The Beginning of My Duty as House Officer

Working life... have been tough for me. N i think for everyone too. Currently im working in Sandakan, far far away from my home, a place i never come n never thought would stay for years.

19/5/2014, i started my induction, which marks the beginning of my career. although that one week only sit, eat n sleep, but my salary started from that date. before that, i wanted to stay unemployed as long as i can, because i knew working life would be shit, n i wanted to chill n enjoy first. but i cant escape from reality, the medical degree im holding, means i have to go through shit. on the first night of induction, i got the letter of my posting. Sandakan. since then i had been busy searching for accomodation, because the hospital got no hostel or quarters for us.

24/5/2014, my whole family sent my youngest brother to his further studies. UNITEN doesnt look that bad, so he surely can do well there.  n thats also my last time i see all my family before i came to Sandakan.

25/5/2014, i came to Sandakan via MAS. i met her family, they were all good, n asked me to take good care of her. n i met my soon-to-be colleague Farid too. the journey was long, almost as long as Jogja journey. Sandakan airport is a small airport, n lousy as well. expected thing. we went to our own apartment, n i had to help her carry her heavy luggages up to second floor. n my own to first floor. Our apartment was just beside the big main road. so we could clearly hear all the cars n motorbikes passing. seriously annoying noisy shit. n there i met with my housemate, an indian lady, houseman too. she spoke of her 6 months experience here, a bit. apparently, we dont need to wear doctor coat, n during weekend just wear anything we like. we went Giant to buy some stuff, by public bus, n by the time we finished, its already quite late, n no more bus available. we had to call taxi, n the taxi charged per person, ridiculous thing.

26/5/2014, our first day in Hospital Duchess of Kent. total of 4 houseman entering this day, me, her, farid n nadiah. our pengarah gave us 2 choices for our first posting. O&G n medical. so me n her chose O&G. n since then...

for every new posting, we will undergo at least 2 weeks of TAGGING. while on tag, we need to work from early morning to late at night, everyday without rest. for O&G, its 6.30am to 10pm. for Paediatrics, what i heard is 6am to sometimes 1am. while on tag, we are supposed to learn everything, so that we can off tag n start operate, start on call. the first few days working, i didnt even know how the system work, things are so much different from my Koas time. n the short forms, seriously killing newbies. almost everyday i was scolded, from my MO n my specialists. from small minor things, to some quite serious mistakes, they would just scold in front of patients. until i had patient telling me that im very kesian kena marah in front of patients n she felt bad for me. i just smiled n said biasalah, memang i salah.

I finally off tag after 3 weeks, yeah got extended a bit but its ok for me, because i got more time to learn before i on call. my first on call was still 2 ho in antenatal, 1 in labour room, 1 in gynae. those in antenatal will take care of new admissions and the ward, those in labour room will take care of all the delivery, n gynae will take care of gynae, n go to OT if there is any case.

as more n more ho leaving O&G, n no new ho entering, after my 3rd on call, we only had 1 ho each in antenatal, labour room n gynae. n after that, on call no more from 2pm to next day 2pm (24 hours), but from 6am to next day 12pm (30 hours). i must say, working for 24 hours is tough, working 30 hours is tougher. n if there is any funny strange cases, or red alert, its hell.

we work more than 80 hours a week. compared with a teacher, who work less than 40 hours a week, n comparing our salary, seriously doctors are not that rich. n the amount of stress, between life n death, medicolegal n stuff, its challenging n scary. i have seen the one of the worst things in O&G, n that case stuck in our minds, even after almost or more than one month, i still can spell out the patient's name correctly.

there have been some patients telling me life as doctor isnt easy after seeing me working for long hours. those are good people, at least they are understading.

i try to mix well with the nurses. because i know i need them to help me most of the time. although sometimes they appear to be annoying, like asking me to pasang branula as if they cant do it n i have a lot of free time. but i just do it, because i depend on them a lot. they take vital sign, do pad charting, n measure urine. n clean shits. which i feel blessed they never come n say to me: doctor, patient itu dah berak, tolong pergi bersihkan.

i have time to write this entry, because i just finished my 30--hour call yesterday, n slept from 4pm to this morning, n im off today.

台湾之旅感想

去了台湾近两个星期，游了台南、台中、阿里山、花莲、九份和台北，花了不少钱买来这段美好的经历。虽然在九份时因为不舒服而只走了九份老街，遗憾错过金瓜石、菁铜、十分等。

台湾之旅给我的感触是，台湾人大致上都不像新闻看到的台湾政治人物互相丢椅子泼水的那般野蛮。

台湾人很准时。在台南过了一夜，一早要搭的士，我就打了个电话。电话上说的士三分钟后到。我们还很稳重地收拾、下楼梯，然后等。等了一会儿，怎么还没来？我再打电话过去。哈哈，原来他来了，又走了，因为三分钟后他来我们还没来。还有就是在奋起湖，司机阿龙说午餐后一点半开车。我们还无忧无虑地四处走到处拍照。结果他亲自跑来找我们，说都已经超过一点半了。在台湾各地的火车也蛮准时的，不像这里的，说好的十五分钟一趟，总是来不到。

在台湾很难找到路边的垃圾桶，通常都要到7-11就一定有。可是，路上却是很难看到垃圾。所以即使手上有垃圾，也不好意思随便丢。通常都要拿着，一直到7-11才丢。

以上两点真的让我佩服。我们这里的人啊，不会守时，垃圾乱丢。

在台湾，若是迷路了，或是不知道怎么走，随便问问路人，他们都会讲解得很清楚怎样走。但我一直都有看到外国人说我们马来西亚人很热情，我想我们应该也是会和外国人导航的，不是吗？

在台湾要找吃的，最重要的规则就是：看到很多人排队的就去买。因为同样的食物，一条街可以有几个档口在卖，但只有一个才是正宗的。虽然招牌大家都写多少年的老店、哪里最纯特产等。最夸张的是在花莲的曾记麻吉。三条路就有六间。害我不知道其中是不是有假的。后来问司机才知道，每一间都是曾记，是为了方便买家，所以这里一间，对面一间……

那时正是春天，天气冷，街上的人都穿得很厚。没有看到所谓的摈榔西施。由于冬季已过，到处都在大减价，要卖掉冬装，而换夏装了。有四季的国家不错的，总有服装大减价。因为如果今年的冬装卖不完，明年就被嫌过时了。

台北渔人码头情人桥

生活很忙碌。忙着休息，忙着睡觉，忙着打Dota，很忙很忙。忙到我又是很久没有来写东西。

农历新年了。终于又有机会回家过年。就觉得真的会肥很多。再加上二月十三号要回去毕业，都不知道会怎样。

接下来有一段时间，想想下，好像没有特别什么事情做。是有考虑练习练习创作。

但是，还是比较喜欢睡觉。

祝大家马年龙马精神