In case anyone still checks this place out...I have moved!
Not as spunky as this page, but at least I have no problems accessing it!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
5 1/2 days
This past week has been interesting at work! I didn't see any snakes, much to my disappointment, but I did get to.....
......Meet a really nice and funny Indian doctor. The reason it is important to mention he is Indian is because he can speak fluent Hokkien with patients. Amazing! Well, OK, I don't understand Hokkien, so 'fluent' is debatable; I would have no idea if he inserted German into it. But it must have been good enough for the Chinese uncles to respond as though they were talking to other Chinese uncles in the coffee shops.
......Meet another doctor who looks a bit like Ewan McGregor and speaks with a wicked British accent. The reason it is important to mention the British accent is because....well, because it's a British accent.
.......Watch a bone marrow aspiration being done. Now THIS tops my list of learning experiences. One of the perks of working in a hospital....you get to see anything and everything related to healthcare, even if it has NOTHING to do with what you actually do. The only thing is, now that I've seen what it involves (a fairly thick needle, pushed into your hip bone with a lot of strength from the doctor, some light jerking back & forth required to get some sample thing), I would cry if I was told I had to undergo it. When there was discussion that the doctor may have to repeat it because they thought they didn't get the sample, I nearly fainted on behalf of the patient. Fortunately, they found a chunk of something in the needle which was what they wanted in the end. Phew. The patient (another old uncle) even thanked the team for their effort, though he was clearly in real pain at some points of the procedure. What a trooper!
.......Learn a LOT about stigma towards certain illnesses and how truly difficult it makes some patients' lives
.......See the role of social workers in the care of patients. I feel social workers are a bit like pharmacists in the sense that the general community don't really know what we do. But our roles are important =)
I also got a bit carried away with the alcohol wipes....wiping my reference book, my phone and my trusty green pen religiously after work each day. You do it once, and then you find you HAVE to do it everyday. I even alcohol-wiped my bag at the end of my rotation. I hope the PVC doesnt melt away...haha.
So that was my week as a learning pharmacist =)
......Meet a really nice and funny Indian doctor. The reason it is important to mention he is Indian is because he can speak fluent Hokkien with patients. Amazing! Well, OK, I don't understand Hokkien, so 'fluent' is debatable; I would have no idea if he inserted German into it. But it must have been good enough for the Chinese uncles to respond as though they were talking to other Chinese uncles in the coffee shops.
......Meet another doctor who looks a bit like Ewan McGregor and speaks with a wicked British accent. The reason it is important to mention the British accent is because....well, because it's a British accent.
.......Watch a bone marrow aspiration being done. Now THIS tops my list of learning experiences. One of the perks of working in a hospital....you get to see anything and everything related to healthcare, even if it has NOTHING to do with what you actually do. The only thing is, now that I've seen what it involves (a fairly thick needle, pushed into your hip bone with a lot of strength from the doctor, some light jerking back & forth required to get some sample thing), I would cry if I was told I had to undergo it. When there was discussion that the doctor may have to repeat it because they thought they didn't get the sample, I nearly fainted on behalf of the patient. Fortunately, they found a chunk of something in the needle which was what they wanted in the end. Phew. The patient (another old uncle) even thanked the team for their effort, though he was clearly in real pain at some points of the procedure. What a trooper!
.......Learn a LOT about stigma towards certain illnesses and how truly difficult it makes some patients' lives
.......See the role of social workers in the care of patients. I feel social workers are a bit like pharmacists in the sense that the general community don't really know what we do. But our roles are important =)
I also got a bit carried away with the alcohol wipes....wiping my reference book, my phone and my trusty green pen religiously after work each day. You do it once, and then you find you HAVE to do it everyday. I even alcohol-wiped my bag at the end of my rotation. I hope the PVC doesnt melt away...haha.
So that was my week as a learning pharmacist =)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Time to Pay Attention....
....to emails from work.
I have never treated work emails this year with much urgency. Coz they're usually announcements. Or the work roster. Or an update about something that is just good for information, but not directly concerning me. Today I discovered an email that does directly concern me. And it was from a week ago. Ooops. But I haven't missed the dates involved, so phew. I did panic for a few precious seconds when I read it. Then I read it PROPERLY, settled my brain enough to THINK and realised haha, close call.
Anyway, it does make me feel more important to have a specific duty, even if it's only for 10 days, but oh the sense of responsibility makes my stomach work overtime and gives me the burps. These days I'm just glad I didn't decide to study medicine. I think I would cave under the responsibility if I was a doctor. Today I observed a medical officer being grilled by several consultants following her presentation and was doubly glad I wasn't in her shoes =P Yes yes call me a chicken if you like. Or a jellyfish.
This week's attachment is in the Communicable Disease Centre of my hospital. It looks like a little colonial village, with trees and pathways and wooden windows. It's also got lots of mozzies. And dengue patients. Eep. Plus I opted NOT to get the triple flu jab that was free for all staff and there's a thing called H3N2 going around nowadays. I question my decisions sometimes.
And my superviser for the week said this yesterday:
How exciting! Indiana Jones style. Well, OK perhaps not Indiana Jones, coz he dealt with pythons and spikes coming out of cave walls. Maybe Steve Irwin. Except I'm not brave like Mr Irwin so I don't want to touch it. Just watch it. For 5 minutes and then someone can come bag it up and take it to the zoo. And yes. It proves my point that grass is DANGEROUS. Icky.
Right. Sometimes one knows when one needs sleep.
I have never treated work emails this year with much urgency. Coz they're usually announcements. Or the work roster. Or an update about something that is just good for information, but not directly concerning me. Today I discovered an email that does directly concern me. And it was from a week ago. Ooops. But I haven't missed the dates involved, so phew. I did panic for a few precious seconds when I read it. Then I read it PROPERLY, settled my brain enough to THINK and realised haha, close call.
Anyway, it does make me feel more important to have a specific duty, even if it's only for 10 days, but oh the sense of responsibility makes my stomach work overtime and gives me the burps. These days I'm just glad I didn't decide to study medicine. I think I would cave under the responsibility if I was a doctor. Today I observed a medical officer being grilled by several consultants following her presentation and was doubly glad I wasn't in her shoes =P Yes yes call me a chicken if you like. Or a jellyfish.
This week's attachment is in the Communicable Disease Centre of my hospital. It looks like a little colonial village, with trees and pathways and wooden windows. It's also got lots of mozzies. And dengue patients. Eep. Plus I opted NOT to get the triple flu jab that was free for all staff and there's a thing called H3N2 going around nowadays. I question my decisions sometimes.
And my superviser for the week said this yesterday:
"Oh try not to walk on the grass because there are snakes here."
How exciting! Indiana Jones style. Well, OK perhaps not Indiana Jones, coz he dealt with pythons and spikes coming out of cave walls. Maybe Steve Irwin. Except I'm not brave like Mr Irwin so I don't want to touch it. Just watch it. For 5 minutes and then someone can come bag it up and take it to the zoo. And yes. It proves my point that grass is DANGEROUS. Icky.
Right. Sometimes one knows when one needs sleep.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Little People
Today I got to hang out with a couple of kids for about 2 hours. Here's what we watched:
I found this learning concept quite intriguing. Not sure if it works, but it was fun to watch. It has a resident dog that is the only animal that cannot talk, just like Pluto in Mickey Mouse. And I learnt a new word : Thingamadoodle, which means 'letter' (aka huruf). I think I shall use it =)
Other than that, some notable words from the kids....
And also....
"Hah you haven't watched Shrek???!!" accompanied by many pairs of (little) wide eyes.
"I don't want to play. I just want to hop around. See? I can hop on one foot. I can also hop backwards on one foot!" followed by a demonstration of wonderful acrobatic skills.
"I want to win...I REALLY want to win!" with a scrunched-up face and fist in the air. We were playing musical chairs.
"Ben 10 is really cool! There's an alien, and a monster and a...." I couldn't understand the rest but he sure was excited about what this Ben 10 could do.
"It's a secret. I must whisper it into your ear..." in response to "What is your name?"
I had lots of fun =)
I found this learning concept quite intriguing. Not sure if it works, but it was fun to watch. It has a resident dog that is the only animal that cannot talk, just like Pluto in Mickey Mouse. And I learnt a new word : Thingamadoodle, which means 'letter' (aka huruf). I think I shall use it =)
Other than that, some notable words from the kids....
"One dollar can buy you a sexy girl!"
shouted a 6-year-old girl across the room. I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I didn't. Well OK, it was a bit hard to stop myself from saying "Oh my goodness" but I don't think the kids heard me say that. Or if they did, it didn't make any sense to them.
And also....
"Hah you haven't watched Shrek???!!" accompanied by many pairs of (little) wide eyes.
"I don't want to play. I just want to hop around. See? I can hop on one foot. I can also hop backwards on one foot!" followed by a demonstration of wonderful acrobatic skills.
"I want to win...I REALLY want to win!" with a scrunched-up face and fist in the air. We were playing musical chairs.
"Ben 10 is really cool! There's an alien, and a monster and a...." I couldn't understand the rest but he sure was excited about what this Ben 10 could do.
"It's a secret. I must whisper it into your ear..." in response to "What is your name?"
I had lots of fun =)
Friday, May 28, 2010
Lazy days...
How I spent the public holiday:
- Looking up what Vesak Day is all about (because I have celebrated this holiday for many years albeit a break, but still have no idea what it is).
- Writing up about low sodium levels, sliding scale insulin and wondering how much of what I THINK I understand is actually correct. I tried to read reputable literature...truly I did. But it got so confusing I sought Wikipedia instead, to lay the foundation. I need a personal tutor.
- Ironing a thigh-high pile of clothes....I'm only supposed to have 20 pieces of iron-necessary clothes in Singapore...I think that was all 20 I just ironed.
- Sneezing, sniffling and plugging my nose with tissue so I wouldn't have to reach for tissues every 5 minutes.
- Listening to the cousins scream, shout, yell, nudge and laugh. 'Shut Up' appears to be their recent favourite word.
- Discovering something really nice to eat in Singapore! Aunt bought this spicy thing to go with roast chicken, which looks like pickled shredded chilli + sesame seeds + some sour sauce. I have no idea what it really is, but it sure tastes good.
- Napping =) I'm sick OK....
- Downloading Jay Chou songs on Real Player. That was good advice, MessyJane of Sydney/Cheras.
- Wishing I had school holidays for a month too. Mmm the good old days of movie-watching in 1Utama and sleepovers with the gang.
- Craving for ice cream, sundae-style with choc sauce and HEAPS of choc bits.
- Blogging TWICE in a day.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Retail Therapy Session #1
Perhaps it's because I haven't been shopping for a dress in a long time.
So when the petite saleslady with long eyelashes and brown hair ala cute Korean-girl style told me their dresses are free-size, I was fascinated. Well OK, I was initially sceptical...but that lasted for about 5 seconds and then I thought "Well this is interesting!".
I picked out 3 dresses to try:
1. A black dress that I can wear to work - because one must always have little black dress for all occasions
2. A white dress with red flowers - because it was different
3. A yellow summer dress - well, because it's yellow....
Verdict?
1. Yellow dress - Too tight waist up
2. White dress - Too tight waist down
3. Black dress - Hmmm, looked promising....until I reached my hand upwards (coz I have to be able to get drugs from top shelves) and felt the limitation, and bent over (coz I also have to get drugs from lower shelves) and....well I couldn't bend over O.o
Not so 'free-size' after all.
So because there was no occasion that involved 'just standing around' to wear the black dress for, I left the shop empty-handed. From that day on, I decided that free-size doesn't really work for dresses because most dresses are not elastic-ky or stretchy, and even if they were, if it has to be stretched to fit, it wouldn't look as nice (unless you're super-skinny, in which case you'd probably fit into the free-size without having to stretch anything anyway) *takes deep breath*
My intellectual thought processes while shopping ;)
So when the petite saleslady with long eyelashes and brown hair ala cute Korean-girl style told me their dresses are free-size, I was fascinated. Well OK, I was initially sceptical...but that lasted for about 5 seconds and then I thought "Well this is interesting!".
I picked out 3 dresses to try:
1. A black dress that I can wear to work - because one must always have little black dress for all occasions
2. A white dress with red flowers - because it was different
3. A yellow summer dress - well, because it's yellow....
Verdict?
1. Yellow dress - Too tight waist up
2. White dress - Too tight waist down
3. Black dress - Hmmm, looked promising....until I reached my hand upwards (coz I have to be able to get drugs from top shelves) and felt the limitation, and bent over (coz I also have to get drugs from lower shelves) and....well I couldn't bend over O.o
Not so 'free-size' after all.
So because there was no occasion that involved 'just standing around' to wear the black dress for, I left the shop empty-handed. From that day on, I decided that free-size doesn't really work for dresses because most dresses are not elastic-ky or stretchy, and even if they were, if it has to be stretched to fit, it wouldn't look as nice (unless you're super-skinny, in which case you'd probably fit into the free-size without having to stretch anything anyway) *takes deep breath*
My intellectual thought processes while shopping ;)
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