My Blog

A bloodbath that systematically killed 400 people by air raids in 5 days is an act of self-defense and retaliation, to

A meagre campaign that launch home-made ground rockets whose targets were pretty much hit and miss.  2 people has been killed in the last 5 days. And this is an act of terrorism by thugs.  

One promised another a home in a country already densely populated by a non-willing third party. However absurd it may sounds, this proposal was endorsed and came to fruition in 1917.

In a six days war in 1967, an army of a country which has came into existence for mere 19 years could defeat an army consisting of three big nations, supplemented by troops from six others.

What difference is there between concentration camps built for the purpose of killing by gassing and torture, and a barricated area wherein bombs constantly fall from the sky and supplies of necessities almost never get through.

A race of people whose past are haunted chooses to subject others to the same destiny.

60 years and a generation of Palestinians later - even after man-made palm islands, ski slope and buildings of dizzying height and grandeur appear in what was previously a neighbouring desert- the end to the sufferings is still not in sight.

What the rest of 2 billions people of the world can do is shout out loud in the street and burn flags, only.

“If their suffering are not meant to end soon, if their lost today is to be forgotten by an even bigger lost tomorrow, and if there is no one to avenge innocent lives lost, then please don’t take away from them one thing, and one thing only. Hope.”

I hope that 2009 is able to bring many other years gone have failed to do-peace and good tidings to all oppressed and suffering people the world over. Happy new year. Hope is a fragile thing. Take good care.

General practice. Family medicine. I hate it with vigour. To me, 30% of patient who come have viral infections, 30% are depressed, and another 30% want the doctor’s signature for sick leave or incapacity benefit or what not. That leaves the rest 10% with real signs and symptoms, those whom I consider to be proper ill. What do I know, eh.

Until I was to take up the hot seat and do my own consulting. Then the pressure was on.

My first patient’s urine test result was very suggestive of chlamydia. I turn around to face him and his wife thinking, oh shit what should i say. The next lady had shoulder pain. Mid-examination, I frozed there trying to think what special test of movement for shoulder is there??” The next gentleman had a rash, at the natal cleft. That’s in between the buttocks for me and you. I looked at it, very closely, and then had to tell him, “i dont know what it is.” Next was this cute kiddie who has been vomiting for days. Luckily I didnt end up prescribing metoclopramide, or else she’ll come back eyes rolled back into her head, and neck twisting at odd angles and arms flailing. Another lady i had to see on that morning came bursting to the door, anouncing,”i did a pregnancy test 3 times and they were positive and i think i am pregnant”.Huh? The next (and the last thank God) lady I saw that morning complained of not being able to eat as much as she liked but didnt feel sickly at at all but just wouldnt want to eat. I asked her what she had for breakfast and she said two slices of toast and a banana and did she finish them and she said oh yes she did. Double huh?

I can still feel my head reeling when I had to start again for the afternoon consultation.

So no general practise is not easy peasy as i poohed paah it to be. It’s not all about medicine. After a few days I think I could tell whether the patients left the room feeling satisfied or not. And the thing that is most important to them is the explanation and reassurance. The drug prescription is just an added bonus. I mean, not having a course of antibiotics for a simple sore throat would not kill anyone. The antibiotics probably will do more harm in fact.

Now i have a different view of general practice altogether. It is not that hard to become a general practitioner (as long as one passes the mrcgp of course). But to become a good one, one must have a good diagnostic skills (differentiating the urgently sick, fairly sick and not sick at all but what is thehidden agenda?) Most importantly, one must have brilliant people skills.

Am i looking forward for the next 2 weeks? oh yes more so that i ever has been when on community placement. Am i cut out to become a brilliant general practitioner. Afraid not.

However I have a few tricks to survive the next couple of weeks.

1. Sore throat? lets do the triple dance: Say aaaa, a neck massage, and poke the ear and have a peek. (It doesn’t matter if you dont know what you are looking for, almost all is viral anyway)

2. Dont know what the hell to advice/say? Say to the patient;”you know what, there’s a very good website that will help explain things, lets have a look at it together”. Then open the browser patients.co.uk

3. After 10 minutes talking and not getting anywhere, the thing to ask is: of all the things u have mentioned, what concern u the most?

Just the thing u will expect of a manchester medical student ey?

On another matter, more junior doctors doing housemanship (in Malaysia) are suffering from mental ilnesses. Said the star online. The news didn’t startle me. But I was not unfazed either. A minister (a minister!!) had the cheekiness to suggest that the doctors themselves are already having personality traits and predisposition for mental illness. and it was the university’s and jpa’s fault for not being able to pick it up these “rotten lots” before they enter university. Helloo? If someone has this so-called personality trait/predisposition, surely 5 years of medical school will bring out all sort of mental illness one has. Why during housemanship only? Because the housemanship period is riddled with bullying, lack of sleep (and eating and showering for that matter), and unreasonable expectations and demands. It is not a commando training for goodness sake, have some common sense, and mercy!

Am I afraid of my future? Hell yeah. Surely being able to communicate well and  deal with patients concerns and expectations wont get me anywhere during my housemanship. Dont want to get admitted to any mental ward if i can help it.