to Singapore eventually, and help mould the future of our nation? Or will be a quitter, to choose the easy path in Australia, guided by mere personal lifestyle and current/future familial desires and plans?

Open for discussion, please click comments below and provide constructive fruitful discussion.

Blessed 21st.

2006-11-15T04:04:00.000+11:00

Post coming up soon. Will update soon. once i get the pictures. Stay tuned!

Denial or belief?

2006-11-10T03:40:00.000+11:00

Was just browsing through Grey's Anatomy memorable quotes online with MJ whilst taking a break in our ~10 hr study day, and had this query. Decided to direct our question to a certain surgical registrar.

this is how the email went:

Dear Barb,

This is a quote from Grey's Anatomy.

"The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial. We deny that we're tired, we deny that we're scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we
can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces. "

How true do you find it in your experience? and in your intern's experience now that u're a registrar?

Warmest regards to you.

- Reader

The reply came quickly. it was inspiring and insightful:

Dear Reader,

In my internship my thinking was framed more by naivety rather than denial. I think this is true of most interns. Ultimately I'm not that good at denial, even when I try really hard.

Denial can be very useful in getting through any difficult or dark days. Sometimes experiences are so terrible that to face them openly is to face more than you can bear. In these situations judicious use of denial can make the world an easier place to live. But denying yourself human emotions is dangerous. Denying reality is dangerous. I've never seen value in lying to myself.

Determination and belief in oneself are much more useful than denial. Rather than deny that things are bad, believe that one day they will be better. Believe that time heals all wounds and that one day you will be free. Believe in honesty, truth, justice, freedom, determination, humanity, love and peace. Know that not everyone is your friend. Know that the world can be a harsh place. Accept that at times there is no rhyme or reason. Then plant your feet firmly and face whatever may come your way.

The key to surviving internship is, I believe, in TFSI #1.

Best wishes,

Barb.

Read her blog. The link is on the right, under "some day.." / Doctors. --> Barbados Butterfly.

Are You a Secure Lover?

2006-11-10T03:14:00.000+11:00

Are You a Secure Lover?
Why You Choose the Mates You Do

Took this 11 page, 53 question test one night after PTE, still sane, logical, reflective, and score on MMSE would probably still be 30/30.

Results are as follow:

Jeffrey, you have a Secure relationship attachment style.

You tend to be an open and trusting romantic partner. You find it relatively easy to get close to people, and are generally comfortable depending on others. Attachment style begins in infancy with the interactions we have with our parents or primary caregivers. Through these early relationships we begin to understand the dynamics and patterns of close relationships and we carry this perspective into our adult relationships.

10% of those who have taken our test share this style of attachment. When you choose a romantic partner you tend to gravitate towards those who have what psychologists call a secure attachment style. These are people who are warm, open and trusting. People who have a secure attachment style are typically comfortable with themselves and show a high regard for others.

Your answers on our test show that when it comes to relationships you have grown beyond your earliest attachment issues. While you may not have every issue resolved, you're making substantial progress at establishing healthy relationship patterns.

Flags of Our Fathers

2006-11-08T23:14:00.000+11:00

Post OSCE activity - Flags of Our Father
at Crown Melbourne Au

Book review:
before you go on to think Jeff has gone bonkers to post a book review, do read on and you'll find out why!

Amazon.com provides good editorial reviews of this original book by James Bradley.

Who's James Bradley to write about such a historical event with such insight?

He is none other than the son of John "Doc" Bradley, one of the six flagraisers. A speaker and a writer, he lives in Rye, New York.

Click on the picture of the book itself on the left to go to its amazon.com site.

The movie was adapted from the book.

More on the book:

To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.

Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.

- From the inside flap cover and blurb of the book itself.

The all-famous picture.

A picture speaks a thousand words. How very true.

Various reviews:
MSNBC : " 'Flags of Our Fathers' deserves a salute - Clint Eastwood's engrossing, melancholy epic captures the national mood"

Christiananswers.net: Reviewer's moral rating of movie (very offensive), comments from public all positive so far.

A current Marine says this about the movie:

I had to see this movie...twice. As a Marine (currently in the Reserves), I already knew most of the facts concerning the battle of Iwo Jima. Most, if not all, Marines do. Yes, the movie contains some very bad language. Yes, the movie contains some graphic scenes of war and its carnage. And no, this is not a movie for children. It is after all a movie about war.

However, having said that, I still highly recommend this movie to any and all Americans who share an interest in their history. The movie making quality is very good. The color scheme Clint Eastwood chose to use works extremely well and adds a sense of “being there” to the movie. What I like best is that it really sends no message either pro or con. It isn't saying, “See look at the Marines. They can do no wrong.” And it also isn't saying, “See look at how evil the United States and it's military is.” Instead, it simply shows you what these young warriors endured and did during the most hellish experience of their lives. A battle against an enemy whose standing order was: “You will die on this island, but just make sure you kill 10 Marines before you do.” Indeed, this was the greatest generation. Truly fascinating.
My Ratings: Very Offensive / 5
—Angel Mendez Jr, age 37

There is even a link on Christiananswers.net to shine some light on the issue of a Christian perspective on war. Interesting.

Personally i feel this is a great movie, from a soldier's perspective. It gives conscripts like me an eye opener of what really goes on in a war - the bloodshed, the feelings one go through when sent to fight a war that is not really yours, the feelings of losing your buddies, or coming out alive with them. So much for seeing. I can't profess to say i know even the slightest bit of what they are feeling, i can only sympathise. Yes i understand the movie because of some training and exposure in the Singapore Armed Forces, but that is all. I have never had a real bullet flying toward me, past me yes.

From a historical point of view, i can't say much. i have yet to research much, and i didn't take year 9 - 12 history. i will read up more though, it's interesting.

Nonetheless, i recommend it to the following groups of people:

pre-enlistees like Eliott who think that medics are gay and combatants are cool (every single person in war, glorifed or not, is as IMPORTANT to the big picture as anyone, no one can claim to be more important than any one else), or Nathaniel (the importance of having a good attitude prior to enlistment is all you need, building your friendship i would say is more important than impressing anyone else, whatever your ambitions are. that's all you will look back on when u finish your conscript time)
NSFs now who think you are wasting your youth being conscripted
the regulars who tirelessly serve the SAF (don't ever forget that reason and passion why u signed on initially, apart from money and career, i'm sure there was more to it than that),
and even to the girls. (it's time to get to know more about military stuff, come on even guys like me do know a little about makeup, facial care, gynae issues; its no excuse you know nuts about the military... just ignore the profanity and slight gore in the film, read the book if you prefer a less visual graphic form)
the others - you may not understand as much as conscripted soldiers ever, having not gone through it yourself, your understanding of the military may just be from literature or the mass media, but hey at least try and not be like a hermit.

I end off with a quote i remember from 16 till now from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

"Atticus Finch" in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

University life

2006-11-07T10:14:00.000+11:00

i direct you to a good post by one of my classmate, John Lee.

http://weichernjohn.blogspot.com/2006/09/university-life.html

It is a pity that he will be leaving us for Monash Malaysia. It has been fun with you around.

Greatest proof of Christianity?

2006-11-05T15:37:00.000+11:00

The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a
man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far
in practice he will stake his life on his belief.

-- T. S. Eliot

Who is T.S. Eliot?

the world accorinding to some singaporeans

2006-11-04T13:55:00.000+11:00

exam reflections, post exam activites

2006-11-03T17:45:00.000+11:00

here goes.

after finishing the paper on wednesday, i finally update my blog.

a few things to touch on:

1. pre-exam stress

ah. it was building up. cos i didnt go acc. to my study plan. was getting lazy. by wednesday (1week b4 e paper), i was done with clinical anatomy. i basically followed the "clinical applications" of the monash syllabus, as i mentioned in the previous post, and made a word doc --> pdf file out of it. researched from Moore, emedicine.com, and other reliable internet sources. and when i didn't understand what was the relevant anatomy behind it, i referred back to the muscle's attachments and neurovascular supply. didn't memorize the attachments, which turned out to be a mistake. exam came out more qns on gross anat.

anyway, i think my poor performance (i know) in this exam is due to selective studying and lack of focus and motivation in the latter part of the final week before the exam. perhaps could be even blamed back on lack of consistent study throughout the semester. throughout the semester, i was merely keeping up, attending all lectures, tutorials, dissections, and taking it whatever i can. didn't devote time to start memorizing facts or make good summary notes out of the new material so that during revision they can come back easily to me. that i felt was where i failed. hm.. what do you guys think? im sure you are much better at study techniques and more experienced than me. leave a comment or tell me direct, would greatly appreciate any advice. :)

2. exam itself

wed 1 nov, 230 to 530pm:
tried my best. lack of preparation really brings out the character in people perhaps. it made me fight. haha. (is it just jeff trying to make it sound better or comfort himself, never prepare and struggle thr the paper just say lar.) no.. i mean, during the paper, those that i know, i did asap. and those that im not very sure, im glad i could at least eliminate some choices from what i studied, and sometimes it was left down to 2 or 3 options to make a guess (some intelligent, some pure random) and for the questions that asked "which of the following is correct or incorrect", i had to look at which looked odd one out and which one didn't. not preparing well enough sucks. :(

3. post-exam activites.

wed evening, 545pm on:
we headed to monash uni caulfield for some free pizzas. kudos to MUMUS for organising this. boy were the pizzas snapped up in a jiffy. the singaporean clique headed down to the city and ate at CHOMP CHOMP. good dinner. ethan led us in a word of prayer before the dinner and i thought that was great. after that was just random interesting convos all over the 21-strong long table. (and hey, we're not exclusive, tuck woon and kary was around to add to the malaysian presence)

thurs morning:
i intended thursday to be a chill out day. went to uni with mj in the morning as we originally intended to practise OSCE since john hamilton was conducting some session. it turned out to be just going thr role plays, so mj amy and i were at MUISS lounge discussing and brainstorming what could come out or lead on from the stem that the faculty published.

collected my assignment and rural tutor report after that and i did well! glad. at least e 1st good thing happened to me after the crappy exam. (thinking back, having the company of the singaporeans after the exam paper itself on wed evening till late was already a blessing and im thankful for that!)

elaine also confirmed i was going for transition camp '07.met her at CMHSE. cool. (for the benefit of the non-monash-medic readers, friends, its basically a camp conducted for the new year 1 monash med. i attended it and now i volunteered to be a guide. nat and pat are going as well. hope mj can go as well. it will be fun, PLUS i can get to try the big swing. didnt get to try in feb 06 lar! sianz.

thurs noon:
lunch was good. mj yuanhwa and i ate at cocca red, some middle class restaurant right smack in campus centre. we never ate there in our 9 months here and woo! finally. the food was fantastic for 20AUD. fish was fresh and nicely garnished. company was good, we had a good chat, about how our group dynamics within the singaporean clique has changed, amongst other things.

sorri this is gettin boring cos of the lack of pictures but i dun have camera phone to take good pictures le!! and its not as if i carry my digi camera all over as well.

thursday evening:
mj and i had a good heart to heart talk with ethan about the housing issues, and the singaporean clique in general. and who can forget GREY's ANATOMY.

1130pm:
we headed to melanie's house as it was her birthday in 30min. glad she is surprised and things went well. :D

fri late morning:
JEM went to Hair Creations by Jeffery (not Jeffrey) for a hair cut and breakfast at Grand Tofu. I had prata with chicken and they had yong tau fu. thinking abt it, its abt time we head back to spore! woo hoo! all the ho liao food in spore. can't wait.

fri afternoon:
badminton and netball/captain's ball with the singaporean clique at monash sports hall. great game. good camaraderie. appropriate level of competitiveness. sprained my ankle tho. thanks to mj who went to get ice and bandage for me. and thanks to all who were concerned. :) (already thanked them in person liao lar. dun wanna thank here again. :P)

and now, updating this blog. comments or tags are welcome. as always :)

now unto OSCE next wed 8 nov, here i come. preparation is key. after which, moving in and getting souvenirs, till i head back to my home country, Singapore, the one which i spent 2 good years serving and defending. hmm... another post lar.

nothing further out.

study update + emedicine.com rocks

2006-10-21T00:37:00.000+10:00

i have studying upper and lower limb anatomy, and mainly just the clinical applications as according to the Monash Uni 5-year MBBS course's syllabus - which is, according to a certain Mr. Gerrard Ahern, what we future doctors will be needed and expected to know when we work as interns. After all, the course is to "prepare us to be able to work safely as interns." (Australia Medical Council Guidelines)

And according to Gerry, an orthopod (or an orthopaedic surgeon), he mentioned to us quite a few times that because it is what we will face in the future as interns, therefore it should be and MUST be in the exams! (i think i like this logic a lot)

After all, what is the point of studying all that crap when you have no practical clinical use for it, and by the time u reach internship, or even earlier during clinical years, you have forgotten most of it, because u were trying so hard too early to be a mini-specialist in that subject.

In addition to that, i found that on top of Clinical Oriented Anatomy by Moore and Dalley, and Netter's Clinical Anatomy by Hansen and Lambert,

simply just rocks.

Try it. You will believe me.

end of semester 2

2006-10-20T13:50:00.000+10:00

Today is the last day of uni. That is it. Semester 2 has passed. Another 13 weeks of doctor training has passed.

26 weeks in all for year 1, and we are supposed to be 20% doctor. Considering the six letters in the word D-O-C-T-O-R, we have finally got the D in hand, it will finish off once our exam papers are over and the OSCE is past.

(DOCTO for the 5 years MBBS course, R for the internship year to get our AMC/SMC license)

About 10 more days for revision. I pray for His strength to persevere all the way. May i attain good results to glorify His name and presence in my life. Thank God for sustaining me thus far in life. And thank my parents for giving me this opportunity to study medicine. I'm so blessed.

How about you? Have you counted your blessings?

new links

2006-10-16T00:09:00.000+10:00

dear all,

i have evaluated my links on the right panel and deleted those i don't recommend anymore and the new ones i do.

enjoy!

jeff

study

2006-10-15T17:57:00.000+10:00

just a quick post.

exams are coming up real soon. its only a 3hr paper that assesses our knowledge of upper and lower limb anatomy, sensory/muscle/neuro - physiology and associated pharmacology, psychiatry material, among other less important stuff, like law, ethics, health enhancement, etc.

its on the 1st nov. so i have been hitting the books.

pray all goes well.

:)

Intestinal ailment ads turn stomachs - what a joke

2006-10-14T16:22:00.000+10:00

It has been reported in the news:

Beijing has banned TV advertisements for the treatment of anal and intestinal ailments on morning rush hour buses, wary of spoiling commuters' breakfasts, local media reported.

The advertisements, which featured "experts" and "sufferers exaggerating and guaranteeing the benefits of the treatments," were in the public interest, the city broadcasting authority insisted, but had caused numerous complaints and led to a public backlash, the Beijing News said.

What a joke. Chinese watching people having diarrhea and stomach discomfort in the early morning, and psychologically affecting them till they complain for it to be removed. Mind over body?

hmm..

why every medical student should be blogging...

2006-10-12T07:44:00.000+10:00

Nicholas Genes, MD, PhD, second-year resident in emergency medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, shares with us the reasons FOR blogging:

Why Medical Students Should Have Their Own Blogs
Posted 10/06/2006

Nicholas Genes, MD, PhD
All across the country this fall, thousands of students are starting medical school or new clerkships. Some are kids fresh out of college, while others are embarking on a second career they've always dreamed about. Still, this diverse group shares some common features:

They're going to be isolated from the life they knew before; maybe they've moved to a new city, or maybe they won't get to call or see family and loved ones as often as they used to.

They are going to experience some powerful things, such as cutting into flesh, delivering a baby, breaking devastating news, or staying awake for ungodly periods of time.
In short, this is a group that should be communicating a lot with others -- stories, perceptions, rants -- at precisely the time when such communication is most difficult.

The solution? I think they all ought to get a blog.

You know -- a Web-log, an online diary. Now, I'm not talking about those vapid MySpace pages full of classroom gossip and party pictures (although medical school provides its share of that, too). But I think the students who sit down for 20 minutes every now and then to record their impressions of the wondrous, challenging experiences they're grappling with will be doing themselves a favor. Frustrated friends and family who haven't heard from their beleaguered med school castaway will take a measure of relief in seeing an updated blog entry, even if it's a gripe about exams written at 3 AM.

But perhaps even more important is that medical student blogs are useful for students themselves. It's therapeutic to record your feelings, to vent frustrations, and to register difficult experiences. This is the kind of activity that makes for a sensitive and caring doctor -- probably the kind of doctor that most beginning students expect to be but forget about somewhere along the line. Blogging can help students remember. It's also instructive because it allows us to chart our progress through the years. On those bleak days of surgery clerkship, it may be encouraging to look back and see how far you've come since the first squeamish posts about anatomy lab.

Finally, blogging can create opportunities and open up frontiers. Beyond the simple scenarios that have helped me -- such as getting the inside scoop on hospitals during residency interview season -- getting involved with the nascent medical blogosphere can help you sift through the Web's educational resources (such as a collection of clinical cases and archived school lectures). It also can inspire student activism or show you what life is like in foreign med schools. Blogging might even open up doors into research.

To put it in med-school parlance, such an activity is "high-yield" and quite possibly "evidence-based,"[1,2] and thus worthy of a medical student's valuable time. Plus, you can't beat the price (blogs are free and easy to set up at sites such as www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com).

Medical students can take their cues from some of the blogs already out there. Besides Medscape's own cadre of bloggers at The Differential, there are institutional blogs such as the University of Michigan's med school blog and StudentDoctor.net, where some editorial freedom is sacrificed for a potentially larger audience. Some students write mostly for family and friends, while others give updates on much more than medicine.

If there's one unique concern that weighs heavily on medical students, it's privacy -- for their patients, for their colleagues, and for themselves. This may explain in part why med student blogs are less common than, say, graduate or law student blogs. While students in other disciplines are expected to develop public communication skills, future doctors are instructed to keep it in the chart or at the bedside.

But there are plenty of medical bloggers who are HIPAA-compliant. They simply obscure details of patient encounters and keep their own names and affiliations offline (which is relatively easy to do, although there's no guarantee that a blogger still won't be discovered). Other bloggers maintain anonymity, not necessarily for their patients but to protect themselves (the blogger behind Ah Yes, Medical School wouldn't be nearly as funny if his classmates and teachers knew who he was).

Of course, getting your feet wet in medical blogging may seem a little overwhelming. Fortunately, there's Grand Rounds -- which in the hospital means stale bagels and esteemed, boring lecturers, but on the Web means a weekly collection of the best in medical blogging. Each week, a different blogger "hosts" Grand Rounds and displays links to other bloggers' best posts of the week. I have been fortunate to interview many of these bloggers for Medscape's Pre-Rounds series, and I can say that many initially had a skepticism of this new form of communication until the benefits won them over.

Andy Warhol said that, in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. While that's not yet proven, it's safe to say that most people will one day have some sort of online presence. I urge medical students to set up that territory now -- for themselves, their careers, their loved ones -- as they undergo some of their most transformative years.

So people, get a blog, start writing!

more med ball 06 pictures!

2006-10-08T15:33:00.000+10:00

Patricia has uploaded some of her pictures online as well. You can view it as a slide show and check out the captions as well. Click here.

Another pal, Kerfern had a good shot of the limo, amongst others.

Ling posted up more med ball 06 pictures on her blog as well - it was previously featured in the Singapore papers on her comments of the Singapore team beating the Australia team in table tennis at the Commonwealth Games.

Lately, MUMUS (Monash Uni Medical Undergraduate Society) has put up a link to the photos taken by the photographer that day. Check them out.

That should be about it. Enjoy the pictures - we had lotsa fun. Get yourself ready for Med Ball '07. With our juniors around as well, it will even be better!

Med Ball 06

2006-10-07T22:29:00.000+10:00

Remember i posted this a few weeks back? Life overseas: Balls.

Here we go: The Monash Medical Ball 2006.

Before we enter the ball through "the wardrobe"...

Funny poses make things more interesting!
We are the running buddies! For more, click here

JEM in action.

Where are our drinks?!?

Just a random pose.

The Victorian Family at Monash Med -
Kerf, Pat, Yuanhwa, and me.

The Whole Singaporean Monash Medicine, Class of 2010.
(can;t be bothered to name all... :P )

grateful hearts

2006-09-26T10:33:00.000+10:00

hi all.

its been a few days since i posted that post on the crazy stupid thing i was doing - a study on the effects of sleep deprivation. well i must say its a success. productivity a few days post-study was not affected severely. i slept 1/2 hrs the next day... and the day after, a good 8hrs or sth. and the day after that, 8-9hrs. haha. catch up. and now on tuesday, im back to normal, sleeping 6-7hrs again, normal daily function.

anyhow, it just goes to show how capable and wonderful our bodies have been created. Indeed it is not to be underestimated. We humans are created in the image of God, so of course it must be the best.

I'm thankful that i have a close groups of friends at Monash Med, and in personal matters, i have included them into the circle. For you Monash Medics who know where and what i am up to, do know i never tell anyone else. You are privileged! So you know yourself now, enough liao. Thanks.

Anyhow, it will be a good study break and i intend to max it out to study independently enough without EM in the JEM. It would have been great to have Ethan and Mingjian around, but independent study should always be the hallmark of a medical student or doctor, so i gotta work on that. Group study is synergistic, but independent hard work is necessary as well.

In essence, i wish to extend my gratitude to those who have lent a listening ear to me: in chronological order since "that thing" happened: Nat, Mingjian (before my weekend selective at Tralragon), Hyacinta (during the selective), Ethan, Mingjian again, Yuanhwa (in tutorial while i was finalising the plans, so he inevitably asked and i dont see a point in hiding), Joel E, Ling/XY (after SAM meeting), etc..

I just didnt mind telling you people cos of trust. I didn't mind as well. Open-ness. But that is the cap and limit, so thanks for not broadcasting it further.

See you around.

an ongoing prospective study on the effects of sleep deprivation on daily performance of a medical student

2006-09-21T02:36:00.000+10:00

Self conducted prospective study.

Intro: Busy work schedules have resulted in this situation. Might as well try to learn something out of this whole experience.

Methodology: Non-deliberate recording of no. of sleep hours over 5 days

Data collection: 4 hrs(sunday night), 2 hrs + 1 hr nap (monday night + tuesday evening), 2 hr (tuesday night), 3 hrs (wednesday night), 3 hrs (thursday night), 4 hrs (friday night)

Statistical analysis of data: You think i so free ar? Anyway, leave that to the statisticians.

Interpretation:

(Updated: Friday 2330hrs +10GMT)
So far so good. Haven't been at a situation when i could just sit and chill out for long. Which is why perhaps there has been little or none times i dozed off unknowingly. I am just talking and chatting to people, coherently, without deviation from my normal character and thought processing. It is so cool. The human body is indeed so powerful.

Ethan was mentioning yes it is so powerful that it is built to tell us when to take a rest to prevent overworking.

Joshua advised against doing this often for the long-term effects are adverse. An e.g. would be Kelvin Chng, who apparently displays abnormal mood-lowering behaviour since engaging in such unusual sleep habits like mine.

I think we should rest, but i just would like to wish readers will know that indeed the human body and mind is far more exceedingly powerful and amazing. Until then, Jeffrey

Points for further discussion: I have done this once in Dec 2005 when i was in Queensland's Shoalwater Bay Training Area for military training. We had around 15 packed days of activites, with only 2-3hrs of sleep per day, with 2 - 3 times we went back to civilisation for showers and hot meals. Hmm.. i didn't realise the value of that till now. Now that i know i have "done that" before, i am confident i am able to pull through this. After all, those 15 days were more strenuous, and we were all so dirty! (Not sure if u remember the pictures i posted up some time ago)

As compared to someone who hasn't had such an experience before, do u think it might be different for him/her to go through the above sleep deprivation cycle i have been through in an academic environment?

Psychoneuroimmunology and psychoneurophysiology play major roles in explaining these, i think. Well, i am quite kia-su (scared of death), so i pop in multi-B and slow-release C vitamins, sometimes with 100mg of pycnogenol. Hmm. i'm thankful to the God above for sustaining me and not allowing me to fall sick yet.

Does prior exposure, faith, attitudes and preconceived notions on sleep deprivation affect one's ability to maintain a normal level of competency in daily functioning as a human being, and as a student (to learn new content)?

Comments please.

N.B. Ethics not an issue since researcher himself is the participant. (autonomy wins)

a delicious lunch

2006-09-08T19:50:00.000+10:00

Medicine should be dominating your life....

2006-09-08T17:49:00.000+10:00

Well then. This week has been pretty light with less lectures and lessons. It has been relaxing.

i am so close to selling off my PowerBook! May i be successful in that!

The title of this blog entry should be catching you by a lil surprise i guess. Well, that is what my lecturer told us. He is a surgeon and is heavily involved in teaching us anatomy. He tells us it should be dominating our lives.. but something he added at the end was great.

"... but not overtaking it..."

Hell yea it won't.

Balanced life i presume is what he is trying to get at, with a focus on studying what is needed and good for medicine. Hmm...

I bought a new book, Netter's Clinical Anatomy by John T. Hansen and David R. Lambert. It is a good revision guide book and succintly places all the clinical applications of anatomy inside this A5 sized pocket guide. I love it.

Everybody should get it. Weide that includes you. Congrats to Weide, my JC classmate for being accepted by Monash Medicine. Alright i have a junior who is the same age as me next year!!

I so look forward to Transition Weekend Camp '07.

It's back to the anatomy, physiology and pharmacology for now..

2LT Bob Mabry's Account of "Battle of the Black Sea"

2006-09-06T18:22:00.000+10:00

Overview
2LT Bob Mabry
MS, USAR.

Good morning. I am Second Lieutenant Bob Mabry, a 4th year medical student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Five years ago, on the 3rd of October 1993, I was SFC Bob Mabry, a Special Forces medic, assigned to Task Force Ranger as a part of the Combat Search and Rescue Team. I am going to speak for a few minutes about the Battle of the Black Sea. With this in mind, I wish to say up front that many aspects of the operation remain classified, so I have prepared my comments directly from several open sources in the media, including: the Philadelphia Inquirer’s "Blackhawk Down" series; a Time magazine article, “Anatomy of a Firefight”; and the PBS special, “Ambush in Mogadishu”. If any of you participated in the operation or are privy to its details, you may recognize some inconsistencies. I am also going to refrain from mentioning specific units and individual's names. No classified information was used to prepare this presentation.

What I hope to do over the next twenty minutes is to give you a sense of what the tactical situation on the battlefield was like on 3 October. I also want to “put you on the ground in Mogadishu”. At the risk of being overly melodramatic, over the next few minutes, I want you to be able to close your eyes and smell the aviation fuel mixed with the third-world stench of human waste, charcoal, and rotten fruit. I want you to smell the stink of sweat and blood mixed with gunpowder and burning tires. I want you to be able to hear the roar of helicopters overhead, mixed with the distinctive sound of AK-47 rounds and the whoosh of rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s) as they go past. I want you to hear the deafening echo of continuous gunfire along narrow, confined streets mixed with the screams of “Medic” and “I’m hit” from the dying and wounded. I want you to see buddies to your left and right being hit and to feel the bullets passing by, sometimes through your clothing and equipment, and I want you to understand the effect that that has on your concentration and psyche.

I want you to be able to close your eyes and smell the aviation fuel mixed with the third-world stench of human waste, charcoal, and rotten fruit. I want you to smell the stink of sweat and blood mixed with gunpowder and burning tires. I want you to be able to hear the roar of helicopters overhead, mixed with the distinctive sound of AK-47 rounds and the whoosh of rocket-propelled grenades as they go past. I want you to hear the deafening echo of continuous gunfire along narrow, confined streets mixed with the screams of “Medic” and “I’m hit” from the dying and wounded.
2LT Bob Mabry

Sunday, 3 October, 1993 was another day in the hangar. Task Force Ranger (TFR) had been in country for about 5 weeks. People were reading, writing letters, doing PT or at the beach catching some rays. At about one o’clock in the afternoon, TFR began receiving intelligence reports that two of Aidid’s top lieutenants would be meeting later that afternoon at the Olympic Hotel close to the notorious Bakara Market, in the heart of an Aidid-controlled area known as the Black Sea. Over the next hour, this intelligence was confirmed and “GET IT ON” echoed throughout the hanger. Everyone dressed out and loaded the aircraft and vehicles in just a few minutes, as this ritual was repeated with daily profile flights and with 6 previous missions, all of which had gone smoothly.

The mission was to follow a standard template that was simple and well rehearsed. An assault force of about 90 soldiers, riding on more than a dozen Special Operations helicopters, would swoop down on the target, air landing or fast roping if needed. One group would assault the target building and the other would establish blocking positions around the perimeter. Meanwhile, a 50-man ground convoy of trucks and armored Humvees, with 50-caliber machine guns and Mark 19 grenade launchers, would make its way through the city and arrive shortly after the air assault. The air-assault force and any prisoners or wounded would then be loaded onto the ground convoy vehicles for extraction. A command and control helicopter and a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) bird would orbit overhead. The CSAR package, with 2 Air Force pararescuemen (PJ’s), a Ranger medic, and a squad of Rangers with litters and cutting tools were on call to respond as needed. All together about 170 men would take part in the operation.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, the pilot of the lead Blackhawk helicopter gave the code word and the assault force lifted off, out over the ocean and along the Somali coast. Meanwhile, the ground convoy departed from the airfield. Ten minutes later, the assaulters are inserted by helicopter and begin to storm the target building. Moments afterward, the Blackhawks inserted the perimeter security team into their blocking positions. In the brownout of flying dust and debris created by the rotor wash, a Ranger falls forty feet from a Blackhawk, sustaining a closed head injury, a femur fracture and a broken arm. Unconscious, one eye swollen shut, and bleeding from the nose and mouth, he is the first casualty.

Twenty minutes later, the assault force has secured the target building and has captured more than twenty prisoners, flex-tied them, and is waiting to load them onto the trucks. By now, the convoy and blocking positions are receiving sporadic fire. The Ranger Commander is informed about the soldier who fell. The medic tells him the casualty's injuries are critical, and the decision is made to evacuate him. Three of the Humvees are sent back to the airfield with the injured Ranger. As they make their way back through the city, they encounter gunfire from every direction; from rooftops, doorways and alleys. The 50- cal gunner in one of the vehicles is hit in the head. Blood and gray matter are splattered over his fellow Rangers and the interior of the Humvee. He is the dead by the time they reach the hanger.

Back at the objective, as the prisoners are being loaded, the volume of fire increases, armed and hostile crowds are beginning to gather. In the sky above, the helicopters are under steady fire from RPG’s. The Aviation commander would comment later that “the fire never stopped “ and that in 10 minutes one Blackhawk was fired upon 10-15 times. At 4:10 in the afternoon, 40 minutes after the operation began, an RPG finds its mark and Super 61, one of the Blackhawks, is hit. The RPG hit the tail boom and Super 61 begins to spin in a slow, wide arc until it crashes, nose first and on its left side, in a narrow Mogadishu alley with a loud "crumping" sound. The two pilots are killed on impact. Amazingly, the 6 soldiers riding in back survive. Four of them quickly pour out of the right side door and begin to secure the area. They were under fire moments later. One of the survivors engages the Somalis rapidly, taking well-aimed shots, and killing perhaps 10 of them before he goes down, mortally wounded, hit in the pelvis and abdomen. One of his comrades comes to his aid and is shot through the shoulder. Then, amazingly, a helicopter lands in the middle of the road next to the crash site, its rotor blades just a few feet from the Somali houses. The ranger shot in the shoulder, with the help of the co-pilot, loads his dying comrade into the back while the pilot fires with his sidearm at the advancing gunmen. The other Rangers stay with the downed helo and wave the bird off.

Moments after the helo lifts off, the 15-man CSAR team fast-ropes into the crash site. As the last two men are on the rope, the CSAR bird is hit in the tail with an RPG. It lurches slightly, but holds its position until the ropes are clear and then limps back to the airfield, spewing smoke and fluid, to land safely.

Back at the objective, everyone who saw and heard the crash knew that things had just changed dramatically. One of the Ranger platoon leaders within sight of the crash began to move his men forward on foot to the site. The Ranger commander, now with 3 vehicles lost to CASEVAC and one five-ton truck disabled from a direct hit with an RPG, began to move his convoy to the crash site. As soon as they rounded the corner from the objective, they were met with a hail of fire. Gunfire and RPGs were coming from all directions. The Command and Control helicopter spotted Somalis setting up roadblocks to slow the convoy. Groups of armed Somalis would run on foot a block over and parallel to the convoy in what was in effect a moving ambush. The Command and Control bird tried to vector the convoy away from the crowds and the gathering gunmen and toward the downed Blackhawk, but this only resulted in the convoy wandering for about an hour under intense fire in a maze of unfamiliar streets and alleys. Ten minutes after Super 61 went down, while the convoy searches for the first crash site, yet another Blackhawk is hit by an RPG and crashes about a mile from the first crash site. The convoy is then instructed to recover the personnel from the first crash and then move to the second crash site. Crowds of angry Somalis gather and advance on the convoy when it stops to pick up wounded or to turn around. Medics run alongside at stops to provide what treatment they can for the injured. Gunmen use women and children as shields. Some are armed and are fired on. Bullets hit the vehicles constantly. Rangers are hit, many more than once. Bullets graze equipment and clothing; many are stopped by helmets and body armor. Several more RPG’s find the convoy. One five-ton truck driver is hit in the chest. The RPG does not explode, but will later be discovered by a doctor who takes off the Ranger's body armor and sees the fins from the unexploded round sticking out of his chest. Another RPG hits the side of a Humvee. The blast tears one of the Rangers almost in half at the pelvis. He is mortally wounded, yet will live for another 12 hours. After an hour of intense fire, the decision is made to return to the airfield. At this point, there are more dead and wounded in the convoy than at the crash sites.

At the second crash site, the bird went in hard but remained upright. It had crashed in a rabbit warren of Somali huts and shanties. There is no place to set a helo down close to the downed aircraft, so one of the Blackhawks orbits overhead providing support with its minigun. Another RPG finds its mark and hits the bird, the blast taking the leg of the gunner. Since the CSAR team is committed to the first crash site, a pair of Rangers jumps from a hovering Blackhawk and moves through the shanties to assist the crew. They pull the pilot from the wreckage and hold the Somalis at bay for almost an hour. Then, low on ammo and under deafening barrage of Somali fire, the two Rangers and the co-pilot are killed, and the pilot captured.

Back at the first crash site, the CSAR team works to secure the crash and to extricate the dead and wounded. They have been under constant fire since they fast-roped in. The PJ’s move forward to remove the bodies and a Ranger medic sets up a casualty collection point (CCP) behind the protection of the downed helo. Anticipating quick evacuation, the casualties were not moved into the protection of a nearby Somali house. A short while after infiltration, the body of the first pilot is freed. He is obviously dead. Moments later, the senior PJ limps back to the CCP cursing. “Rat bastards shot me”. He then assumes control of the CCP and the Ranger medic moves forward to assist in the aircraft. While moving up to the nose of the aircraft, a grenade flies over the wall and lands in the narrow alley where he and some of the Ranger security element are clustered. There was no place to go. They ducked, turned away, closed their eyes, and gritted their teeth. Nothing happens; it is a dud. Before they could breath a sigh of relief another grenade flies over the wall and lands only several feet from them. It is not a dud; it explodes up and out and misses everyone. “Get some grenades over that wall” someone yells. Seconds later, 3 or 4 grenades fly over the wall and explode in rapid succession. Rounds continuously hit the aircraft, the walls of the narrow alley, and the ground around the security team. At the nose of the aircraft, one Ranger is hit in the chest and falls backward. He looks down, sees that the bullet has been stopped by his Kevlar body armor, and then continues to return fire.

Meanwhile, the second PJ has discovered a crew chief buried under the debris in the cargo area of the downed helo. He calls to the other medic for help. The army medic tries to dig under to nose of the aircraft but cannot get in, so he takes a deep breath, scrambles up the nose of the Blackhawk and jumps in from the top. Seeing him enter the aircraft, silhouetted against the sky, the Somalis respond with an intense volley at the downed aircraft. Inside, there is a hail of bullets that lasts a few seconds. One of the medics is grazed in the face, the other on the hand and the crew chief has his some of fingers shot off. Otherwise they are unhurt. The three of them look at each other in amazement. “Wait a minute” one medic says, and takes up the Blackhawk’s armored floorboards and places them in the fore and aft section of aircraft. Now, somewhat protected, they place the wounded crew chief on a litter and dig a hole under the aircraft to get him out. While they work, the armored floorboards take hits, are knocked over, and then put up again.

Back out in the street, the wounded are stacking up. The floorboards from the aircraft and blocks of rubble from the wall smashed by the helicopter are quickly stacked up for cover. The medics work quickly to assess and stabilize the casualties. By now, members of the SAR team are getting hit. The fire has not let up. A radio call comes from across the intersection; “We have wounded across the street,” says the CSAR Team Commander. The PJ and the Army medic look at each other. “I’ll go,” the PJ volunteers and jumps up and runs across the street. Moments later he is back saying, “I need some IV fluids; I have a casualty who is bleeding a lot.” He then makes his way back through the fire across the street for a third time.

During this time, some of the blocking force and assaulters from the target building have made their way to the crash site, taking wounded and dead of their own on the way there. The perimeter is slowly expanded, but the narrow streets and alleys are still a funnel for bullets. By the time the CSAR team realizes they are going to be there for a while, they cannot move. Two attempts are made to move casualties inside but each time the CSAR team takes more wounded. A Ranger platoon leader tells a CSAR medic “We have got to get these wounded inside.” The medic agrees but tells him, “We just got two people shot trying it. It will get dark soon; we'll try it then.” As darkness falls, the volume of fire decreases and the wounded are moved inside with no further casualties taken.

As night falls, about 100 men are spread out around the crash site; medics work through the night on the wounded. In the building next to the helo there are 12 wounded. These include a crew chief with a suspected pelvic fracture and amputated fingers, a Ranger with a gunshot wound and severe leg fracture, and another Ranger with multiple facial fractures who had been injured in the crash. There are also half a dozen or so with assorted gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds and fractures of the extremities. Across the street, the other PJ has four wounded. One is shot in the pelvis and testicle and is bleeding heavily. A short distance away, another medic works tirelessly to save a Ranger shot in the groin, but the bleeding cannot be stopped and he will die during the night. Medical supplies run low. IV fluids and morphine are used up in a few hours. Some supplies are recovered from the crash. In the middle of the night, a helo hovers over the site and drops a re-supply bundle. Soldiers on the helo are shot, but the supplies make it in.

While the medics work, the men at the first crash site listen to the radio and hear that a relief column is being put together. Earlier that day, shortly after the gravity of the situation was realized, the 10th Mountain’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF) was summoned to the airfield and briefed on the situation. At 1830, a company of the QRF in Humvees and 5-ton trucks moves toward the first crash site. They encounter a vicious ambush at the K-4 circle and are forced back to the airfield. At the crash site they hear the QRF is enroute, then, moments later, they hear several minutes of intense fire to the south, followed by a report of the QRF being ambushed and turning back. The mission commanders realize that more firepower is needed, so they work feverishly to assemble a second convoy of four Pakistani tanks, two companies of QRF, 32 Malaysian Armored Personnel Carriers (APC’s) and about a dozen each Humvees and trucks. All available personnel were rounded up; cooks, the lightly wounded, support personnel, and staff from the task force would all go out with the second convoy.

At about 2330 hours, the second convoy departs the airfield. It splits off into two elements at the Pakistani checkpoint. One element moves to the first crash site and the other to the second. Shortly thereafter, the lead APC in the second crash site element takes a wrong turn and is hit by an RPG. The rocket decapitates the Malaysian driver and disables the APC. Several soldiers from the 10th Mountain are shot recovering the wounded. They then continue on to the second crash site where no Americans are found.

The other element advances to the first crash site and links up with the members of Task Force Ranger at about 0200. It takes several hours to load all of the wounded into the vehicles. Meanwhile, the CSAR team continues to work on extricating the last pilot’s body from the wreckage of the Blackhawk. At dawn, the pilot is finally freed and to the surprise and chagrin of many at the first crash site, they find out the APC’s are so full of wounded that they will have to run alongside them on foot for exfiltration.

So, shortly after dawn on the 4th of October, two long columns of men are stretched along each side of the street near the downed helo. Many of the men had no idea that there were that many of them there. Most have spent the night right next to each other without ever realizing that their buddies were so close. These two columns run, house to house, street to street, using the APC’s for cover. This run is later to be called the "Mogadishu Marathon." While they move, they encounter sporadic fire. Helicopters provide fire support directly overhead, just as they have done all night. Expended brass and links rain down on them as they move. Walls and buildings crumble close by as the tanks and helos suppress the Somali fire, which increased after dawn broke. After about 2 miles, the force links up with elements of the QRF and loads onto vehicles. Many drink water for the first time in many hours.

The QRF then moves out in two groups, one to the Pakistani Stadium, the other to the New Port. They encounter sporadic fire from snipers along the way, but nothing like the day before. As one group arrives at the New Port, two medics prepare to take care of the wounded, although one of them could not hear. During the Marathon he ran by a wall, just as an RPG round exploded and his eardrums were ruptured. No casualties arrive at the New Port, however, and the TFR members are ferried back to the hanger by Blackhawk.

The second group arrives at the Pakistani Stadium with the wounded. The scene is surreal. Vehicles are splattered with blood and gore. Body parts and the dead are stacked in the back of the Humvees. The dead are covered with ponchos. Here medics and Task Force doctors began to treat and triage the flood of wounded, sending patients to the 46th Combat Support Hospital close by, where three surgeons, working without rest for more than 36 hours, would stabilize them for evacuation to Germany. At the Pakistani Stadium, Rangers learn for the first time about buddies who are dead or wounded. They learn that the crew of Super 61 and the two sergeants who went in after them are still missing.

By the time everyone returns to the Hanger, they meet the first wave going out on MEDEVAC at the nearby Air Force MEDEVAC staging area. Everyone reloads ammo. The medics repack their nearly empty aid bags. People eat and try to sleep knowing that at any moment they may have to go back out for the missing crew. Many task force members, although exhausted from almost 15 hours of continuous fighting, cannot sleep. The sound of gunfire and the whoosh of RPG’s still rings in their ears. Then, by that afternoon, CNN shows films of American bodies being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. The anger in the hanger is palpable. But a follow-on mission never comes. Over the next few days they learn that the pilot of Super 61 is still alive, to be released seventeen days later, but that his crew and the brave sergeants who went to their rescue did not make it.

This would bring the total killed on 3/4 October to 19. The total wounded requiring medical evacuation from Somalia was 59 and the total lightly wounded and returned to duty was 49. The estimates of Somali dead ranged from 350 to 500, with up to 1000 wounded. This action represents the largest, most intense firefight for U.S forces since Vietnam and has had a lasting effect on US foreign policy in the conduct of operations other than war.

A few days later, a memorial service was held at the hangar for the Task Force Ranger members who fell in combat. The Task Force commander read a passage from Shakespeare's King Henry V, where the king addressed his men the day before going into battle. I will share those words with you now.

"Whosoever does not have the stomach for this fight, let him depart. Give him money to speed his departure, since we do not wish to die in that man's company. For whosoever lives past this day and comes home safely will rouse himself every year on this day, show his neighbors his scars, and tell embellished stories of all the great feats of battle. These stories he will teach to his sons and from this day until the end of the world, we shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For whosoever shall shed his blood with me today shall be my brother, and those men afraid to go will think themselves as lesser men to hear how we fought and died together."
King Henry V

That concludes my comments. I hope I have succeeded in putting you there, and I hope what I have said will set the stage for the scenarios to follow. Hopefully, by the end of the day, you will have learned something from this battle that will help improve the care that we give to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Special Operations community in the future battles that are sure to come. Thank you.

Hopefully, by the end of the day, you will have learned something from this battle that will help improve the care that we give to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Special Operations community in the future battles that are sure to come. "

2LT Bob Mabry

Source: http://www.specialoperations.com/Specialties/Medicine/Urban.htm

futures 2: SAF career, why and why not

2006-09-04T18:55:00.000+10:00

Aye. Will talk more to Ben about it soon. The only thing that is pulling me is not the money since i dont really care about that. The only thing is the excitement i get in a combat life. But a regular MO will be a mere staff officer. Then i sign on for what?

I don't think Alan will be so nice to let me do SOF/Commando stuff when i volunteer MO at SAF when i'm free. I had enough of Armour. Don't mistake me, my fellow crewmen and matchsticks. I am still a tank officer at heart. An armour officer. Once Armour, Always Armour. But being Swift and Decisive is no longer that exciting, after all, it's all conventional warfare.

I'm more interested in Special Operations. Counter Terrorism Action. That is more stimulating. We'll see how things turn out. SAF's medical system still has lots of improvement to target, and the combat medical system, especially for the special operation troops, are not good enough as i see. You only get level II trained (out of a max of IV) medic SOF troopers out there in the most hostile environment, that is unacceptable. Totally appalling. Then again, how often will Singapore send troops to such hostile environments. We are just more concerned about economic progress. Yet, the threat of terrorism always looms around and nothing less than being fully prepared will suffice. Even when you are, shit can happen. Look at what happened in Black Hawk Down. It is a true story btw.

I will be posting up an article by a Special Forces medic who was there at the Battle of the Black Sea. This battle is made into a movie that everyone know as "Black Hawk Down". This movie is very meaningful, and especially the last part when the SF trooper was telling the ranger why he is going back into the "hot" zone.

Eversmann: You going back in?

Hoot: There's still men out there. Damn. When I go home people ask me, they say "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? Why? You some kind of war junkie?

I won't say a damn word.

Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it.

They won't understand, it's about the men next to you. And that's it. That's all it is.

Hey don't even think about it, all right? I'm better on my own. Hey we started a whole new week. It's monday.
Script source: http://krazykid197.tripod.com/script.html

Salute!

futures 1: doctors without borders/ red cross

2006-09-02T18:53:00.000+10:00

1. doctors without borders/ red cross

Yea i know. Its cliche. But seriously, that is REALLY why i became a doctor. I figure i get more kick and satisfaction at helping someone who has a particular outcome not cos of choice but cos of external factors that they cannot control.
Example? I think i would feel more satisfied in being able to help and save a kid who has had G/E (gastroenteritis), and is dying from dehydration as he had to be carried by foot by his ailing mother to the medical facility.
As compared to an ailing obese old man, who has smoked all his life since adolescence, indulged in alcohol, women and loose sex, and presents with a strange sore on his penis, with a past history of CHD (coronoary heart disease).
Hope u get my point
I don't want to deal or think about the social issues. Those are for dinner table/ over a cuppa tea kinda discussion. I am training and will be trained for medical purposes. Not to speculate or try to solve social problems in the country. Let the politicians do that, since they are the best at it. (and until they fail terribly, and until i make it up there to get a extensive and pervasive influence, then i may consider politics)
Such medical trips are a break from the norm of my regular job in Singapore. Adds spice to my career. After all, why be boring and only chase after that top consultant qualification or that head of department position? Or maybe, if you were less ambitious, why settle for that job with regular working hours, or maybe even irregular working hours, (as Singapore likes to overwork its citizens and inhabitants), be comfortable in the S'pore environment (as fantastic as it is), and not open your eyes to the world, where there are millions who need our aid much more. Will that make one contented at heart truly?
And hey, just for your note, my non-medical friends out there. Only ~10-20% of Doctors Without Borders are actually medical professionals. The rest, which are much more valued, are engineers, teachers, logisticians, builders, etc, who all make up the comprehensive team for humanitarian aid.
I MUST DO IT. if not, ill look back and regret. I want to be part of the action. I want to give "hope in hell".
And if i discover "hell" exists in Singapore, where the poor gets poorer health outcomes than the richer because of their socio-economic class, then i just may do something about it. Then again, that is the politicians' job. If they suck so much they need a medical professional to help them in non-medical areas like making policies, coming up with suitable programmes for health rehab, health awareness, lifestyle habits, etc, then i don't mind, since i could well add another dimension to the job, but i suspect i might be disappointed with them.

future issues...

2006-08-31T18:45:00.000+10:00

future issues:

in this next series, i have thoughts on my future. Well, some may say it is premature to think so far in the future. I think you have start somewhere sometime to ponder about what direction are you heading in life.

Well, i don't know where all these will lead me, but do join me as i find out.

Above all, God tells us through the Bible in the book of Proverbs:

A man's heart deviseth his way,
but the LORD directeth his steps.
- Proverbs 16:9

New hair cut (s)

2006-08-30T19:09:00.000+10:00

Went to "Hair Creations by Jeff" at Glen Waverly, Melbourne.
Had a hair cut by Chris, who trained extensively in London at Vidial Sasson
Mingjian's haircut is pretty cool too. Check it at his blog.
Yingci's haircut will be posted at the bottom, since he has no public blog!

Below are snapshots with MJ's cameraphone. I want a cameraphone! That is 3 megapixels and above and from Nokia! Argh. Wants VS Needs. Needs win.

Random post 1: How i met your mother

2006-08-30T19:01:00.000+10:00

Random post 1... Here goes:

Barnie's get psyched mix is ... (awesome?)

Have you guys heard it yet? It should be pretty nice. It is a "get psyched up!" mix that Barnie, a character in "How i met your mother", has compiled. Well, he is of the opinion that a "get psyched mix" should be ALL RISE!!!
If you're interested in this witty, humourous, and complex character, do check his blog at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/barneys_blog/
The compilation is recorded here in this forum.
They are here for your viewing:

1) YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME - Jonathan B. Jovi
2) THE HUMPTY DANCE - Digital Underground
3) COME SAIL AWAY - Stix
4) DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' - Journey
5) THE TRANSFORMERS THEME SONG - O. Prime
6) YOU'RE THE BEST AROUND - Joe Esposito
7) HIGH ENOUGH - Damn Yankees
JESSIE'S GIRL - Rick Springfield
9) ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE - The Scorpions
10) HIP HOP HOORAY - Naughty by Nature
11) CHANGE OF HEART - Tom Petty
12) RUN AWAY - Slade

how i met your mother (sept 22)

Season 2 should come soon. Sept 22 is the official date, well i look forward to it! Rumours go that Marshall and Lily will still get together eventually, cos this couple is based on one of the directors, and the director is living happily ever after with his "lily". That doesn't mean they can't add a twist to it though... :)
Check out the fan site here at http://www.howimetyourmother.org/
Check out the official site here at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/
Check out the official fan site at http://www.howimetyourmother.us
Check out the official fan site FORUM too!

how my MED 1022 mid-sem exam went

2006-08-30T17:41:00.000+10:00

well my dear readers... the exam is over. a 2hr paper that has ~130 worth of marks, with 78 MCQs, 5 SAQs, and 7/8 EMQs.

Glossary: MCQ: multiple choiced questions (no negative marking, phew!) SAQ: short answer questions, worth 4-5 marks EMQ: extended matching questions (from options a to j, choose 3-5 options that fit the answer)

Well, i wouldn't talk that much about the mid-sem exam, its over. And im jsut glad it is. Thank God for the paper, for letting me know what i know and what i don't. Now i need to work on my pharmacology, a lil on anat, and psychiatry, and be prepared for end sem where im sure they will ask more sem 1 material (like immunology, microbiology, cancer biology, genomics, etc)

That is all for exam! Here we go................ (for the rest of my life, other than academia)

prelude to massive post

2006-08-28T21:37:00.000+10:00

just so many things going on that i have to put them in brief format first:

Random
barnie's get psyched mix is ... (awesome?)
how i met your mother (sept 22)

Switch to wordpress
switch?
categories?
no tag board, comments instead?

future issues:
- doctors without borders/ red cross
- SAF career, why and why not
- looking for what in a partner
- international families are not impossible
- regular job back in spore for practical issues
- kenneth kamler's extreme medicine
- living life to the fullest

how about God's affairs?
- medical missions
- good testimony wherever i go
- church involvement
- daily prayer / worship with partner, family

SAM
politics
leadership experience
good pres and vice-pres
why not?
efficiency and effectiveness of work / study
what's e problem with medical students? huh!?
balance
the price to pay, amongst others, for being a medical student

the above is an outline. will update massively on wednesday after our exam. preparation going fine, for sem 2 stuff, on the premise they don't examine us so much on sem 1 stuff, then im pretty ready. moreover, im more of preparing for the end sem instead, by studying the topics with the end sem exam in mind, and not this intermediate one, albeit it being 15% of the whole year 1's marks... so whatever lar.......

jeffrey, nothing further. out.

implanted background music...

2006-08-27T08:33:00.000+10:00

hope my readers, especially those from monash, don't mind.

its only a few mb.

its one of my favourite scores.

"And then i kissed him..." from Pearl Harbour.

This song was playing when they first met outside the army medical centre when Ben was flirting with Kate and they then kissed...

i think this song was playing again when Ben Affleck was leaving Kate Beckinsale to go fight in the war as a fighter pilot and he had to tell her that on board the ship. It was a real sad moment.

Some say its a dumb movie, that has no historical value at all. I say look at the love and drama-mama behind it.

exams in one week's time

2006-08-23T22:44:00.000+10:00

the MED 1022 mid-semester exam is round the corner. next wednesday. so friends, do expect no posts till then, as i probably would have time to squeeze in a post or two, but however lack the inspiration to write, as i focus wholly on the preparation.

its 15% i think, so the better i do the better i suppose! wouldn't want to have to do badly in the whole year and then because of a borderline grade, take a re-exam in Jan 06 when everyone else is enjoying their holidays.

More so, its to make sure i know what i have to know, faculty knows best, what is examined is what we need to know as good doctors, not as good medical students, so it will be a good gauge of my personal progress and route to becoming a doctor.

till then, take care.

now i know why Vanessa wants to do her phd in spore

2006-08-20T00:36:00.000+10:00

This is good news for the country, economy, and scientific community.

However, i'm not sure if ethical concerns will be raised. esp when spore is going to be more liberal on ES cells and stuff to attract the top scientists.

The full article here states that:

Singapore is

"Using the same combination of tax holidays and incentives that made it a base for the world's biggest electronics makers, Singapore has already managed to lure big drug companies."

The authorities are now building a stem cell bank at Biopolis, which will be able to count on some of the world's most liberal laws on human embryonic cell usage.

Singapore officials say they have spent $1.5 billion on biotechnology since 2000 and have budgeted another $1.44 billion over the next five years to finance development of new therapies and drugs.

Lofty titles, lavish salaries, liberal laws, and flexible working plans have indeed attracted the likes of the world's best to Biopolis and they include:

Dr Neal Copeland and Dr Nancy Jenkins,
Edison Liu of the National Cancer Instistute in USA,
Professor Jackie Ying from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
British cancer expert Sir David P Lane — renowned for his discovery of the p53 tumour-suppressing gene,
Dr Alan Colman, who helped clone Dolly the sheep in 1996.

Hopefully this will bode well for the future of the locally trained phds. Imagine working with one of them for your phd thesis.

life overseas: balls.

2006-08-18T15:33:00.000+10:00

balls.

i haven't attended even one yet. the dress code is always formal and my suit is left back at S'pore.
Having said that, when i went on rural placement, there was this ang-moh-kia that got a suit and pants at AUD10 bucks !!! it was at op-shop or sth, a shop that gets donations from people, they sell them, and donate the money to charity. its a win-win situation.

The last one of the year. It's not after the exams though. Hmm..

career paths, on a lighter note.

2006-08-17T15:47:00.000+10:00

Everything i do... i do it for You

2006-08-14T20:47:00.000+10:00

Today i had an Anat practical session where we learnt about the brachial plexus, this "complex" (cos its not that difficult after all) combination of nerves that are at the region of our axilla. (armpit). It innervates every muscle that is in our arms, forearms, and hands and a little of our chest and back.

I stayed back after that to download some programs from the Anat Mueseum so that we can use them from the comfort of our dorms on our laptops. (Darn i have to use Virtual PC on mac cos my Powerbook G4 doesn't use Intel Duo Core processors but the older and more expensive PowerPC chip)

As Mingjian and i were doing that, we saw our tutor, Dr. Hayden Snow, still hanging around. I thought about chatting to him during the session already about surgical training in Aust and stuff. (i guessed he is probably one otherwise he wouldn't be that interested to teach anat at Monash) We did, and i asked about surgical training, how difficult, tell us more, etc.

And i think i have found my specialty of choice. Surgery.

Here is why: Surgery is exciting. Sure it is tough, and you have to study as you go along. You got professional exams to clear along the way. You work, and then you have to study. (pretty similar to my brother's working life once he graduated when he was an actuarial trainee at Towers Perrin) But hey, which career is not like that? Which specialty is not like that? The internal medicine have to study even more i think! The different kinds of medications, pharmacological processes, complications arising from various conditions, differential diagnoses... etc.. i don't know. it just seems that it's not my cup of tea.

firstly, you have to talk to the patient, A LOT. you have to get a good history and that's more important in internal medicine than surgery (please friends, correct me if i am wrong, let me have a complete unbiased view), because some small thing that internists often neglect could very well turn out to be the thing that saves the patient's life or improve the health outcome. (maybe i watch too much House)

secondly, it is not immediately gratifying. maybe i desire instant gratification. but hey, at least i know, that when i become a surgeon, i know what am i doing exactly in that surgery, for what, and what the outcome should be, might be, and am prepared for it. I can see the outcome of the surgery almost immediately, and can know with a greater degree of certainty that it will turn out in a positive way. (ok maybe i am being over simplistic here cos many complications occur post op, and even though surgeons know abt it, so do internists know abt the possible complications of a certain dosage of a certain drug)

But then again, its more obvious when surgeons help people. U know, patients know definitely what you are doing. For internists, you tell them, etc, they go through all that jargon and puzzle, and just wanna know that in the end, what u give wouldn't harm them but help them. BUT that doesn't always happen! We live in an imperfect world and we are mere passers-by in this mortal world.

So surgery is for me. It is exciting, interesting, demanding, draining, but gives an enormous amount of satisfaction.

"You actually DO something, not just prescribe medicine"
- Dr. Hayden

So darn it, im thankful! Thank God. I think i just found my career path!

HOWEVER!!!!!!

there is a problem. Okay, not really a problem. but a complication.

I have a girlfriend. A lady i really love back in S'pore. I have been together with her for 4 years and 4 months and 7 days and counting. [since April 7, 2002 for those lazy to count backwards. ;) ]

We have grown together, matured along the way, and been through so much together. It's a relationship i want to cling on to. Because there is hope, joy, delight, purposeful times ahead in our lives. And we have built it up, it's just a big pity to let it go away in the face of certain barriers, like distance.

ooh, in fact, being inspired by the comedy series "How i met your mother", i have started an essay entitled "How i met Vanessa", it will be the 2nd greatest love story in the world ever told . Talk to me online, in person to ask me what's the greatest love story ever told in the world.

Therefore, for this relationship, i cannot train here in Melbourne. I have a belief that, as far as possible, i should reduce the no. of years i have abroad and stay close to my family, as well as Vanessa. (why? cos in my opinion, van has already "suffered" in that i went off to pursue my dreams in aust, and now, she wanna pursue hers in spore, and its not that i cant work in spore, so the Lord will provide)

Why does that suck? Frankly, cos on the practical side of things, the competition here is less. According to the past few years' statistics, the applicant:accepted trainee ratio for RACS is 1.25:1, whereas that for S'pore Basic Specialty Training (Surgery) is 3+:1. that means its more than twice as competitive in spore to get into a surgical residency programme.

Oh Hayden was also telling MJ and i that it is changing. in the future, its gonna be a straight surgical internship once medical students graduate MBBS. Instead of the current system of doing a general medical/surgical/obgyn internship and then a few years as a medical officer bumming around trying to get into a residency programme.

Why do i not worry about the higher competitive rate back at the S'pore hospitals?!

The Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 6
[30] Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
[31] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
[32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
[33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
[34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

The Lord will provide. I believe.

Do you?

for all you mac doubters out there!!!

2006-08-13T00:51:00.000+10:00

all you mac doubters out there, hear the comparison between macintosh os x and windows xp pro/home from reliable sources. (neutral IT professionals)

just a prelude:

X vs XP

This site compares the latest Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.7) vs. Windows XP (SP2).

Excerpt from their site:

If you were to compare Apple's Mac OS X against Microsoft's Windows XP, which operating system would offer users a richer out-of-the-box experience?

Here at XvsXP, we attempt to answer that exact question through truth and objectivity — things that are all too often lacking in discussions of this nature. We compare Mac OS X and Windows XP on over 100 different topics, including searching, burning CDs and DVDs, playing digital media, installing applications, and more. All of these comparisons are divided into six main categories that you can easily access from the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner.

Oooh, don't bother reading? Then go straight to the Final Score. Sorry Windows, Mac beat you on the whole.

Grand total (out of 920 points):
Mac OS X: 642 (643)
Windows XP Pro: 594 (642)
Windows XP Home: 565 (616)

Pretty much the same lar i must be fair. but you can see in their table on which aspect Mac did poorer than Windows, and vice versa. Helps one make an informed choice.

Next, something funny. Bill gates promoting Apple in 1984

“To create a new standard, it takes something that’s not just a little bit different, it takes something that’s really new and really captures people’s imagination and the Macintosh, of all the machines I’ve ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard.” — Bill Gates

More comparison between Mac OS X & Windows XP.

[ Macintosh vs Windows Debate] [ APPLE VS MICROSOFT ]
This site is a good read. Check out the timelines in this index page. It is neutral, exposing the good and bad of both systems, and the most interesting of all, the history of how computers came about. It even says how Steve Jobs from Apple is not smart enough to market his Mac to the world, while Bill Gates capitalized on his then gaining popularity product (DOS, Windows) and marketted it well.

I didn't know we have been using the apparently ineffcient QWERTY keyboard over the more efficient DVORAK one. Read here for this intersting snippet.

Lastly, this is one of the many reasons why Windows suck.

But ANYWAY, its all up to individual preference. I didn't buy a mac cos i thought it was cool. I wanted to get a PC laptop. i wanted a real powerful one that time (Feb 06) and the ones with good graphics card was Acer 5670 cos the specs were fantastic. (ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1600 with up to 512MB HyperMemory™, Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz), 1GB of DDR II RAM, 120GB S-ATA HDD, DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer drive (DVD+/-RW), and lastly Acer OrbiCam integrated 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera.) It was pure "heaven". However when i went around with my brother and dad to buy this at SLS, the warranty issue came up and Acer only had 1 year traveller's warranty, not international. That sucked and my dad wouldnt buy it. Scouting around SLS for other pc laptops proved futile as the Toshiba and IBM and Fujitsu ones were too lousy for me i felt as their graphics card were crap and their specs didn't meet the price. My brother could also probably guess that i wanted a good one and didn't want to buy any other "lousier" laptop cos i wanted the graphics card for games (even though i said i won't)

Then we chanced the Apple Store, and i became receptive to buying one, since there was one on offer (it was the last piece). I asked myself what do i REALLY need the laptop for, and it came down to surfing the net, chatting online and of course using microsoft office. (i made sure it was possible to video conference with pple in Spore, that was fine, but not now cos of the bloody proxy at monash). Since my dad felt Apple was reliable (cos my bro has been using his for 3+ years and never sent it in for a repair, when my dad's Fujitsu crashed and hardware problems surfaced, it was a pretty ex when he bought it, ard 4k sing), and that Apple has international warranty, he was happy buying it for me, and i didn't mind too. He felt it;s worth his purchase, and since he was the one paying, i couldn't really object (though i still was wanting deeply to get that Acer one!!)

I thought Apple wouldnt be that bad. It didn't turn out to me.

My bro told me after my dad signed the invoice.

"Welcome to the elite"

(he is so right)

Anyway, just feel like penning this down, so that you guys my friends can understand i didn't start off as an avid mac fan, or whatever, The circumstances steered me to get it and i didn't really have much say, and i didn't object violently either. And now that im using it, i'm loving it. And as i discover each day more and more about Mac OS X's capabilities and how the hardware and software from Apple all ties in perfectly and seamlessly, i feel glad that i got it, and hope maybe one day, u PC and Windows users will see the light. :)

sorry for not updating

2006-08-12T09:33:00.000+10:00

First of all, i would like to apologise to my dear readers for being absent for these few weeks. it's not that i have been particularly busy or what, its just that i didn't feel like blogging.

And when JR asked me to, i was kinda feeling, hey at least there is (or are) a friend (or friends) who has been tuning into my blog to see updates in my life, my thoughts, feelings, etc.

Anyhow, it is week 4 in my 2nd semester at Monash University. I am currently enrolled in one module, as always, MED 1022. The next 9 weeks will be intensive but i am determined to make them enjoyable as well. If you look to your right, then u'll know what's in store for me this sem.

Now let us back track a little.

Last week (wk 3) i was away for a Rural Placement at Corowa, a town of over 5400 people and is located 300km North East of Melbourne or 3½ hours drive from Melbourne on the Southern NSW border. It was pretty scenic.

We were on a 4WD, heading to one of the site visits (either a hospital, or winery, health service, talks, etc), and Jon Goh took a picture of this. :)

On the first day, Jon, Alex and i bought too much food. We didn't have breakfast, lunch. So by that time (3pm) we were starved, and were told to buy groceries for Mon to Fri. We just bought. Our hunger pangs overwhelmed and made us unwise. We had trouble finishing them, but managed in the end. This is one of the times we had a combined dinner. (everyone was bringing in their own food and hoping everyone else could help them finish)

If you think this is just some ordinary bakery at one of the small towns in Victoria, think again!

They sold pies, cakes, scones, etc. Yummy! It''s so nice, i'm surely driving Vanessa there when she comes over in December. I'm sure she will enjoy it!

It's a good roadtrip destination. People from Melbourne really do drive down JUST to eat at Beechworth Bakery on the weekends. It's THAT nice.

Are u salivating already?

Yummy!

I think that's the post office there. I wanted to send a post card to Vanessa, but alas! i forgot what's her postal code! So i didn't in the end. It would have been sweet. Stamped from Corowa. Postcard from Corowa, showing her the potential idea of coming here with her in Dec. Gosh was i excited. I miss her.

Pretty scenic lar har.. not bad lar..

Final group pic before we head back to metropolitan Melbourne again.

I called LX on Thursday as well to have a chat with him. Ha, he's doing fine, contemplating what laptop to get, and i started an initial psycho process to get him to get the new MacBook that can operate on both Mac OS X and Windows platforms, at such a cheap price of 1.8k Sing. Bundled in with a free ipod nano. Check it out here. It's a great deal.

Will be calling up some other people to have short chats with them to keep in touch, on top of the daily chats with van..

Anat lessons have started, content is picking up, and it's quite a bit of memory work. We would probably be talking day and night about anat from now on, im not sure. People who have pre-read the material earlier will try to start to regurgitate whatever they have learnt, identifying this and that. It's just the case now, its interesting. But i guess at the end of the day, as long as we know, the means doens't matter much, we'll help each other through.

Some people know right from the start what they wanna do. E.g. Yingci wants to go into oncology, stating it has been his interest in immunology and oncology since young, and hence when the topics were taught in uni he found it easy to pick up and understand at the tertiary level. Mingjian wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. I have yet to discover what is my real interest, having only started medicine 6 months ago. I think i am leaning toward being a surgeon, but its really too long ahead to tell. Things change, perspectives change, im open. But if i want to be a surgeon, then this sem onwards, i'd better get my anatomy right. Gotta excel. I think if by the end of medical school, or internship, if i were able to know what i wanna do for the rest of my life, then i'll be thankful already.

Until then, it's grocery shopping now!

Friends II : 02/04 Tank Officers

2006-07-24T22:09:00.000+10:00

Sometimes God has to put us flat on our back before we are looking up to Him. -- Jack Graham

This was exactly the thing i experienced when i fixing the rear part of the tank (can't be specific hey. sorry dudes) at Wallaby 04, when i was a cadet. It was both a personal developmental and spiritual drawing toward God once again. I was led back to who i should be, both spiritually and leadership wise.

It was by no coincidence that i assumed Cadet Platoon Sergeant while Caifong was the Cadet Platoon Commander. And then, right smack before Tank Platoon Live Firing, for which i was the first exercise PC, that fateful night i was appointed to take over CF as the CPC. Darn. What my instructor Derrick Chew promised me in Spore came true. "We'll make you CPC at the most shiong time u can ever imagine. bwhaahah"

Myself, Jaime, Gerald, Jamen (left to right) at somewhere out there in Australia.

Oh well, it went past, and all i can say now is that i couldn't have done so without the cooperation and camaraderie of my fellow course mates. We used to be 02/04 Tank Officer Cadet Course mates, now we call ourselves 02/04 Tank Officers. It's cool. Tank crewmen all over the world have a special bond, in the equipment we use, in the prestigious black beret we wear, the skills we have, the kind of environment we are used to excelling in, and the kind of team work and level of dependence on each tank crew mate for a particular mission.

Woo.. Cadet very free ar!! got time to take picture!!!

It's indescribable. and only when u experience it then can u understand and feel the total effects. Just as an outsider, like the Chief of Navy, will never know how it feels to shoot a APDFS round at a target with pin-point accuracy up to a (undisclosed) distance. Well he tried to, but he only experienced it from the gunner's point of view. He will never know it feels to be part of the crew, doing a short halt firing at a target, how the driver, commander and gunner cooperate and maximise each other's capabilities to achieve a 3.8s. Only we know. We the tankees.

Here are more pics. Love you guys. Keep in touch.
(click on the pics for a larger and more detailed picture, they are about 1mb each)

Then 02/04 TOCC Cadets. With our instructors. Ranging from a 2nd lieutenant to a major.

Cold, wet, hungry (literally!!!), tired from only 2 hrs of sleep per day on average for the last 15 days. But very happy. It's drawing close. And a rainbow signals it...

What's really important, we survived it, TOGETHER.

we, the band of brothers.

:)

estudiante de medicina

2006-07-24T18:39:00.000+10:00

that is going to be the new title of my blog

it means:

"medical student"

in Spanish.

Friends I : Cheng Yew Song

2006-07-23T22:56:00.000+10:00

in no particular order, i have decided to post a series on my friends. Those worth posting up and deserving a short write up. OF COURSE, this is limited by my memory so those who aren't, don't feel bad. (it's just that you didn't make a substantial impact in my life that made me remember you! :P )

Anyway, Cheng Yew Song is a fellow i met at Victoria School. He was in my Secondary 1 class, 1I. The supposedly best class. (we weren't actually streamed then) We weren't particularly close in sec1, i was too nerdy, and busy. i had French classes at MOELC every Wednesday and Friday, and Cross-Country training every Tues, Thurs and Sunday. My only free day was Monday and then, my mum picked me up from school to go home. (was pretty much a mama' boy i have to admit)

At end of sec 2, we were reunited by God's hand at work. We both signed up for the famed Leadership Training Camp, commonly known in VS as LTC - The shiong camp. Basically it was a camp that tested both our physical, mental, and relational aptitude a lot. We were put through various outdoor activites which were commonly used for the sec1 and sec3 orientation camps. The purpose of this camp is to groom "Camp Instructors" who will help to conduct these 2 camps for Victoria School at the start of the year. The people conducting this LTC are known as LTC Instructors. After LTC, we trainees will be "promoted" to "Camp Instructors" and they will become "Camp Leaders". The difference is that "Camp Instructors" have a distinct red tshirt and "Camp Leaders" have their distinct black tshirt. Every Victorian knows from far, once they see the tshirt, that, hey, this dude is a "Camp Instructor/Leader". I must say there was a certain level of prestige to be able to last the camp, and emerge strong.

In preparation, i can remember Yewsong called me or the other way as he had experience in such camping stuff. U know, as a xcountry runner, i knew nuts about first aid, knots, mess tins, cooking, etc. Yewsong on the other hand was in NPCC, and VS was big on developing leadership in their students right from sec1 through to sec 4, and much of it was manifested through the uniformed groups.

Anyhow, I remembered that call vividly as he was especially nice and i knew that he never forgotten me since sec1. i was touched and knew this friendship was to be leading somewhere.

We became "Camp Instructors". Both of us were chosen to be in the same "Category". We were in charge of "Climbing" if thats what they call it - consisting of both the "high tower" and the "high elements". Basically we had to be proficient at belaying, knots, karabinas, and stuff, so that when that is done for the sec 3's in the orientation camp at Jalan Bahtera, they don't fall and die. It was pretty intimidating i thought.

Nonetheless, i did "well" in the sec 3 orientation camp, and was offered by the Head and Vice Head prefect to join the Prefectorial Board. 4 of us were selected out of the new 48 Camp Instructors. Apparently, its not really cos we are the best among them, it just so happens we were the best 4 who are in the top 3 classes. I was elated, got into prefects, made a speech on that day, (which Yewsong told me at our USA trip as the best among the 4), and Yewsong was a fellow Camp Instructor.

Our friendship blossomed especially in sec3, when we were involved in numerous camps we had to conduct for other primary and secondary schools. It was fun. We were in the "Climbing" section, so we always worked together. Mind you, those other schools just wrote to VS, and requested the help of the "Camp Instructors" and off we went. We were entrusted with the important tasks of belaying, and helping out a professional climber with those "high tower" stuff - like rock climbing, abseiling, and flying fox. We received numberous praises from those pro climbers who were paid for by the primary or secondary school. We were "employed" for free..

Anyhow, we didn't really keep in touch in JC. Until JC 2. when i think i sms-ed him, and asked if he wanted to go on a holiday in Dec after our a levels. till now i havent kept in touch with him for close to 2 years.

anyway, off we did, to USA. First at New York City (manhattan) for 5 days, and then a 4hr bus trip to Boston where my brother was working, for about 10 + days, and then finally to Chicago for the rest of the trip.

It was fun.

Now, i am lucky to get a medical place at Monash. He couldn't. But now he'll head on to Uni of London for a 3-year Biomedical science course. It holds excelllent promise because if he does really well in first year, then he can transfer directly to their MBBS course at London. How cool is that. I really do pray he will work hard, adjust well to life in UK, and achieve what he set out to. and in future, we'll be colleagues.

Here are some pictures:

Myself, my bro Kahshin, and Yewsong on the ski lift up some mountain.

Yewsong and I at Chicago. We made this snowman! From our bare hands.

commitment

2006-07-23T22:49:00.000+10:00

when i was in NJC Canoeing, we had this motto, which i believe till today is still the same:

"To be the toughest, most committed, and most united team in 'A' Division canoeing history"

Well it turned out to be true. We won many titles. My batch's team even combined to come up with a team to take part in SDBA Canoeing Championships, and the men's team beat the Singapore National Team in total points, making us the "Open Men Champions" as a team. Mind you that was only in Feb, and we hit our peak form in July.

Anyhow, it brings me to a point: commitment.

An important point.

Without which, i believe one cannot succeed in anything he/she undertakes.

(be it academic, relationship, spiritual, physical, whatever)

So i have signed up for the following, to motivate myself to keep running at least 3 times a week till December.

Standard Chartered Marathon, Singapore, 2006

I'll be taking part in the half-marathon. Any- takers as well?

See you there.

boring

2006-07-22T09:22:00.000+10:00

i guess im leading a rather uneventful life for now. this first week hasnt been that intellectually stimulating but the coming weeks do promise to be. i am glad, excited yet apprehensive.

will i crumble under the pressure? will i emerge stronger and more knowledgable like i did for the 1st semester? will i still be able to maintain and increase my faith? will i be able to sustain the relationships that i hold dear to my heart?

time will tell, meanwhile, its about time to start hitting the books, to "shou xin", (keep heart) to get into mugger mode.

for the future patient.

courage..

2006-07-20T23:15:00.000+10:00

tmr we the Singapore Lions are going to play the Bostwanians.

They recently thrashed some other team 8-3 or sth in that magnitude.

We just had a mini-practise session and Ethan, MJ were brimming in confidence. It seemed John really had a way to encourage and motivate us. He was telling MJ nicely to keep cool, and pass the ball back if someone was pressuring him etc... giving us good advice all round... despite his excellent soccer skills. i guess thats what i like about soccer, in that its very much a team game and each player has to know their team mates' intentions and gameplay to carve out a beautiful piece of "art" as they would call it, ending in a great shot and hopefully a goal.

So i approach this game with a little apprehension, mind you i am not lacking in confidence at all, but i am cautious. i do not want to underestimate them, tho i cant really cos it seems they are really skilled and all. I just want our team to be together, to have fun and play well.

In the end, i thought about it, after the practice session, and a quote came to my mind... (yawn to some i know.... its a real cliche way to end off.)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it."

so far..

2006-07-20T22:27:00.000+10:00

its been exactly a week since i last blogged.

i have been doing alright back in melbourne. those who were keep in touch with me via msn will know that i missed my flight back on thursday and hence had to take the next flight on saturday instead. this was cos STA Travel told me it was an e-ticket, when in actual fact it is not. It was to be a paper ticket, and sitting right there at STA's branch office at NUS. Oh well, however, i managed to stay in spore for about a day more, and managed to give a pleasant surprise to Vanessa and her mum + sister. To me it's pleasant but to her it was a great shock and it only subsided by the next morning...

anat is starting and that is interesting. loads of new vocab will be loaded into our memories and an acute understanding will only do us good.

gtg but all is fine for now.

Employment woes in the future? Worry or pray?

2006-07-13T18:46:00.000+10:00

Fellow Monash Medical Students,
Especially those from Singapore,

Think Australia is a safe haven for your speciality training? Think that Singapore is too "competitive" and has insufficient places for us? Think Australia doesn't have the same problem?

Think again.

AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, has written to all Federal MPs and Senators warning them of a looming crisis in medical training unless the Commonwealth and the States work together to provide the resources and infrastructure necessary to train the next generation of Australian doctors.

In his letter, Dr Haikerwal acknowledges the Federal Government’s initiatives in creating more medical school places, but he points out that there is little or no strategy in place to teach and train the significant increases in medical students and newly graduated doctors.

Dr Haikerwal said today that without urgent action by all governments, Australia will have a new generation of doctors who, through no fault of their own, will struggle to gain the detailed education and significant clinical skills needed to practise independently.

Looking ahead, by 2012 Australia will need 3200 intern positions to meet the demand for places. This takes into account overseas full fee paying students and Australian Medical Council exam graduates. To illustrate the challenge ahead, in 2005 there were 1553 intern places available, and 1780 vocational training places.

This report from AMA will raise many concerns. It is comforting to hear AMA's representative speak out to the Government of Australia about this, and i pray it will not fall on deaf ears. Plans for a new "mega-hospital" at East of Melbourne have been drawn up, but will that suffice for the additional 1500 or so intern places? It has really got to be mega.

Heard about it on Mix 101.1 FM, its pretty reliable lar. (Pretty much like Class 95 FM of Singapore)

Oh well,

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Mat/Mat006.html

Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Mat 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Mat 6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

Gun! Battlesight! Rover.... ON!.... FIRE!!!!!!!

2006-07-11T18:41:00.000+10:00

Fellow tank crewmen out there. i am proud. we all should be.

Worth buying though, this car.

random muses ...

2006-07-08T12:16:00.000+10:00

On blogging

i was just thinking about the role of blogging. is it for one to post entries that seem remotely interesting to the general public (i.e. bloggers who are "bo liao" enough to browse other blogs), or certain interests groups (e.g. food, medicine, other specialty interests grps. thus forming a SIG or club online for "discussion of views and opinion) or is it for one to use it as a personal diary of sorts. wouldnt that be a public diary, unless u make it a private blog. but then why bother to put it online when no one is gonna see it other than u since it is "personal". or maybe its for one to share some parts of his/her "personal diary", with contents deemed too "personal" omitted on purpose. or is it for one to keep one's creative literary juices still flowing? or

i think i summed it up pretty OK when i had the "Welcome to my blog" post.

It will feature some relevant current issues about medicine, and health care in general.
In addition, it highlights some of the interests i have in life, and some random thoughts on life itself.
It is an outlet of expression of CERTAIN and definitely not ALL of the author's views.

Oh well, ill just type wad i shuang. u wanna read. just read lar. (attitude problem detected~ sirens sound)

no lar... as i mentioned. it can be seen one of the ways to keep in touch with friends, as i mentioned in my very first post here. friends read ur blog, ur opinion, ur thoughts, what's happening in your life, they know, and it will be a springboard to ur next meeting with him/her.. for e.g. mingjian was just blogging about friendships, how he felt all so close to those that spent a lot of time together in the hols, and not so that close to those he thought he was close to.. oh well. then at least, the next time i meet him, i have that in mind, and that changes the way we will interact, etc. so its still "improving connectedness"

once in a blue moon?

2006-06-26T18:46:00.000+10:00

who says Monash Uni isn't a pioneer in research in the life sciences arena?

or perhaps this is a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence.

but anyhow, Don Bowden actually taught us before. I believe most of the M1s weren't particularly impressed with his teaching in genetics, but i remembered he sourced out a very cute cartoon video on meiosis I n II! (remember monash medics?)

This is it :

Scientists find genetic fault in common blood condition

Just a correction to the article: no such things as UCLA Berkeley. There's UCLA, and there's UC Berkeley. Darn whoever wrote the article, misinformed n potentially misleading writer!

Oh, and van, Monash Uni is one of the premier employers of choice in Victoria, Australia, in the field of bio research. Hope u can reconsider your stand and perhaps come to Australia for your postgrad training. Check it out here at New Scientist Jobs. Under 'Employers of Choice'

the first, the one, and only.....

2006-06-23T19:39:00.000+10:00

We are brothers in arms....
We are brothers proud to be....
We are the first,
the one,
and only...

Jervis and Jeff (12 nov)

thats the common thing we share. our birth day! 12 november 1985!

he came out of his mother's at 0519 hrs at KK hospital.
i came out at 0727hrs at Gleneagles Hospital.

Other common things we share:

Mole on our faces (his is under his lips centrally, mine is.. u know where, but only until 29 june!)
Passion for medicine
Same primary school
Same primary school class in p3 & 4
Same CCA in secondary school (cross-country)
Same JC in first 3 months (NJC)
Same CCA in JC (canoeing)

A toast to our friendship Jervis!

impending mole excision

2006-06-22T13:26:00.000+10:00

it is a pre- emptive medical procedure, not a cosmetic one. as classified by Prof Tan K. C. from SGH, a plastic surgeon who graduated from Monash long time in the 1960's. Check him out here if u want.

i finally got the referral from the Molescreen doctor, he was delayed in sending it to me! and he couldn't send me the results of the Siascope scan cos of some admin cokup!

anw, i only knew it was some English machine when i rushed down that Friday i had practical to Molescreen in the city. After reading the referral, i now know the scanning technology is called Siascopy. It is pretty advanced and well acclaimed. No wonder that the Molescreen clinic wanted to buy it. The only other machine in Australia is in Queensland. This technology is developed by Uni of Cambridge and Birmingham. Their Centre of Excellence in Advanced Telematics offers a read on "Siascope Case Study".

Excerpts from my referral:

Thank-you for seeing Jeffrey, a first year medical student at Monash University, who consulted me at Molescreen, 399 Riversddale Rd, East Hawthorn, on 20 May, concerned that a pigmented lesion on his chin had changed and occasionally bled.

Although he has few risk factors for melanoma, at Solarscanning, the lesion was reported as having a >20% probability of being a melanoma.This technology was developed by Professor Scot Menze of the Sydney Melanoma Unit at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. His protocol is for lesions that have a probability > 7.25% to be excised.

A week later we checked the lesion with an English melanoma detecting technology - Siascope - and demonstrated intradermal irregular deposits of melanin, changed vasculature and a slight break in the collagen beneath the lesion. These are criteria for excision.

As Jeffrey is returning home for the first semester vacation it was thought appropriate that he seek treatment in Singapore after discussing the problem with his family.

My day surgery is on 29th June. Next Thurs. Sigh. i don't wanna part with my mole!

going back to "roots"

2006-06-22T00:50:00.000+10:00

going back to help njc canoeing tmr afternoon from 1600 to 1800.

and was just googling "njc canoeing" and found out a few interesting stuff:

NJC Canoeing Team. These people are our arch rivals, the ones we're always striving so hard to outdo. Once, we lagged so far behind them. Now, we're chasing up, closing the gap, eating inch by inch, slowly, but surely.

Look at them. The intensity of their trainings, the frequency of their trainings, their level of discipline, their level of commitment. Everything is at its highest level. I can't say so for my own team. I applaud them from the bottom of my heart. In fact I salute them. Not everyone is able to take that kind of training. In fact, few people are able to. If you throw me into their training session one day, I can honestly tell you that I may not come out alive. Really. I think they're tough. They deserve the medals. Definitely

Courtesy of some blogger from NYJC.

Always nice to hear/read good stuff about yourself. and i consider that myself or ourselves since we were exactly that in my time. Every batch's motto is to be the toughest, most committed, and most united team in A Div canoeing history. So we think we achieve that target every year. So every year, the next batch mnust be better. I will do my part, in helping out, since i didn't when i was in army. damn. too late to regret, but at least im doing sth now.

and the non-canoeists, or other pple, will just be nay-sayers and say dumb stuff like, we take drugs, and we have no life, etc. pple are always entitled to their opinion, but its their problem if they see the world or life with such a narrow and biased point of view.

Another google result was about my coach:

The National Junior College motto of “Service With Honour” is all the more emphasized by a Physics teacher who’s running an ultra-marathon to raise funds for needy students.

That's my coach, Mr Yong Yuen Cheng. Check out the full article here. I salute him, even though he was only a AI WOSE.

comic on medical students

2006-06-21T16:41:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of Medicus

Grief

2006-06-21T14:37:00.000+10:00

Sometimes, you get all proud when the people you know are featured in the papers. Their achievements are somewhat worthy of publishing to let the whole Singapore know. However, sometimes you wished their names were not. I certainly did not when i read TODAY this morning.

Commando dies during training

"A Commando regular officer died yesterday after encountering difficulties while undergoing training at Hendon Camp swimming pool.

Lieutenant Lionel Lin Shi Guan, 24, was swimming towards the edge of the pool when he went below the surface of the water."

Oh darn! i thought. Is it the Lionel i know from SOF selection? I remember that on last Sat, i was talking to Alan, who is back at Hendon Camp for attachment. I asked him if he knew lionel, and he mentioned which lionel. I immediately messaged Alan to find out if it was the one i knew. Oh darn. the sms came back.

"Yup"

I will go for the funeral tonight. I actually wrote a page of stuff about him, but accidentally over- ctrl-copy it with something else while typing in this blog entry. I am too distraught to continue.

update so far

2006-06-20T13:30:00.000+10:00

sorry dudes i havent been updating my blog, its a combi of didnt feel like, had things to do, etc.

anyway, im back in good old Spore.

i was since 9th june. but alas, i had to complete my 2500 word essay on my first patient encounter, so i spent up to the 13th to complete and sent it to the reliable MJ to print it out and save to a CD for me. He passed it to ling/vivien to submit for us since he had work the next day, marking GCSE papers. Thanks MJ, ling and vivien! deeply appreciated.

we had a food trail (2/3 completed) to celebrate yingci's bday and also to meet up with our grp of spore monash med 06 pple right here in spore! No photos taken, too engrossed in eating Geylang's "No signboard seafood" chilli crab, stir-fried venison esp for ang-moh-kia Elliott, and HK mee. josh, kel, john, his gf followed xy to her house to drop her car, and the 5 of them headed down to marche at hereen. i drove yingci and elliott down as well, to meet my gf van there. glad that van reached hereen first before anyone else, and told us its closed for renovation! phew! we translated the msg to the other grp, and we changed plans to head down to Casuarina Curry - Best Crispy Prata in Spore, along Upper Thomson Road, at Casuarina Road.

What ive been doing:

been spending time with van (since shes starting her special module since she has a minor in life sci and would be bz)
and meeting up jervis.
and been training for Spore Dragonboat Festival, which will be on 1 & 2 July, will be graced by our PM Lee H L. im representing NJC Alumni Men's team. good that i can go back, catch up with some of my batch pple, like alan, andrew, mel heng.
attending church

What i still wanna do:

will want to go down to mac ritchie to resolve my promise of helping mr yong in coaching or in some other way for the canoeing team. (ying shui si yuan)
will have to meet up with some dudes from 40, like Junren, Phipps, Gerald
go back to 40SAR find my men, specs, understudy, superiors
meet my tocc friends,
meet up with my batch of canoe team
read up a lil on med 1022 stuff, like anat of limbs
be more involved in church activities with van
pack my clothes in my cupboard
pack winter wear to go back
pack books in my study
maintain this blog for u my dear readers! =)

thats all i can think of now.

stay tuned for interesting posts here and there.

will be updating soon

2006-06-20T01:45:00.000+10:00

will be updating soon.

stay tuneD!

after med 1011 exam

2006-06-08T23:47:00.000+10:00

KTV session after MED 1011 End of Sem Exam.

At Crown. Nice movie poster.

Being all so serious against the "enemies" at Crown's archade games.

exam day

2006-06-07T10:19:00.000+10:00

this noon's exam at Claufield Racecourse will consitute 5% of MBBS year 1 at Monash. Not tt im undermining it. Its impt, but they just lower the weightage on it, "to let us transit".

after that, we'll be going for a buffet dinner at Crown Casion locality in the city, followed by a movie, possibly the Omen, and then prob KTV if available. i dun even go KTV in spore, and yet here in melbourne, i do! wierd.

some of us wanna shop in the city on 8th june, so it wouldnt make sense to take a night rider all the way back to clayton and halls, and then morning wake up to go to city again! its a waste of money, n time!

roaming in the city tonight. pray for our safety thanks. :)

T minus 4 days

2006-06-05T12:32:00.000+10:00

Darn, we are both shorties!
Van and i at her "NUS Dance Synergy!" concert.

Some other people i'll meet up with when i come back for this long awaited 5 week holiday in S'pore!

Other pics will come. T minus 4. Hoo yah!

home

2006-06-04T18:28:00.000+10:00

yes altho im supposed to preparing for exam, this is just 5min before i go makan at mess hall. just cant wait to go back to Singapore!!!!

the good food (i shalnt list them all out makes me hungrier and feel more eager onli!)

the company with people i know

the physical environment of home

the non-physical environment of home, cultural, social, emotional

ah!

home. T - 120hrs.

Patient-Centered Learning

2006-06-03T10:40:00.000+10:00

This is my PCL class. Took a pic cos we heard from Ric Johnston our tutor that tutors and groups for PCL will change. We learnt a lot from him and from each other.

looking back at that moment

2006-06-02T23:26:00.000+10:00

Saw this pic on Kerf's blog, and decided to post it up too! Look at the tower. And the sunset. The parade square, not just any one, but the one at SAFTI MI. Our exuberance, the newly commissioned officers. All the meanings behind the architecture at SAFTI MI compound.

To the 2 who dared to flirt with the idea of joining the very best.

Eugene lasted till the first day of the week 3, the night just before all hell began. I went on for a further 4 days, tahan-ded till the last day, just before the last evolution, after that fateful interview with Commander, SOF.

my 2 entries then. here and here.

looking back, it darn well was a good experience. Would have loved to have prepared for it more, so that i would cruise through the evolutions and not suffer so much! But hey, how many NSFs can tell me they dared?

Wah! looking back, exercise so slack ar! still can go around finding people to take photo. But it was December, and it was my last 2nd exercise, when i realised, hey i don't have photos about my unit life! So i started walking ard taking some. Lucky not many people can "gan" me for doing so. Just check on some troopers along the way as well. 2 birds with one stone eh?

24 crew. 24, 24 driver (dianwei), and 24 gunner (alwyn)

Both interesting characters. Dianwei will finish army and seek work opportunities with his secondary level qualifications. Alwyn will pursue his vet degree at Edinburgh or Murdoch Uni, under the AVA scholarship. He is my NJC junior, tho i didnt know him then! First guy to get AVA scholarship. not bad eh?

preview of JEM

2006-05-31T07:27:00.000+10:00

very glad that everyone is sharing their home-made notes, its still up to indiv to use them to maximal benefit. but the spirit of sharing should continue. =)

preview of our JEM:

aiya. hard to upload lar~!

we think or hope ours can be so good that most pple find it beneficial, a wild dream would be to get it endorsed by the Faculty, then can sell, if not the sharing continues.

JEM's for sale?

2006-05-29T18:56:00.000+10:00

The 3 brothers conceived an idea while making summary notes for themselves this Monday evening at the Hargrave-Andrew Library.

JEM's 'MED 1011' study guide: your guide to yr 1 med at Monash.

(Jeff, Ethan, Mingjian.)

Look out for it at the end of sem 1.

JEM's MED 1022 study guide: your guide to yr 1 med at Monash

will follow at end of sem 2.

While stocks last.

bwahaha

Blessed Saturday Afternoon

2006-05-28T08:43:00.000+10:00

After the Molescreen consultation in the morning at Hawthorn East, Mingjian and i were picked up by Nathaniel for a sumptious (i mean it!) meal at Salawan (i think~). It was Indian cuisine, Nat's dad ordered goat and beef bryani, "nun" (is that how u spell it), and several small pots of curry, some called beef curry, some called chicken masala, and another was a prawn one. "Yoghurt" was also provided, and acc to MED III Nat, the chemical that causes the spice taste in our taste buds can't be removed by water, but can be dissolved by milk, which explains the dairy product used to desentisize ourselves after the "shiok~!" slow enjoyment of much-missed Indian fine cuisine.

[ sorry no pictures, too bz enjoying the food]

And hey, is all this making you hungry? It's probably too expensive for us (the monash medics will say). 8 people went to eat, 44AUD was paid, 8 full to over-full satisfied customers came out.

Where? Bwahaha. only at Clayton!!! Near officeworks. (shall we?)

Alright alright. this has nothing to do with the blessed afternoon i intended to talk about. Here it is then:

Dr SH Tow came down for a visit.

In man's terms Dr SH Tow can be considered rather successful.

Succeeded Prof Benjamin Sheares to the Chair of OBGYN at KK.
Was involved in delivery of world record no. of babies during S'pore's post-war baby born (i.e. S'pore medics, your parents are very likely to have been delivered by him)
Was Dr. Mahathir's classmate. in Dr Tow's words, "we didn't know he had political inclinations then"

Do check it out here if you are interested in his involvement in KK Hospital's.
Check out his personal accounts of all these here. (look from Feb '05 to Mar '05, .mp3 or .doc formats available)

But in God's terms, i can't say for sure; that's for God to decide. But i would say he is my role model. From 6, he has been praying for faith, and walking in the LORD; right through World War 2, medical school, clinical practice, preaching. Respect.

Mingjian, I, Dr Tow, and Nathaniel.

Molescreen Consultation

2006-05-27T22:20:00.000+10:00

Woke up early in the morning at 7 to prep to go to Molescreen Clinic.

Directed someone wrongly to elsewhere when he was looking for Building 13(medical). Felt quite bad manz~ (excuses could include: brain havent warm up yet, cannot think on feet fast enough, don;t know uni compound at back of my hand)

Outcome of consultation:

Solar Scan

Will be screened again on Fri with a portable machine newly arrived from UK (Celtics are pre-disposed to melanomas -> derive your own logical deductions).

Referral will follow. (will not go into medical details of this as it is boring, those interested can ask me personally)

Its pretty cool that professional courtesy exists. The very fact i am charged nothing on the basis that i am a medical student is such a pleasant experience and it sure well fulfills its intended purpose of passing on this etiquette in the medical profession. I will surely not charge medical students or doctors for consultation in future when i graduate MBBS.

Sofia's Family Restaurant

2006-05-27T12:26:00.000+10:00

We only decided to use MJ's Samsung mobile phone's 1.3 mega-pixel camera when dessert came!

Close up view. A little soggy with Bailey's, a little over-creamy at certain parts (non-uniform) but waddya expect at 6AUD?

MJ with Copa sth.

Close up view. The 'gelati' was great.

That's all for now. Ooh, by e way, Yuanhwa was there too. 4 of us ran there from Monash Uni Clayton. =)

upcoming posts..

2006-05-27T00:00:00.000+10:00

Over & done with:
1. Fri: Evening run -> Dinner at Sophia's Family Restaurant

In the near future:
2. Sat: Molescreen.net.au consultation
3. Sat: Seminar by Dr Tow
4. Sat: Stay-over at Nathaniel's humble abode with Mingjian
5. Sun: Church service and sermon by Dr Tow
6. Sun: Better study more for exam in 1 week time!

Watch out for upcoming posts that will include these, hopefully with pics!

Bread for dinner

2006-05-22T18:47:00.000+10:00

This ain't the first time, but the first time i putting it up on blog. :)

Bread for dinner: Pretty easy to prepare.

Using the kettle i have, boil the 100g of shaved "Smoked River-gum ham with omega-3" from Coles, then the 4 eggs. The eggs are a lil tricky. you do not want to be undercooked and when u crack them apart, find liquidy egg white and yolk flowing out. yet you do not want them to be overcooked (if not you don't get the half cooked egg yolk which i desire) Pretty happy that i got the config i liked today!

Mix them up in a container, add a packet of sugar, and some mayonnaise in. Tada!

Add some salad vege for a healthy meal.

Here's most of the stuff i used for this reasonably filling and nice tasting dinner. Cheap too! I would give a good estimate of under 1AUD. hey, thats 300% lower than mess hall food!

(didnt take the good "old" kettle i used tho. it was 'churning' hot water)

Lastly, i just wish to apologise to u van for posting "un-interesting" posts so far on medical education, and all that dry med-related stuff.

i guess i was too hyped up about trying to make my blog more like a "medblog", trying to come up with medical related articles and stuff. i may drop in a couple here and there should i feel like and really have a strong opinion on it.

but i think maybe ill post more regarding my life, with more pics as well!

friends as well, sorry for boring you people with these med-related stuff!

oh, exams in 2 weeks too, may not be blogging that much either

Primary Health Care

2006-05-20T17:29:00.000+10:00

Oh finally, the govt has admitted to something they haven't been doing well. I don't think any opposition party has mentioned this before in their desired "attacks" on the PAP.

Health care is set to improve in Singapore, starting from the basics - primary health providence.

Your personal doc at polyclinics: Family physician services launched as minister admits he is 'not proud of polyclinics'

This is good news. The aging population of Singapore will require such dedicated health care, but then, how to attract GPs to work at polyclinics? hmm, we'll see.

Anyway, it is necessary for a doctor to specialise in family medicine before he/she can come out to work at a qualified GP.

Exercise

2006-05-18T18:51:00.000+10:00

I took a run around campus today! 3 rounds in 41min! yea! such a long time since i did such runs alone. exercise has been tennis or badminton, which don't really make you sweat or pant. But those 2 provide fun and laughter, and some entertainment.. Running provides pain. Push! i tell myself, if not its just a little waste of time.

Much has been said about the positive benefits of exercise: boosts your immune system (antibody response & natural killer T cell response), mental wellness, etc...

Some people have also said moderate amounts of exercise is good:

"Twenty to 30 minutes of brisk walking five days per week is an ideal training program for maintaining a healthy immune response."

Source: "Diet, Exercise, Stress, and the Immune System", The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

What is "moderate"? Isn't that relative? Isn't moderate to an ironman trialthete a 20 km easy run? Isn't that over-exertion to a frail old lady who has just recovered from CVD?

IMHO, such recommendations of exercise amounts has to be specifically tapered to various people who have various levels of fitness to begin with. If we are just talking about MAINTAINING a healthy lifestyle, then i think 30 min a day, with your heart beat at 70-80% of VO2 max would be good. I would say so. I don't think we should underestimate the abilities of such a wonderous body God has given us. It can do many things that you never thought you could do. Such things, even some medical practititioners can't provide a complete explanation as to why. But feats do happen.

Willpower.

Concerns & criticsm of new medical curricula in Australia/worldwide, part II

2006-05-16T20:59:00.000+10:00

Part II of the recent "new medical curricula" discussion

Letters from the Australian newspaper in reply to articles about new courses and the need for more anatomy to be taught

Medicine struggling against Dark Ages not postmodernism

May 08, 2006
IT is easy, but so simplistic, to attribute medical students' perceived lack of anatomical knowledge to trendy and postmodern teaching methods in current medical education (Editorial, 6-7/5). Yes, there are concerns among some surgeons and pathologists about anatomy training and my own research supports this case. But surely you are not suggesting we would all be better off if future doctors knew less about the complexities that modern medicine entails. Contrary to your argument, anatomy could be described as a soft subject in traditional teaching, requiring endless hours of memorising a million multi-syllabic Latin names for every bit of muscle, bone and tissue.

But is that harder than dealing with real patients? Anatomical knowledge is important but so is the ability to communicate with a suicidal, illiterate 16-year-old, or an elderly woman facing a painful, lonely death, or a middle-aged man too embarrassed to undergo a prostate examination, or an ill refugee who is terrified of authority.

None of these situations are easy. They involve personal skills that cannot be learned by rote. Good medicine demands a breadth of knowledge but what it also requires is the capacity to treat patients as individuals, not just body parts.
Philomena Horsley
Northcote, Vic

May 08, 2006
AS a final-year medical student at Monash University, I am quite satisfied and impressed with the way myself and my colleagues have been taught medicine. The Weekend Australian includes the debate relating to the teaching of anatomy as a part of the much-publicised "culture wars". I would venture that far from being attacked by postmodernism, medical schools are struggling to emerge from the Dark Ages.

The new style of medical education, first adopted by Harvard Medical School 20 years ago, is being implemented because research and evidence from professional educationalists has shown it to be better than previous teaching methods. The appeals of opponents of this style of education are to tradition and isolated anecdotes, not to evidence.

It may put the public at ease to know that graduates of medical schools do not practice independently in the community immediately. They must go through a lengthy "apprenticeship", at least four years, becoming an intern, then a resident, then registrar and pass more exams before going out on their own. The philosophy of Monash University is to train students to be good, safe interns who will then train for the next level of the apprenticeship. This seems more logical than cramming copious facts then losing them, then relearning them in the practical setting. It has been proved empirically to be the case.
Geoffrey Harper
Northcote, Vic

We learned how to learn
May 09, 2006
DESPITE the assertions in your editorial ("Postmodernism, M.D.", 6-7/5), it is actually quite easy to mistake a heart for a liver through a surgical wound – they are both red and gelatinous-looking – and during cardiac surgery when the patient is on bypass (and the heart is not beating), they are both quiescent.

There is also no need for a medical student to "know what a spleen looks like", unless they were doing postgraduate surgical training and actually operating on the spleen (something that only a few per cent of doctors will ever do).

I did my undergraduate medical training at the University of Newcastle from 1978 to 1983. We did no anatomy course. Instead, anatomy was integrated into our curriculum (the first medical course in Australia to do so). Because of this, I did not spend mindless hours learning some obscene mneumonic so that I could recite the dozen-and-a-half branches of the facial nerve at an examination (which would then be quickly forgotten). Instead, I actually learned how to understand and learn anatomy (or any other basic science subject) when I needed to and when it was relevant.

I'm not a cardiac surgeon, so I did not learn the minutia of the cardiac and vascular systems. One of my classmates who is a cardiothoracic surgeon (and who is head of cardiothoracic surgery at a major capital city teaching hospital), did learn such minutia, and he was well equipped by his undergraduate teaching to do so.

Other aspects of a modern medical school curricula, such as learning "cultural sensitivity", has at least enabled me to recognise my limitations and improve my effectiveness when I am trying to help manage the problems of a pregnant Aboriginal woman who has been sent to me from a remote central Australian mission hospital.

My undergraduate education (the first curriculum to incorporate the "postmodern teaching" that you deride) equipped me well to learn how to take care of critically ill pregnant women and very sick unborn babies, and this learning process has not stopped over the past 28 years. The learning certainly did not stop when I finished medical school. In fact, the way medicine has changed over the past few decades, most of the "facts" that I learned at medical school have by now been rendered obsolete. It is only by learning "how to learn" that doctors (or any other professionals) can be effective and safe.
Dr Chris Wilkinson
Head of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Women's and Children's Hospital
North Adelaide, SA

'Ignorant' graduates
May 13, 2006

WE need more country GPs, not anatomy experts. Medical schools developing common sense, compassion and critical analysis in their students will go further in answering today's needs of the medical profession than dinosaurs in ivory towers reciting the names of the ossicles of the middle ear. If junior doctors don't know what organ is on view, the problem is the relevance of the anatomy they have been taught, not the amount of anatomy they have learnt.
Dr K. Allen
Mt Barker, SA

2006-05-14T03:30:00.000+10:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

The Two-Edged Sword of Medical Technology

2006-05-14T03:17:00.000+10:00

Topics covered:

IVF,
breast cancer,
preimplantation genetic diagnosis,
eugenics,
ethics.

Check out the power of XML/RSS in that site too! click here. It's amazing. Once you click read more, you get straight to the article. If you like the article, just copy the URL in your address bar and link it. Problem now with some blogger templates and websites is that they do not always display the URL of the exact location within the site you are at, but the general site URL only.

I'll add Haloscan for comments and trackback in due time. They offer other powerful services. Bloggers, do consider this if u haven't.

People considering intercalated research

2006-05-14T01:18:00.000+10:00

Consider the following from a MBBS-phD student at Cambridge. She speaks about her experience here.

But, a certain Dr Rami Abboud from Dundee Uni, thinks otherwise. Check it out here.

For me, if i can do well enough in yr 1-3 to be considered by the faculty, then i consider la.

More reflections coming up

2006-05-13T23:47:00.000+10:00

Thanks to loyal readers. Do keep coming back. :)

Will be posting up views and reflections on our Health Enhancement Programme here at Monash Uni and possibly some HIV/AIDS perspectives. (if i decide to make time for blogging!)

Leave a tag or comment!

Rural EXPO & perceptions

2006-05-13T23:21:00.000+10:00

Went to Rural Expo, an event organised by Wildfire, a medical club within Monash Uni that has interests in rural health. [ Click their icon to find out more. ]
Clinical stations
They had clinical skills stations set up for M2,M3s to practise and for us M1s to get an introductory overview.

I tried the following:

Suturing on a unrealistic deliberate surgical incision
Neo natal resuscitation
Foreign body removal from eye (sheeps' eyes were available)
Prostate examination

and observed the following:

Breech delivery
Defibrillation

but missed out on:

Paediatric intubation
Plastering

Rural placements in the future for me
Rural placements will be interesting. I look forward to my 5-day placement from 31 July to 4 Aug 06 at Corowa. It has a variety of tourist attractions. Don't know how much i can get to experience there though.Also, the prospect of doing a whole year placement in yr 3 / 4 has been squashed. Praying hard for:

a change in the govt's stand on international places in these sites,
the uni's ability to arrange for the programme to accomodate few international students ,
PR application, &
selection for rural placements in '07 for my intended yr3 placement in '08.

Perception
Lastly, it's all about perception. That affects behaviour and mood. If you have been unhappy about some happening in your life, you either change it or your perception of it.

Monash medics, in Ethan He's words:

THINK about it.

Applicable to many happenings this week, like release of our mid sem exam results, and rural placement allocation.

Monash Uni's timely response to mounting concern & criticsm of new medical curriculums in Australia

2006-05-13T22:51:00.000+10:00

It all began with these 2 reports in the Australian papers:

1. Doctors fail basic anatomy
2. Medical schools in new alert

This has been met with replies from all deans of medical schools who defend their stands. A swift reply has been made from from Monash University.

Professor Ed Byrne, AO, Dean of Monash University's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences,
Associate Professor Ben Canny, Associate Dean of the faculty's MBBS curriculum &
Associate Professor Nigel Wreford, director of the Medical Anatomy Program,

have their say here.

We are confident that medical courses in Australia will continue to produce outstanding graduates who will keep us at the vanguard of medical research and practice. Our graduates will be equipped to act safely, knowledgeably, compassionately and ethically to serve our diverse community.

Oh well, time will tell.

Do MCATs Really Measure the Quality of a Future Doctor?

2006-05-12T21:15:00.000+10:00

Check the blog entry here by Anthony Rudine, a medical student from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He has given some comments about the usage of MCAT as a means of selecting US/Canadian grads for graduate med. sch.

And i have given my comments today (may 12) as well. Scroll down in his blog entry and you'll see.

Enjoy ur reads, and if u want, comment there about pros and cons of undergrad and grad med sch.

I have stated some of my opinion there and hope it reflects well on Monash University's 5 year MBBS course! :)

Jeffrey, you're a Total Balanced Medium High!

2006-05-01T08:45:00.000+10:00

Took this test at Tickle.com. Normally wouldn't do such stuff, but its early morning and i'm free.

You're doing better than most when it comes to living a balanced life, but there's always room for improvement. Try paying closer attention to how you feel each day, both physically and emotionally. Tune into what foods and beverages make you feel your best — and which leave you agitated or drained. Experiment with the amount of sleep you get to find the exact number of hours your body needs every night. Examine your situation at work and see if there are any changes you can implement to make your job more manageable. And keep in mind that knowing what you need to stay happy and healthy is only part of the game — you have to incorporate these things into your lifestyle every day in order to benefit. Here are a few general tips and reminders:

Health
As you probably already know, eating a varied, nutritious diet, working out regularly, and sleeping enough all boost your immune system to ward off illness, improve your mood, and make you more resilient to stress. Here's a big pat on the back for making the effort to take care of yourself!

Relationships
Connecting with other people while making it a priority to spend some time alone may just be the secret to true social harmony. As studies have shown, friends and family can be a great help in times of crisis (and almost every other time, too). So just keep in mind that meeting friends for dinner during the week or setting aside time to visit with family can really recharge your batteries and make you feel balanced — especially when they're offset with regular periods of solitude.

Career
It's all about keeping your job in perspective. Evenings, weekends, and vacations are important to you, and you do your best to take full advantage of your personal time. After all, enjoying quality time off actually contributes to productivity when you're back at your desk. When you're relaxed and rested, you can be more creative and efficient. Your friends and family also get to reap the benefits of your successful work/home life. When you're not consumed and overwhelmed by work, you're free to be fully present in the moment. And isn't that what life is all about?

How about you? Try it out at tickle.com

Disturbing article: Why Atheism?

2006-05-01T08:05:00.000+10:00

My attention was brought to a certain disturbing webpage created by an adamant atheist who has written a long essay on "Why Atheism?" I was intrigued by many of the arguments he has put forth, and as i read them, i cannot help but feel pity and sorrow for him. Here is a man who has Biblical knowledge, heard the Word, but chose not to believe. Here is a man who has chosen instead to rely on all logical, scientific, empirical data as he has so been trained. I wish him well in the Holy name of God.

Some arguments include:

"Jesus died for our sins. This is one of the primary moral points of Christianity, and it is formally known as “substitutive sacrifice.” Many religions practiced it when they killed sacrificial animals or humans on altars. What kind of morality is this, where one person has to die because of what others have done? When we look at cultures that sacrificed animals or humans, we call them barbaric and primitive. It makes no difference if the person being sacrificed agrees; it is still blatantly, repugnantly immoral and abominable. The Christian ceremony of communion is based on this blood sacrifice, and is just ritualized cannibalism and vampirism."

His argument is totally baseless, ill-informed, and skewed. He insults the sacrificial act of God on the cross and demeans it to be cannibalism and vampirism. Why is he wrong? Here is why: At around the time of Jesus, that is a few years A.D., around 2000 or less years from now, the legal system was as such: people were tried and if found guilty of a crime, like murder, or theft, they will be crucified. It seems as if it is capital punishment. They will die from the crucification. In fact, the day Jesus was unjustly tried, and couldn't be proved to be a criminal.

The Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 27 reads,

22Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

23And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

24When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

25Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

26Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

As can be seen in bold, the governor could clearly find no fault in Jesus, but sent him to be crucified anyway. He was God, and He well could have save his own death, but why didn't He?

Salvation. Only through Christ's death are all saved. When Jesus was walking on Earth, He said,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life"

as recorded in the scriptures by John in Chapter 3, verse 16.

Without His death, there would be no resurrection, in which all Christians believe in. Faith. Walking by faith, not by sight.

Now what is faith? The Bible enlightens us on this.

I do hope this has enlightened you on the issue of the basis of Christianity. It is always good to find out more. I henceforth refer you to the following readings if you are interested in this topic.

10 reasons to believe in the existence of God. Click here.
10 reasons to believe in a God who allows suffering. Click here.
10 reasons to believe in Christ rather than religion. Click here.
10 reasons to believe in the Christian Faith. Click here.
Answers to tough questions; topics include personal struggles, contemporary issues, ethics, world religions, the paranormal, the Bible, Christianity and God. Click here.

May the LORD bless your reading of the Holy Word as quoted above.

High powered week?

2006-04-30T00:06:00.000+10:00

This week, i felt, has been rather fruitful. I have spent an increased amount of time on books - both texts and story books. I'm still on "Hope in Hell", and had borrowed a couple of prescribed texts from the Hargrave-Andrew Lib (the science,engin, medicine library in Monash Uni). Slept an average of 4-5 hrs a day, making notes, preparing for next day tutes and lects. And surprisingly, i didnt feel tired during class. I even threw in a couple of exercise sessions throughout the week, inclusive of a 1hr run, a static exercise session in my room, badminton games, etc. Pretty satisfied with myself. Some of the nights, however, were unfruitfully spent on movies, like the newly downloaded Stephen Chow chinese comedies and "The Notebook".

Also, kinda wasted the whole friday noon and night, preparing for a chicken rice dinner for the spore yr 1 medics, along with yingci, mj, kerf, xy. jasmine's birthday dinner. we spent rather lot of time and money on it. kerf baked a cheesecake for her, and i do hope she is deeply touched and appreciates it. had a badminton session after the dinner as well, instead of OCF cell grp meeting. :(

i also changed my return flight to 9 june. ill be back in spore 2 days after my MED 1011 paper, which is on 7 june afternoon. Do hope i will have a jolly good time back in spore with my family, van, and friends. not forgetting my pet dog Nemo.

Hence, ill be spending more of such "high-powered" weeks, mugging, and completing my 2500 word essay on my first patient encounter.

The medical aphorism attributed to Hippocrates of Kos reads,

Life is short and the art long, the occasion instant, experiment perilous, decision
difficult.

"Hope in Hell: Inside the world of Doctors Without Borders"

2006-04-22T23:34:00.000+10:00

A new book i will "devour"

I was chatting to Rebecca online when i was asked about the reasons behind my interests in international health.

[jeff] well i guess it could be one of e reasons why i chose to embark on this career.
[rebecca] ur 5% doc now...after yesterday's exam
[jeff] and i find it more fulfilling to treat and help someone disadvantaged
[rebecca] indeed
[jeff] who possibly get the illness or disease, as a result of not their own fault
eg. a new born baby get aids from aids infected mother, who is raped by aids infected men
[rebecca] ya
[jeff] or Infec disease
rather than treat pple
with coronoary heart disease who dun take care of their own health or smoke their lungs away and get cancer
but then again
i think u can do more good in a few months at a developing countries as compared to a few years in a devloped country
whcih is why a mix is good, cos after all, still need to settle down and have kids, see my parents etc
[rebecca] agreed!

we then chatted about providence of health care to the rich and the poor. Came up with some wild idea that maybe can set up some western medical center that gives free treatment to the underprivileged in the country. Thinking back its not really feasible. The government will most likely not approve. Because if they do, it reflects they recognise a problem or flaw in their whole public health care system. Our health minister Mr Khaw wouldn't be so cok-up. Reforms are on the way, and as the no. and percentage of low-income (Govt's definition + red-tapes to clear?), or unemployed people decrease, there is less focus on providing equal or fair health care to the general population. I reckon we are more tuned to the US model of providence of health care.

The Brits and Aussies believe that there should be equity in health care. "We give people free health care." They believe even those alcholics and drug addicts who have no jobs should be on the dole and be taken care by the government and given money every month from taxpayers' money. (who by the way slog it out for a good salary to lead a good honest healthy life so they can give a percentage of it to the g
overnment who will in turn spend it on these people on the lowest rungs of the societal ladder.) They believe on mere basis that they are citizens of their country, they should be given the same health care as everyone else. So the issue comes in when there is a liver available for transplant, one is for a 40-yr-old chronic alcohol abuser who doesn't show signs of changing his alcohol consumption patterns and a 80-yr-old frail lady. Both will die if they don't get the transplant. Who to give to?

On the other hand, the Americans are less interested in making sure everyone gets care. They accept not getting care now if they can see the opportunity to improve their position and succeed, so that, when they get the money, they will be able to buy great care the minute they want it. It is all about opportunity to them. They want that, not equity. That's what they think is fair.

Singapore is a meritocratic society. "No one owes Singapore a living" You fight for your own status in society and your own happiness. You don't rely on the government. Although we had been a nanny state, but there is a move now towards the people being given more responsibility to take charge of their own destiny (in general terms) This is good. I like it.

Gee. Enough of this THEME II (Health, Knowledge, Society) stuff, a part of my 4-themed MBBS course at Monash Uni. Or promoting PAP.

Delved into this because of my conversations with Rebecca about international health.

But yea, international health is interesting.

I will do a couple of attachments overseas in these settings if possible. And i'm adamant on going for a MSF mission one day. And statistics show there are no one-MSF-mission doctors. There are only doctors who keep going and keep going.

Rural clincal school in year 3, here i come!

Man Utd don't deserve to win the title!

2006-04-18T00:07:00.000+10:00

Just finished watching the Man Utd vs Tottenham match. Read the review below:

Soccernet

Although they won 2-1, it was a game of scrappy goals. The first goal was nicely set up, but its more a give away by Tottenham than beautiful crafted play from Man Utd. 2nd goal banked on a mistake by a defender. Its good Rooney had the composure to score though. Typical of an outstanding striker like him.

Ruud isn't performing. He should be. Fergie is giving him chances time and time again; he could have fielded Saha based on recent form. He seems to be losing confidence. His touches aren't that good, and defenders/midfielders take the ball from him easily. It's heartening to see him being involved in play buildups more often now though.

Giggs said it right. Man Utd must win against not just the big teams next season, but against those they are "expected" to win against. A recent example would be Sunderland.

And in that sense, i don't think Man Utd deserve to win the title.

Racing the planet : Gobi March 2006

2006-04-16T20:48:00.000+10:00

Extracted from Racing The Planet website:

The Gobi March is a self-supported footrace across 150 miles (250 kilometers) of the Gobi Desert in China. The race consists of six stages, lasting 7 days, with distances ranging from 10 to 50 miles (20 - 80 kilometers) per stage. There will be checkpoints conveniently positioned along the course every 7 or 8 miles (10 - 12 kilometers). Competitors are required to be fully self-supported throughout the event and must carry all their own food, gear and clothing which they will need to complete the 150 mile (250 kilometer) course. Water and a place in a tent will be provided daily. Generous cutoff times will be established daily so that anyone walking the course can complete it. A limited number of three-person teams and individuals will be accepted.

The Gobi March will be held annually in honor of three great women -- Mildred Cable and Eva and Francesca French -- who crossed the Gobi Desert five times approximately one-hundred years ago. Mildred Cable once wrote: "Only a fool crosses the great Gobi without misgivings." A special trophy will be awarded in their honor.

Just to be associated with people who dare to take part in this gruelling race is enough honour for me. I feel proud for them.

1. Leow Kah Shin

Elder than me by 6 years, this fine young man of 27 years is indeed a high achiever. A spirit of excellence and never-say-die attitude since young, my brother has always been someone i looked up to.

Scoring near perfect scores at O- and A-levels, he missed the prestigious SAF Overseas Scholarships by a single grade (4As,1D,1M,GP:B4, cut-off that year was either 2D,GP:B4, or 1D,1M,GP:B3). Following assurance that my dad has enough financial capability to send him to USA for further education, he gave SAF Merit Scholarship a miss, and carried on with his NSF life. Achieving a Sword of Merit at the end of his Armour Officer Cadet Course, he was then posted to be train as a Armour Recce. He became 40SAR's scout PC. (6 years later, i was the only one among my TOCC mates to be posted to 40SAR's tank platoons. "The legend continues", in his words.)

Following that, he went on to University of California, Berkeley, to pursue his undergraduate education. Sure he was disappointed. He didn't get into the more renowned Wharton School of Business, or Stanford. Nevertheless, he had a short stint in California, finishing his degrees in Economics, and in Statistics, graduating with Highest Honours (GPA: 3.97/4), all in a short span of 2 years! He also served as the President of the Singapore & Malaysia Association at UC Berkeley.

He was hired before graduation. I was there at his Statistics degree graduation. Boy, how am i ever going to be compared to him. Working in Boston as an actuarial trainee, he had interest in mountain climbing. Yes, those real kind of ice mountain climbing. He had money, so spent them on courses, equipment, trips, etc. Career calls, he's onto Bermuda. But alas, home calls again, and now he's back in Singapore. He however had this agreement with his colleague from Bermuda, plus a personal desire to do the impossible, to challenge his limits.

So explains the Gobi March 2006.

I found his name in the competitors' list. I pray he will complete it, and live to tell the tale.

2. Yong Yuen Cheng

My NJC Canoeing coach. Left a deep impact in my life. Fervent beliefs. Strong values. Courageous to declare them. A teacher, coach, and outstanding endurance athlete.

This was a picture that was taken by some NJC photographer when i made a memorable last burst during the NJC Road Run (4.5km) in 2002 to overtake him just before the finish line. The time was 17:56. We were both winners and fighters that day.

i remembered that very clearly; i trained hard for the race, especially for the final run in from outside NJC into the 200m point on the track. Time after time, i would run alone or with Jervis along the route, talked about our strategy, etc.

Thinking about all these evokes many memories.

picture post

2006-04-15T23:39:00.000+10:00

Roberts Hall Cultural Festival 2006: Stairway 4 Group Picture (Mexico)

Jialin helped me to put on make up. This is the only time in my life i'm going to do that. Had to be sporting. Appreciated it that she sacrificed her prom nite good quality make up for the sake of the stairway. =)

Yum yum! look at the Char Siew (by kerfern) and Italian-style wrap by Jon Tan and myself. (the green paste is actually made of avogardo)

thats all for now. sorry to disappoint. =)

will "Shepherd" join "Nemo"?

2006-04-15T23:20:00.000+10:00

Disclaimer: this is not a Good Friday/Easter Sunday Christian kind of post.
(in case you thought "Shepherd" refers to Jesus Christ the caretaker of us "the sheep")

Yes, this post is actually really about my 3-yr-old border collie. His name is "Nemo", and he was so named as when we bought him, the movie "Finding Nemo" was screening and we just thought it was a cute name. He is pure bred. Bought him from Sookee pet shop. My mum's friend, Qin feng, got his brother, "Shepherd".

The situation now is such that Qin feng can no longer keep her two border collies due to medical reasons. It is too painful however to give them to SPCA; at least she could still see or know her dogs are well taken care of by some trusted friend. So she has offered to give Shepherd to my family.

I do hope my mum agrees!

1stly, there's no need to worry about Shepherd's hygiene as he no longer has a swimming pool to jump into as and when he likes.

2ndly, it's good for Nemo to have a companion. I actually wanted to get Nemo a female companion when i return from Australia in 2010.

3rdly, Nemo can finally learn how to sleep outside the house! (since Shepherd is used to it and can be of good influence to him, at least Nemo has his brother to keep him company outside, instead of wailing and barking outside the house when he cannot be let in)

4thly, Nemo can finally learn how to pick balls AND return them to you!

Financial costs could rise in maintaining them, and effort as well. And i can't really dissuade them not to take Shepherd in cos im not going to be the one to bathe them, and clear up their faecal deposits in the garden (cos im here in Aust, not cos i don't!)

Here's to give you an idea how they look like:

(Left to right) Nemo, Muffin, shepherd.

(Top to bottom) Nemo, Muffin, Shepherd. (right) Jeff talking to van at Qinfeng's house.

the photo post... soon, quick update, Man Utd vs Sunderland

2006-04-15T10:56:00.000+10:00

will be putting up a photo post soon, once i get all the pics.

meanwhile, its easter holiday here (from thursday to wednesday) over the Good Friday and Easter Sunday holidays.

BUT, we medical students have a mid-semester exam that count for 5% of our total marks (which will determine if we pass or fail the entire year, doesn't count for the MBBS degree, ie, the marks wouldnt be used to tabulate if we pass the MBBS course, or get Hons 1). That being said, i have to allay my family's fears that i hence take it lightly; it may not be counted, but its all for knowledge sake, hopefully useful in further years in my medical career, be it at medical school, or at a clinical setting.

Meanwhile, i m pretty pissed that i woke up at 430 am to catch Man Utd vs Sunderland. and Man Utd had the cheek to draw 0-0 with the bottom team in the league now! Either they were plain right complacent, or plain right shitty. I reckon its the former. They have all right to start the game with high tempo, fast pace, sleek passes, good one-twos, but they didn't. They took it slow. They underestimated. They paid the price.

Serve them right. They don't deserve to catch Chelsea.

I had said before, if they could win the remaining matches and draw one, then i would be contented with their performance. They have just used up one draw. Better win the rest manz!

Time to study.

Let me leave a famous quote attributed to Socrates by Plato in Charmides.

"You ought not to attempt to cure the body without the soul for this is the great error of our day (400BC), in the treatment of the human body, that physicians separate the soul from the body"

bizarre baby born in dolakha

2006-04-13T21:45:00.000+10:00

not very scary, but "bizarre" is the word.

Bizarre baby born in Dolakha

do note how positive the husband was, acknowledging and giving thanks that at least his wife didn't die in the process.

i would presume the baby was not delivered at the hospital, and that the mother didn't have all that screening and diagnostic tests during her pregnancy. It is amazing how the baby didn't spontaneously abort and pose a threat to the mother's life.

Well, she's not really a mother now after all. My sympathy goes out to her.

Guys, could you imagine a woman carrying a baby for 9 months, experiencing the morning sickness, pains, etc, and after the painful delivery, the foetus/"baby" dies.

(i would suppose it was a clean vaginal birth, considering C-section or breech birth would have been too risky in the setting the woman was possibly at, unless otherwise there are very experienced "mid-wives" who happened to be around at that time or possibly "black market" untrained, unskilled [in the medical sense] people who can perform the above 2 procedures with reasonable success rate)

Consider the possible emotions. Could she be trying for a son since they already have two daughters? Could it be that in their culture that having a son is considered more valuable than having daughters? (heir to the land, etc) Now that she has given birth to a rather bizarre one. and it died. Remorse? Relief? Feel.

It could still be a difficult time for the woman in any other case.

The Book of Psalm, Chapter 107, is the chapter i randomly flipped to in respose to the above, and true enough, God speaks.

"Again, they are minished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow"

"Whoso is wise, and will observe these things,
Even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD."

[verse 39 & 43]

any further comments are welcome.
(do note it is deliberate that i didn't refer the woman as her name, Suntali. It is unfeeling, i admit, as if i'm dehumanizing her to "the woman". In this case, i feel its justified as i am not conversing to her as in a medical interview where i would have addressed her as Mrs. Suntali or sth. It's part of getting into the habit of de-identifying "patients". consider the alternative; it would be disastrous if i blurted out names of patients during discussions at the cafeteria or sth. The legal ramifications encircling confidentiality will be too much for a lowly medical student like me to bear.)

she's a happy girl

2006-04-07T22:57:00.000+10:00

ordered flowers online for vanessa for our 4th year anniversary. the original gift was a well-planned holiday programme for her when she comes over to melbourne in may or aug. However, i will have my rural hospital attachment in aug, reducing to holiday period to one week and it isn't ideal. she wanted to come over in may instead, ill be more free as compared to aug, she has 10 days, her birthday is on 7th as well.. but well, she cant come due to unforseen circumstances....

so i didnt have so much reaction time to prepare for this anniv. so a simple bouquet of flowers did it. of cos, i took some time to consider which one to send over. thanks to yingci, mingjian, ling ling, and xinyi for their much valued opinion. good thing to let u guys n girls know is that she liked this final one i chose a lot, and thats good! (she also mentioned so far all the flowers i sent to her got standard one)

well, for guys who wanna know where i got it from. its Far East Flora.

Girls, do not go there. unless u wanna buy flowers for urself or friends. if ure attached then it takes away the element of surprise if ur bf gets one for you, you see it before on the website liao... and ull know how much it costs too! (which is why i warned my gf not to go there to try to find out the price)

on the website, it looked like this:

pretty good huh? i liked the description too!
PL?? - Aloe Vera Infusion
Every gal knows aloe vera soothes minor skin irritations, but who knew that list included UV protection and regeneration? This gift is infused with Aloe Vera, reputed to be one of the herbs in Cleopatra’s beauty arsenal. After a hydrating shower with Bath & Shower Gel (50ml) and creamy Milled Soap (100g), treat her to a relaxing massage with Bath & Massage Oil (200ml) that’ll leave her feeling soft all over

lets see how they turned out to be in real:

these are the actual sizes of the shower gel, soap and massage oil.

well, she's glad. i'm glad. all is good.

thanks to the 4 of you who gave me your opinion again!

potluck dinners

2006-04-02T19:23:00.000+10:00

not sure if i posted this nice concotion of mine before, but here it is anyway:

a detox soup, made from boiling carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, and lastly salmon.

We also had 2 other robertson colloborations:

kerfern stir fried beef with sliced carrots and omega-3 rich broccoli,
yingci and mingjian tried to mimick the former's grandma's dumpling + vege dish. the dunpling were pretty ex though.
xinyi pan fried her chicken snitzels & (another day) salad.
jasmine stirred up a dish with baked beans + some meat.
(another day) yingci and mingjian cooked delicious chicken cubes with satay sauce.
i contributed beef rendang on one occasion.
sorry if i missed out anyone. this is all i can remember.
below are e pics:

yingci and i trying to eat all the good food up ;)

a good view at our improving culinary skills:

beef rendang(top left), dumpling + vege (top right), 2 chicken snitzels(eyes), and fried dumplings(smiley face), crumbs (jeff's nose and mole)

our group photo. wont bother naming the people. all spore monash med 06.

This is the recent 'bakut teh' dinner we had.

cooked by jasmine.

and this is the desert, made up of peaches, erm, plus other fruits, in mango yoghurt. sumptious one, by yingci + mingjian, and xinyi (should be in order of amount of contribution)

pretty good huh? we'll make good chefs at the end of our 5 year stint here. or possibly, good househusbands and good housewives (knowing how to cook seems like a valued characteristic nowadays; though its not everything)

Friday..

2006-04-01T00:30:00.000+11:00

Don't you just adore Fridays? It's the last work day of the week.

More so for us year 1 monash medical students, its a short day! We started off with a lecture by Dr. Craig Hassed a world renowned GP that has special interest in complementary medicine. His works on this field are so good that Harvard Uni's medical school professors flew all the way down to get his work, so they can use them for educating their graduate medical students. Well, we used their style of teaching in Patient-Centered Learning (PCL), over other popular styles like Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and the traditional preclinical/clinical courses. So its pretty much a "symbiotic" relationship between Harvard Medical School and Monash University Faculty of Medicine.

~ ~ ~

Following that lecture was our normal PCL session at the end of the week. We ended 1/2 hr earlier, but i couldn't be as happy as the rest, given i had a practical lesson later at 1. That's an interesting one though.

We were supposed to be learning how to hygienically wash our hands, between each patient. We also learnt how to put on surgical scrubs and the surgical gloves.

First looks...

Yuanhwa and i...

Myself in the future?

~ ~ ~

Once that ended, i hurried back to hall to change. It was getting chilly. I was getting cold rash already. Applied some moisturising QV cream. Then off i went to the city for the Singhealth recruitment talk at Melbourne Uni.

Melbourne Uni looked old. Lots of flora and fauna. Was drizzling though.

Nothing much at the talk, basically we learnt which specialties are the popular ones now, and which are the ones 'in demand'. Some new ruling from Singhealth that we need to co-pay for specialty training if we pick and get chosen for the popular specialties. That's S$1000 off your monthly salary. And S$1000 added to your monthly salary if you chose the 'in demand' specialties and get accepted. hmm... wouldn't let that affect which specialty is my true interest though. After all, i have already went against common logic to offset my parent's financial account by 300-400k, left my girlfriend in singapore when i could easily choose another subject to major in at nus, all to study a field i'm most interested in! that's medicine! So is salary going to steer me away from what my eventual interest in medicine will be? I doubt so, even if i'm short at cash. After all, will money make one happy? Or will following your passion and doing something enjoy make one happy? i would think it's the latter.

~ ~ ~

Following that, we had dinner at Lygon Street, where it's famous for Italian food. Spent 30AUD on cheese-stuffed chicken breast. Pretty good meal, will bring van and my family here if they do come.

Can you see our food? (this has broken my budget for the month, so i'm gonna abstain and eat cheap stuff from now on! cornflakes and bread! )
Oh, that's Mingjian on far left, myself in the middle, and Joshua Chong on far right.

That's our desert, Tim Tam cake. Quite nice. Yingci took the honour of treating us to it, since xinyi was craving for it, and i didnt mind eating it too! Don't know where i looking at also!

Our 'whatever!' remark. (yingci looks so... oriented to the feminine side of him!)

~ ~ ~
And ice cream! AUD 3.7 for a single scoop worth of 2 flavour! i tried rocher and tiramisu. the former is highly recommended, and the latter, total opposite! cheap and good tho! :)

We left city at near 11. and walked back from the train station, dropping Rachel, Melanie and Pat off at their various humble abodes along the way.

It was increasingly drizzling along the way. Got a little wet, didn't really enjoy the rain, like i normally do.

I really must run in the rain someday. Someday.

Matthew Campbell Memorial Evening

2006-03-27T23:47:00.000+11:00

Went for the above stated evening at one of the lecture theatres. This guy was a yr 2 medical student and he organised a very successful evening to raise awareness and promote action in indigenous and rural health. He tragically died a week later in a car accident. Since then, the WILDFIRE club has been organising this event annually to continue the aim, and to remember this fine lad.

It's pretty cool. but the main highlight was this intern who just graduated from Monash Dr. Hamish Graham's talk. He worked in India and Thailand over the past 5 years and written an Electives guidebook called Beyond Borders: McGraw-Hill's Guide to Health Placements. He shared with us his 6 week selective in Aboriginal Community Health on Elcho Island (Northern Territories) in '05. Pretty interesting. I didn't know the Aust Govt tried to get rid of the Aboriginals in the past, by killing them literally. it was genocide, and evoked memories of the Holocaust. However they failed realising there were too many of them. Well they couldn't get rid of them, so they tried to make them like Whites (Aussies). That failed too and now they place all this emphasis on the Aboriginals, and they want to "respect their land, respect their culture, etc", cos they are the forefathers of the land, the original people that lived on the largest island in the world.

After all thats why i entered medicine for. International Health. Helping people who really need the help. In third-world countries, like Africa, India, China, etc. Chuangtai went with me, and i found out that we have similar interests! We are on about going at end of yr 2 to some hospital attachment at some third world country. Self organising it. Hamish did that in India and Thailand; he even managed to source out up to AUD7k worth of drugs to donate to them.

Do hope what we aim to do becomes a reality. And it sure will change our perspectives on health, on medicine, and on life.

go the distance

2006-03-25T00:15:00.000+11:00

Go The Distance
Michael Bolton

I have often dream of a far off place
Where a hero's welcomed would be waiting for me
Where the crown's would cheer when they see my face
And the voice keep saying this is where I meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way if I can be strong
I know every man would be worth my life
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I'm in now

I may go undone road to embrace my faith
Though that road may wonder, it will lead me to you
And the thousand years would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime but somehow I see it through

And I won't look back, I can go the distance
And I stay untacked, no, I won't accept defeat
Is it all too slow?
But I won't loose hope 'till I go the distance
And my journey is fullfilled, oh yeah

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
My hero strand in magic, kinda sparks, oh...

Like a shooting star, I will go the distance
I will search the world, I will face its haunts
I don't care how far, I can go the distance
'Till I find my hero's welcomed waiting in your arms

I will search a world, I will face its haunts
'Till I find my hero's welcomed waiting in your arms