Saturday, April 23, 2005

22.04.05

in retrospect, i might say i'm kinda lucky. sometimes i can fail doing certain things that i don't wanna fail doing. hey failure is an innate human attribute. to quantify failure to succeed as failure of ballistic proportions is to overexaggerate that failure. anyway i'm refering to countless tests and assessments that i take, not so much for the purpose of academic memory retention capabilities but more so, i think at least, to train us to become humble creatures who know when to say no or i don't know under different circumstances.
the good thing about the frequency is that it acts as a ever-present reminder of expected subconcious humility. but the other perspective which deserve critisism is that doing so does not actually serve the academic purpose, what more its practicality in application to real life situations. first and foremost the questions asked are not related to diseases or situations that one is likely to find in Singapore. i think u can't even find them in like the most populated cities in the world. even siberia doesnt have it! ok lame yah that's ike a DUH! for example there was this question asking whether or not some of the options below are complictions of DM. i mean they could be for all u know but the names of the conditions are incomprehensible try "iridis roseosomeshitidon'tknowwhat" like whaddaheckisdat? i'm not lamenting. it's already part and parcel of this medical school life, anyway, i passed them all sometimes not even stdying for it, haha (wink* Wink*).....there's a trick i learned answering all those questions. must pepper your answers with certain keywords that examiners like to see. so of course different specialties wuld have different words. like in family medicne u can't go wrong saying ICE (ideas, expectation, concerns), in A&Eur ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) in geriatrics ur ADLs / iADLs / ECAQ in psyciatry ur ACTMAD? and the whole lot. i think the challenge for med students like myself and i'm sure many others out there is the immense workload and hippocampal exacerbation that we all undergo that is uncompensated and compounded by the sheer fact that most of us suffer from amnesia or memory leakage to some "bermuda triangle" part of the brain.
but put it this way if most of the medical predecessors can do it why not us? what was their strategy? how did they cope? hhmmm..mysteries. so i tried solving them. once i tried going around the medical fraternity (and maternity sorry girls!) to ask this one burning question," How did you do it?"
What i got from most of them were crapshitloaddastuff. really. ok not all. some were like," i don't know man..it's just one hell of a journey, lucky i passed!!" (THANKS! that helps) Another went like," aiyah sure pass one so long as u know ur stuff and go through it consistently..really. eh i have to go see ya and all teh best ok?" ( yeah so what stuff?) and one went," oh you see you have to check wh ur tutor is b4 the test find out how he or she is like etc....bla3 n went on reviewing the whole possibilities, differentials and management and even added in some quizzes for me..(how thoughtful ah as u can see some people).....
no comments.
speaking of academics. i had a test today. internal medicine. quite oklah. except for the mind blogging stuff on Mitral regurgitation, basics on upper motor neuron lesion and causes of hypokalemia, like where have all my brain matter gone!! waiting for Prof to go through answers.

speaking of internal medicne, i saw this doctor who so damn bloody rude to the nurse, ok it's a murse, plus so sarcastic. i mean yah he( i won't mention any names nor hospitals) might be post-call or something but that aint no way to talk to the murse man. i mean that snappy turtle, make that koala cos i think he looks like one was like rude over some trivial matter regarding some patient's case sheet.

didnt get to see much today. maybe i should start documenting all the cases i saw for the day here. just for reference. note: just for reference so that next time i'll know!

read one whole paper on Asian American Poets and their struggle to find their space their voice in the american mainstream without compromising their cultural identity. they also have another problem, that the diversity of the plethora of Asian American experience makes it difficult for one to define what it means to identify oneself as Asian American.
But as they try to forge common grounds, fight stereotypes, preserving their cultural roots, i think it is imperative that they try to also at the sametime to re-define and possibly change the mindset of AngloSaxon dominated notions of what it entails to be mainstream, that diversity exists and needs to be acknowledge. Some of my favourite poets are Marilyn Chin, Li-Young Lee, Maxine Hong Kingston, John Yau, Lawson Fusao INada and Sharon Hashimoto....many many more. i think their experiences are interesting. plus they have trans-generational differences that promote diversified trials and tribulations. i extol them for their works. i think it's a good way of for one learning Asian history through recollections of 1st hand encounters and secondly to seek to understand the Western society better through the eyes, ears, and words (esp written ones) of our counterparts!

right UG class was ok. i thought Pat was cranky.. but he seems to enjoy himself so whaddaheck! haha. i enjoyed it for one. all the partner work and the jazzy stuff that he does, i mean arabesque and saut......but the steps were nice haha....
okies time to sleep shit its already 3am! man!!

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