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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 =)

Upgraded

I'm in the Apple Club!

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:

"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.

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....

"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 =)


 

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.  

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 ;)


 

The P concepts...

I have never been patriotic. Or political. Apart from striving to be politically-correct.


Patriotism. I love my country and all it has to offer. It has variety. In food. In languages and ways to express myself. I can use up to 4 languages in 1 sentence and most people will still understand me. I believe living in Malaysia has automatically instilled in me an awareness and most importantly, an acceptance of different cultures. Different people have different ways of doing things, and it's OK. It's OK/normal to have a Malay neighbour or Indian teacher. And Petronas commercials usually make me cry.


I love all that about my country. But does it mean I'm patriotic? I never thought so. It's my appreciation of what is good in a place. I can do the same about Singapore, or Adelaide, or Melbourne.


But recently, there has been a little feeling growing inside my heart. A feeling of wanting to make a contribution. Possibly a difference or a change, if I allow myself to dream about it. And it's different from wanting to make an impact in general. This feeling is specific. It's for Malaysia only.


Politics? Never felt the need to make any stands. Just sit on the fence and watch. Watch until I know what's going on. Lately I've been wondering...there's wisdom (in waiting), and there's idleness. Up till now, I still don't really understand it. I can't tell if this is acceptable, if this is wise, if silence is the key or whether this is brain-washing. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to choose a stand. To have an opinion and be humble enough to stand to be corrected.


So with all these new thoughts....I ask myself again. Am I patriotic? I still don't know the answer. But perhaps what it is or isn't, is not as important as what I eventually do about it.  

I love being in KL.....

.....For holidays ;)

Not sure if I can live there again just yet, but it sure is nice to catch up with people, see the family and go shopping with the sister. And I'm still a firm believer that KL food is much nicer than what I've found so far in Singapore. I'm not complaining....just mentioning what my country is good for =) Fish head curry....yum.

Went to church with sis and heard a great sermon by one of my favourite people to listen to. And then there was the usher/welcomer at the lift with a grand smile and a hug for me =)

Then I came back and the stress began. Heh. No really. I am truly stressed. Just THINKING about what I will be doing once I get my practising licence. Oh the inadequacy. And hearing stories of first-years staying till 10pm to finish off work is not helping. I refuse to stay past 5.30pm! But perhaps I will have to forgo this ideal until I get up to speed and manage to do better work in good time. Tis gonna be some hard work ahead. But it is achievable!

And I have to finish off assignments....Oh why do I do this to myself? Got licence in Australia not enough, must come back and get one more in another country. WHY? I know full well why...but still.....WHY?

The irrational human mind.....

 ....decides to tune out and learn dance steps to Sorry Sorry instead....

Hmmmm...

Am not sure if I have the right to be disappointed sometimes...

I Dream of Melbourne

Yes I know. I have spent 6 years and 200-odd days in Adelaide, and only a grand total of 5 days in Melbourne in my entire life. But dream of it I do.

Shopping, 

Markets, 

Crazy tram stops,

Musicals 

and 

One of the awesome-mest breakfast smoothies I. HAVE. EVER. HAD.

There's just something about Melbourne...

Good Grief...

I actually fell down in my room last night. Tried to be quick in clearing up my stuff, picked my laptop off the table, whizzed round, foot landed on the laptop adaptor, reflexes tried to save my foot from being stabbed by adaptor more than necessary, reflexes forgot to adjust other foot, lost balance and landed on the floor. And my shin hit the adaptor anyway.

Survival mode numbed out the pain until I was sure my beloved laptop was OK (it too hit the floor). Then my goodness. The pain. Nothing broken, but aiyo, it's not just the bits that hit the floor that hurt. Even the back and my calf hurts. Can't understand it. My body can't take shock like it used to. Well, come to think of it, I've never actually fallen down for a long time...usually I can reflex quick enough to regain balance. Haha. Now I can understand how old people can fall down and fracture hips etc.  

Discoveries....

King Ahab gets told that he is going to die because he had done something wrong and 'Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria' (1 Kings 20:43)

In the next chapter, this same king is refused a vineyard that he requested for and again becomes 'sullen and angry'. Not only that 'He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat' (1 Kings 21:3-4)

Then drama between the prophets....'Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face' (1 Kings 22:24)

I always imagined the Bible to contain big important scholarly words, but these lines seem to give it a new edge. I've heard of kings that tore their clothes, cried out in rage, ordered for people to be killed, but SULK? And dowan to eat??? Then to top it off, his WIFE finds out what is bothering him and orders for the owner of the vineyard to be killed and gets the piece of land for her husband. D-R-A-M-A. Plus a mental note on 'What kind of man NOT to marry' and 'What kind of wife NOT to be'.

And the 'slapping' just tickled me. I thought prophets STRUCK each other. And in my head, it even happens in slow motion. Slapping, brings it down to earth. That scene now pans out like a soap opera in my imagination =D

Ah the things you find out...

  

Having uBer Fun

Whee blogging again....I need friends....

Surviving Ward Rounds for Dummies: 

Trainee Pharmacist Edition

Tip #1

Always have a calculator with you. And I mean a PROPER one. Using your phone to calculate something as important as kidney function is plain difficult and just looks unprofessional. Besides, most of us who need a calculator now probably needed one way back in uni, so might as well put that faithful scientific calculator to good use.  

Tip #2

Whenever presented with a query to which you don't know the answer, choose to say "I'll get back to you about that" rather than "I don't know but I'll go look it up". The former sounds much better, despite them both indicating that you haven't got a clue! This may take a bit of practice, especially if you're used to blurting out "I don't know" at every instance.

Tip #3

Get into the habit of asking lots of WHYs when you're studying. If YOU don't ask, your supervising pharmacist definitely will, so you may as well find out as much as possible beforehand. Bear in mind, there will be always be a WHY that you cannot answer no matter how much you read. The aim is to keep the "I didn't think about that"s to a minimum. 

Tip #4

Learn to sift through information. Case notes are full of information in mostly illegible handwriting, and if you try to read it all, you'll end up with fuzzy-brain (ala Australian Nutella commercial) by the time you reach the third page. If you can find someone to teach you (properly) how to read them, he/she is God-sent and should be forever held in high regard.

Tip #5

Never date someone working in the same ward. News spreads, and it spreads FAST on the wards.

Tip #6

Have fun! Enjoy the learning without the responsibilities. Use the time to get to know the pharmacists (it also makes them less likely to tell you off when you don't know the answers. Well, actually they still tell you off, but it doesn't feel so bad).

Based on the true experience of a trainee pharmacist who needs friends =)

To have civil awareness...

OK maybe civil awareness isn't really the correct term...but it sure sounds like a good word =)

Here's what I'm trying to say....

I jumped queue 3 times today. In my defence, those people next in line were standing so far away from the counter that I immediately assumed they were waiting for their orders or still pondering what to have. After all, in a competitive place like this, one would EXPECT people to stick close to the counter so that other people won't cut in front of you right? Right. Well, that was (and still is) my assumption. 

So I happily waltzed up to the counter and placed my order, when poor Mr or Miss behind me has been waiting to be served. And none of the people serving me told me that someone else was here first (whether they even noticed, or cared, who was first is questionable). The first time it happened, I noticed and made a mental note to ask next time. But I forgot and did it again. And again. 

I'm not rude. Really I'm not. Just forgetful. Or distracted.

 

To have Vision....

I have always tried very hard to be someone with Vision. After all, it does say in the Book that without vision, men perish. I don't want to be Perishable! So Lord give me some Vision please! While waiting for the divine whisper, I put my brain to work trying to decipher if God had said something before that I had overlooked, that was in fact the key to revealing the Vision for my life.

In addition, I figured life is more worthwhile if one has dreams. Goals to work towards. So I tried having that as well. What do I want to achieve? What do I really want to do? Where do I want to be? One of the problems with dreaming as an adult is that anything that comes up is always attached to 'Are you sure you can do that?' automatically. Wet blanket, yes, but I shouldn't set myself up for failure right? So dreams too, became hard to come by. But I continued trying. Stressing. Because I didn't want to become an under-achiever, a 'failure'. Having a job isn't good enough....I've got to save the world! Find something meaningful to do Jade!

God's vision is bigger than ours, were the pastor's words this morning. 

And I felt God say (African-American style)..... 

"I've got enough vision for the both of us, honey"

Me (Malaysian style + disbelief): Hah?? 

Silence. I think for a bit.

Me (trying to be a smart-aleck): No dreams, no action you noe.

Silence. Think some more.

Me: You sure ah? I still cannot see anything. I have no idea what to do.

Silence. And I figured God had said all He needed to say. 

So. My dreams come from God. Stick with God, and I'll eventually find out what it is I'm meant to be doing. And if not, hey, I've stuck with God, which will be great anyway. 

You think what you want is huge? Wait till you see what I give you. 

Me: Are you serious God?

And I realise what I think I want is probably teeny-tiny compared to the awesome-ness of what He has in store for me. Oooh excited! You have to know what I told God I want in order to understand *giggles* And if He gives me things that I have not even begun to ask for? Oh I could die of happiness.

    

Matters of the Heart....

....and blood pressure. And stroke. I have never liked. I remember it got so complicated in uni that I decided to save myself the trouble and just memorise the facts. As long as I didn't work in the cardiac wards, I won't kill anyone and it'll be fine. Went to work in retail and subsequently forgot even the things I memorised. Sure I know this is used to lower blood pressure, but how does it work? Hmmm, that I'm not so sure. And besides, who really wants to know?

Now I realise the err of my ways. Haha. OK maybe I'm being a little dramatic. But wow. The things I DO NOT know and perhaps really should. Oh well, new roles require new sets of knowledge. I no longer need to argue with patients about why this costs such and such, and why the government isn't paying for this medication, but I do need to know the HOWs and WHYs of the teeny-tiny chemicals we give to the sick. Well, *and takes a deep breath* I have 6 weeks left to get up to speed...I'd better study REAL hard. Eep!

And matters of the emotional heart....it's all over the place, as would be expected I guess, with all big changes in life. I think too much. Plus being home last weekend has reignited some of the initial homesickness I felt when I first moved here. Just a bit. It's bearable la. At least I'm not wondering 'why I decided to come here in the first place' anymore. I do like it here in this crazy hectic competitive place. And I can see family (at least) 4 times a year instead of once a year =) 

Jumbles

Dot points!!! Because I can't connect my thoughts and there must be some order around here....

#1

 Woo am suffering from blogging withdrawal syndrome. But for a good cause! Was back in KL over the weekend and used that time to have some person-to-person instead of person-computer-person interaction. Certainly feels good! As Dr Gary Chapman would say: Love tank is FULL! And so was the stomach...from sashimi and japanese mango salad....as in the salad is japanese, not the mango. Or maybe nobody noticed the difference. 

  

#2

Question from a Singaporean colleague last week: So does your house in Malaysia have a farm with animals in it? LOL...Me? And farm? Adelaide is as 'rural' as it gets for me thanks =P 

#3

Last week was an experience on the MRT. I got elbowed in the face (yup, lady's elbow went right into my left cheekbone with a thump....fortunately no blue-black, but proves I'm still not that tall even in an Asian country) and twisted my left foot. Yup, on/in the MRT. Not running, not jumping. Just STANDING.

#4 

Outpatient rotation has ended! Hooray! Hello peace and control =) Have started rotation up in the wards and have been spending the last 2 days like this: Go to work at 9am, sit and read till 12, go up to the wards and follow pharmacist around + answer questions + try not to sound too silly if I don't know the answer till 2pm, go for lunch, read some more until 4pm, answer more questions from pharmacist, go home! In other words - and not that I'm trying to make anybody jealous - I'm being paid to study/learn! For the next 5 weeks! Double hooray! Okla...next week I might not feel so positive about it....coz I have been warned some pharmacists are er....nasty when they hear 'I don't know'. Just need to be thick-skin and think (but be careful not to say aloud) "In AUSTRALIA, we are taught to know where to refer, not memorise everything. Hmmph!" And then nicely go and look it up, memorise it and report back to the pharmacist. 

#5 

I want to buy a keyboard. Or an IPod Touch.

Ah...I better go study. High possibility of kena marah tomorrow. Better know more things. =P

 

First Sunday shift

When they said I could wear anything I wanted to work on Sunday, I thought I'd better not take it too literally. So I decided against the jeans and wore a fairly casual pleated skirt (which I sometimes wear to work anyway, but with a nicer top) and usual MaryJane crocs. Just to be safe. Turned up at work and the pharmacists are all in shorts, T-shirts and slippers! Wheeee next Sunday shift: SHORTS it is! How cool....never ever have I envisioned that I can wear shorts to work. Summore not the knee-length kind...the short-short kind! Makes me feel like I'm going to the beach. Haha.

I love being an Inpatient pharmacist! =D

 

Post Exam #1, I have been....

...Expanding my Mandarin vocabulary to include words such as side effects, natural sources, prescription, no refund and pay at cashier =) Oh boy, it's going to be an interesting linguistic journey for me here. Especially since most of the Chinese uncles & aunties that ask for counselling in Mandarin don't understand English AT ALL, so I can't even use the occasional English word when I can't think of the Mandarin version. And then there are the few that can only speak Hokkien. The only Hokkien words I know are 'eat rice', 'sleep', 'good', 'no good' and 'die'. Which makes for terrible counselling. I suppose there's always hand gestures. Haha. And if one thinks Malaysians should be able to counsel in Malay, think again. It becomes quite a challenge when the words you have to come up with are 'pencair darah' and the like. I often have to think again because I can't really tell if I'm literally translating the word or if it's a real Malay word. But I'm better than the Singaporean Chinese la heh.

....Learning new tactics for handling patients. Having had no chance to explain my retail knowledge to anyone for the last 2 months, I started off my retail attachment a bit over-excited and began explaining what aqueous cream does as opposed to a steroid cream, and why aqueous cream is more suitable bla bla bla and after a while, the aunty just asked me 'So can I use this or not?'. O.o  Verbal diarrhoea. One of the rare moments when I actually talk too much. I have since employed the method of simply asking questions then telling them what to use and how to use it. Seems to keep most of them happy enough. And the simplistic model works even for saying NO. People here like to take cough medicine like a daily vitamin supplement and explaining why they can't (and really have no need to) buy 3 bottles at once doesn't really get me anywhere. So all I do is keep saying 'bu ke yi' continuously and they eventually leave, albeit with a grumble, but at least they don't yell and shout.

....Exploring Singapore with friends. Some of the highlights include the BEST creamy pasta (what's plural for pasta? Pastas? Pastae? Heh...) I have ever tasted, some excellent apple crumble and Marina Barrage for a bit of sea breeze & awesome skyline. Barrage is definitely somewhere I would go frequently if I had a car, given my history of spontaneous night drives to Adelaide's Henley Beach ;)

Apart from that, life here has certainly introduced some new aspects to my relationship with God, and it's taken 5 weeks for me to start getting my head around it. More on that when it becomes clearer =)