And so I was 6 marks close to having to sit the supplementary exams for my GP/Psych OSCEs last semester. PHEW! In all honesty, I was shocked when I found out that I failed 4 out of my 9 stations (I got like 9/20s). I was surprised that I still managed to pass overall. But I really don’t know what went wrong, like for the Psych double station where we had to take a history and then present, I was only awarded 0.8/5 marks for presenting the HOPC. Like, did I really do THAT bad?! And the GP management stuff, I followed the 10-step plan that we were taught, but still only got awarded like half the total marks. Why oh why?! :( :( :(

Anyway, it’s all over and I’m glad I never ever have to sit any GP/Psych OSCE ever again. And the consolation is that I did very well for my written, so at least there’s something to be happy about. Well, and not forgetting the fact that I delivered another baby today and had a super duper nice midwife who taught me lots of stuff and let me do stuff.

Looking forward! I still have MED4082 to conquer, and the VIA of course. I can only do better =)

EDIT: I just realised, the median for the written paper was 80%, ie 50% of people scored 80% or higher. Oh wow, now my 85% doesn’t seem that fantastic anymore. Ah well.

My iTunes was on shuffle during the afternoon, and the familiar tunes of 冬 and 丰年祭 started playing once again, after a hiatus of almost a year. I think either I must have skipped past it every time, or iTunes is not smart enough to make sure it shuffles through all the older songs.

Well, it’s been 5 years since I put down my 柳琴, but I’m constantly reminded of my last concert with HCCO, as I’ve made one of the beautifully-designed tickets into a bookmark (to think that our dear artistic designer is an air steward now). Thinking about the times back then brings back memories, both good and bad.

I miss performing on stage, and I don’t know if people generally feel the same way, but I’d much prefer performing as a whole orchestra rather than as an ensemble or solo (though that being said, I was never good enough so I’ve never performed solo before). It just feels good to be able to immerse in the music as a group of 80 or so, hearts beating together to the rhythm and each contributing their part to complete the piece. I miss listening to CO music, and sad to say I’ve only got a pathetic 5 songs in my collection after my 6 years in CO. Well, I’m quite sure I still have a 柳琴 album in Singapore, plus some recordings we made during practice sessions/concerts/SYF. I should transfer them into my laptop when I get back end of this year.

And whilst I was listening to those pathetic songs on my iTunes, I was blog-browsing and I came across some NDP preview photos with a guy playing the pipa who looked familiar. I was thinking to myself: OMG isn’t that Samuel?! A quick Google search answered my question, and I came to discover The Teng Company, with all the familiar people I used to play with at GECO. It’s amazing how they are so passionate about 华乐 and all, studying in various renowned Chinese music schools, teaching, conducting; basically doing the very thing that they love. I thought this was pretty inspiring, given that it’s hard to make a living or develop far in the Arts industry in Singapore. Personally, I don’t think I’ll be able to survive if I’d chosen music as a career path, shrugs.

Anyway, the last time I saw the HCCO people as a group would be Dec 2006? That’s based on the photos I have, and my poor memory recalling that we didn’t meet up since then. We had dinner at Kenny Roger’s during my 1st year summer break, before Hansheng left for Canada.

Hmm, I wonder how everyone is doing at the moment. If you happen to read this, please leave a message to tell me what’s up! =)

It’s been 2 weeks into my placement, and I must say that I’m kinda enjoying it. There seems to be much more to do and learn compared to Psych & GP. Granted, plenty of time is being wasted as we hang around waiting for births, but that time can be put into reading/studying, and at the end it’s all worth it. I think welcoming a new life into this world is a pretty amazing thing to do =) Not to mention that the parents have been so kind to let me be part of the process, and they are really appreciative even though I only do the smallest of things for them. Makes me feel good =)

It’s been 2 weeks into my placement, and I must say that I’ve had quite a fair bit of drama going on. Last week on my first day in labour ward, I spent 12 hours with this lady throughout her whole labour process, only to have it become a Caesarean section because she wasn’t progressing despite maximal syntocinon (that’s the drug they give to help the uterus contract). We found out why in theatre – turns out she has a unicornuate uterus, with 1 ovary and 1 kidney missing. WHOA.

The one on the left is how a normal uterus looks like and the one on the right is how a unicornuate uterus looks like (picture credits to Netter’s Anatomy):

She knows she only has 1 kidney, apparently it was picked up incidentally during an ultrasound, but I was seriously wondering why her pregnancy ultrasounds did not pick up the missing ovary. So anyhow, it was quite amazing that she still managed to get pregnant and bring the pregnancy to term :P And at the end, mum was fine, baby was fine, so it was all good :) Registrar says that this is so rare that probably no one else in my batch will ever see one, so there, it was worth it.

And then on Tuesday I was in the clinic when I saw a lady with pre-eclampsia. She was in for her routine 36-week check, and she had a BP of around 175/100mmHg, with oedema all the way up her thighs. We did a urine dipstick and it came back 4+, so we had to admit her immediately. The poor lady, she was tearing and all because it was all so sudden and she wasn’t prepared. Before we examined her she was still saying something about feeling quite tired and irritable these days and she just wants the baby out instead of having to still hang in there for another 4 weeks. Well, a classic case of ‘be careful of what you wish for’. I was actually quite nervous and worried for her, I thought I was going to start tearing too. Oops, no good, can’t be too emotional, can I? Eventually it was decided that they were going to have to do a Caesarian, so I left for home, but I saw her the next morning and both mum and baby were fine, phew :)

And then yesterday I got in a bit earlier before my tute and found a lady in labour, and since there weren’t any other students around I decided to roster myself onto labour ward. Spent some time with her throughout the day, and she was doing really well with the contractions and dealing with the pain. But 5 minutes after the registrar reviewed her in the afternoon, the foetal heart rate started dropping to about 50bpm (it should be 120-160), so the midwife got me to call the registrar back in. He had to put in a foetal scalp electrode to get a more accurate reading, and it stayed the same at 50ish. So the consultant was called in, and everyone was sort of panicking a bit, putting her into the left lateral position, giving her oxygen, turning off the syntocinon, turning up the IV fluids. And me? Boy I sure felt a bit lost and helpless :( I wished I could have done more to help really, but seeing that I couldn’t really help with the medical bit, I just held the patient’s hand and tried to comfort her. Thankfully the heart rate went back up to about 110ish, but we still wheeled her down to theatre for an emergency Caesarian, just in case.

In the meantime, there was another lady who got admitted amidst all that drama, so instead of staying in theatre (I’ve seen 3 C-sections and scrubbed in for 2 already!), I went up to take a look. Finally I got lucky, the lady was pushing and the head was about to come out. I tried to offer the midwife my help but she seemed like she didn’t need any (the registrar said they probably not really allowed to let us deliver, or perhaps cos this midwife is rather new, shrugs), so I mainly just observed and assisted in minor stuff. Well, at least I’ve got one! That’s a start, seeing how unlucky I’ve been. Sighs :( And I must say that normal vaginal deliveries are shitty affairs, quite literally.

And today I was scheduled to be on labour ward and my other colleague said he was going to come to. Initially there were meant to be 2 inductions, but 1 got postponed, so I figured I’ll be nice since I got 1 yesterday and I’ll just let him do this one. When I got there, it turned out that there was another lady who just came in cos her membranes ruptured, so we could have 1 each. He being the lucky one (last Fri morning alone he managed to get 1 normal delivery and 1 forceps birth) picked the right one, who despite all the screaming (I tell you, she was really screaming her head off, somehow the epidural didn’t really work), managed to deliver at 2ish. My lady on the other hand, had no contractions at all after ~8h since her membranes ruptured, and the baby’s head wasn’t even engaged. So they decided to do a Caesarian since she already had 1 before. Left the hospital at 3, which is the earliest I’ve left in the past 2 weeks.

Big Sigh.

Now the question is, should I go in tmr? I’ve got tutes at MMC from 1-4pm, and there are 2 inductions going on tmr morning. Given my luck, they probably wouldn’t deliver in the morning to enable me to go for my tutes. So should I skip my tutes and wait for births? On one hand, it’s only week 2. But on the other hand, I think the midwifery students are back next week so they will be fighting with us. How now brown cow?!

2 weeks of holidays, gone. Too short, way too short.

Well, at least I had quite a good break:
- Spent time catching up with the people I hardly see since we are in different hospitals/rotations, and not to mention a yummy claypot rice dinner by the very hospitable Ho-s :)
- Played mahjong like crazy. Ok lar, not very crazy, but the number of times we played in these 2 weeks > the number of times I played the whole of last year.
- Went to KTV! OMG I haven’t sang in agessss, so happy :) And they actually have 维健’s songs here, wow!
- Watched the tennis. Hasn’t been very exciting, to be honest.
- Did a bit of studying.
- Got faculty approval for my elective but still subject to Monash Abroad’s final approval. And they didn’t reply my email, what’s new, I should call them.
- Started on my elective grant proposal, which I keep procrastinating so it’s still not finished.
- Did some travel research on Tanzania and Kenya, can’t decide where to go, $ and time are the issues!
- Read Six Months in Sudan and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and now halfway through The House of God.
- Ironed my clothes after they have been sitting in my wardrobe for 2 months.
- Worked on my usual Tuesday nights (don’t think I can work next sem, boo to no income).
- Swam twice, 1km each. Not enough exercise me thinks.
- Shopping plans didn’t suffice but I guess I’ve done enough online shopping. Better save some money for I will go broke this month, having to pay for electricity, car rego and car insurance.
- Slept 8-9h every day, WOOHOO!

I hope I survive the next 18 weeks. And the exams, of course.

The last article in the series: Fragile Tanzanian Orphans Get Help to Thrive.

Finally done with the exams today. The OSCEs were really exhausting, we had 9 8-minute stations, and before each station we had a rest station for 8 minutes to prepare, plus in between there were 2 minutes for each change over. In short, the whole process lasted for 3 hours. My brain was almost fried towards the end =S Was really nervous at the start because it’s the first time we don’t have any stems; in previous years, we always had the scenarios released to us a week beforehand, so that we were able to prepare and focus our practice. However, this year was very much difficult as we couldn’t really predict what would come out, and hence we just practised widely and prayed hard that at least some of the things we had covered would come out. Which it did, so that was good.

I guess overall the scenarios were more ‘real’, because in the real world, we would be examining patients when they present to us, not having any prior information. The bad thing was that I couldn’t think on my feet fast enough, and there were times when the diagnosis came to me the SECOND I stepped out of the room. Bloody hell. I felt really angry with myself, really. Oh well. I’m just glad it’s over and I pray hard and hope that I pass. We were told that we should know by the end of next week if we need to sit for the supplementary exams or if we have failed beyond salvation. No news will be good news.

So my holiday of 2 weeks and 3 days have begun. So short, yet so much to do. I need to:
1. Exercise. Been slacking for the past 2 weeks and eating/snacking heaps, need to stay active.

2. Work. Probably can only work for the next 2 weeks, not sure how my schedule for next semester will be like, but I’m pretty certain I wouldn’t be able to continue my Tuesday nights. Damn, I will miss bubble tea :(

3. Write my proposal and apply for the MIGA elective grant.

4. Hurry the slow-poke faculty and associate dean to approve my elective application so that I can proceed with flight bookings and travel plans etc. I dropped the coordinator an email early last week, my reason being January is 6 months away, and should they not approve, I’d have to source for another elective and some places require application at least 6 months in advance. She said I should have a reply end of the week or next week, ie this week, but I’ve yet to hear anything. I’ll have to email again on Monday if there is still no reply.

5. Read. I’m halfway through Six Months in Sudan, and I’ve got House of God and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas sitting on the bookshelf. Oh, and also Lonely Planet Tanzania.

6. Study (yes I’m a nerd, I admit). I have plans to start studying for paeds since everyone’s been saying how it’s impossible to finish reading everything. But I don’t know if that plan will be put into action. Also plans to meet up with the study group and start on some VIA revision.

7. Watch Wimbledon – it starts next Monday!

8. Do work for *secret club to be revealed in the near future*

9. Do work for Project ‘Miles for Smiles’, an initiative to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Foundation Singapore.

10. Shop! Then again, I’ve bought a few things online in the past few days, so maybe I should stop spending. But I’ve got a date with the girls for Monday, I reckon some window shopping won’t hurt :)

11. Catch up with people! Haven’t seen some people for a while, or even if I have, haven’t had the chance to have a proper chat and hang out. Meals, mahjong, hanging out at my place, whatever. I just want to see YOU! :)

That’s a longgggg list, I honestly don’t know how much I will be able to achieve in 2 weeks. I guess at the same time I should rest well in preparation for the next, supposedly more intense, semester. I can’t wait for this year to be over.

Sat for my MED 4071 General Practice & Psychological Medicine written paper today. It seems like the 18 weeks whizzed past just like that. To be honest, I can’t quite handle the reality that we will be graduating soon – I don’t feel ready, no I don’t at all. Anyhow, the paper wasn’t too bad, and I was quite surprised I finished within the hour. I guess most of the problems came from the management questions, because there was definitely more than 1 answer that was possible, but we had to pick the “BEST” or the “MOST appropriate”, which in my opinion can be quite subjective. Ask a GP what they will do with a patient who presents with anxiety and insomnia a week after losing a job – reassure and provide support, or provide benzos (ie sleeping pills)?

Anyway, I spent an hour or so after getting back typing up what I remembered (yes very nerd I know, but I had my reasons ie the MED 4082 students had asked for the favour in exchange for what came out for their exams). In the process I had to painfully discover my mistakes, but on the whole I’d say I should be able to get a rather decent score :)

Now, time for a half-time break. I’m starting on Six Months in Sudan: a young doctor in a war-torn village by James Maskalyk.

The 2nd article in the same series: The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs.

Thanks Jeff for alerting me to that! :)