And I always thought 'F' is never good before...

Fuh, it has been a while since the last post. My apology, it's just that I was preoccupied with my studies (which is good, anyway). This post may not have much significance towards my study, but I was quite amazed by such event that took place. I was listening to a local English radio station when suddenly a commercial break caught my attention. Perhaps most of you might have heard about it long ago, but to me it is something new. The commercial is about F-cup cookies.

I was surprised by the way the commercial is presented. It involves a conversation between two person, a guy and a girl. That guy is promoting F-cup cookies to the girl, but the girl hesitated because she was on "diet". Then that guy would go on elaborating the fact that the product is widely accepted in Japan etc. What catches my attention the most is the fact that the guy openly mentioned about the girl having "two apples" and said that he would have preferred "two watermelons". Oh my... That was way too straight forward. I dunno about your culture, but it is not widely acceptable in my culture. And definitely not something to be discussed openly with your female counterpart (unless you are spouses, of course).

Is it true that "the bigger they are, the better"? Well, I think it depends. To me, any size would do as long as they are not too massive or too flat. Opss, am I being naughty here? Uh-uh, not really. By the way, I have to admit that I don't know much about the measuring and classification of breast size (except the Tanner staging, but that's for pubertal sexual developmental assessment and has nothing to do with the bra size). But from my simple internet search, I noticed that almost 70% of women worldwide are wearing the wrong size of the bra. So, it is not something to be ashamed of if I don't really know much about it. It's not that I am going to wear it anyway. lol

Honestly, I really don't mind about "the shape". Partially because I am no "muscle man" or "six-packers" to begin with. Apart from that, what really matters are the personality and the quality of the girl. Of course, considering the fact that I am planning to spend the rest of my life with that girl (as my wife). Physical attribute won't last forever. Soon, those hour glass figure and flawless complexion will fade away as the time goes by. If you are equating love as being directly proportionate to physical attribute, then for sure the love will fade away as the women you are married to is becoming older.

Oh, not forgetting to mention that, being a Muslim I will always consider her religion as the main criteria. She can be from any race or country. Pale white, pinkish with freckles, dark, brown, yellow, whatsoever. As long as she is willing to accept my flaws and understands me. And of course, it will be mutual. I swear that I will try my best to become a good husband and treat her well.

But that will come later. First I must focus on my studies. That's for sure. With 11 days to go, there's not much time left. This is the final lap, I must gather all my strength and "sprint" my way towards success.

"Dear God, please grant me health and peace of mind so that I can sit for the exam in a proper way. I will try my best, and leave the rest to You. Please grant my wish and make a good and safe doctor out of me. Ameen..."

Study weeks...

Our first week out of three study weeks has started. It seems like yesterday when we started our clinical years in Klang and then in UMMC. Now it's our juniors' turn to 'suffer' from what we've been through. I can see white coats roaming through the dining hall after Maghrib prayer, but this time with different faces. It used to be us being the ones struggling to clerk the cases for tomorrow's ward round or staying in the ward for on calls (which is much,much,much relaxing as compared to the HO's oncall). Sometimes, we have up to 8 beds to be covered in details within a day. Of course we'll be able to do so, provided that we're free the whole day. (and we're dedicated to this field). But the truth is, half of the day is usually filled with teachings, tutorials, seminars, etc. Now, it's their turn to experience this. And not forgetting the facebook statuses such as "Post call syndrome", or "Case summaries~!" etc.

But that's nothing when compared to the life as a house officer. Even though I'm not there yet, but I knew it based on what had been told by my seniors. Some even mentioned that they were too busy to the extent that they do not have much time for themselves anymore.

Well, I am mentally prepared for that ever since the very first day I stepped into the college approximately five years ago. It's just that I have to brush up on my knowledge and skills so that I can become a competent HO and sailed safely through the career as a clinician. Lately, there has been news about how terrible some HOs were. But I believe they were just isolated cases. Generally speaking, our med schools have been producing qualified and safe doctors throughout the years. Especially UM, followed closely by UKM, and USM. No, I'm not saying this just because I'm from UM Med School. Even though there has been some decline in the sense of quality as compared to our super-duper seniors (as being mentioned by a senior paediatric consultant during a ward round), but I can safely say that the public can put their trust in our very own locally trained doctors.

Enough said, it's time for me to continue revising. Oh, my GI disturbances had somehow subsided. Now I only had loose stools from time to time, but there's no more increase in frequency of visits to the toilet. Hopefully I will fully recover by tomorrow so that I can focus on my studies... Ameen.

Poor memory retention?!!

Oh dear, what happened to me? It seemed that I failed to recall some of the topics that I have covered throughout the years. Sometimes, it feels like I know the topic, but when it comes to answering the past year questions for the topic, I still couldn't obtain maximum marks. Bits of memories lost here and there. Must do something about it. Perhaps I 'm too stressed out to the extent I am unable to retrieve the memory back. Or maybe I'm not doing enough to consolidate the memory.

What should I do?

A quick search on the net, and I found this site mentioning about how to improve your memory. Useful tips, but do I have enough time? I hope so. So, from now on, I must rush full speed to catch up with my studies and improve on my memory as well. I would do whatever it takes to make sure I am competent enough to pass the exam and become a safe doctor.

Lifestyle modification is the keyword, I guess... No more junk food. Regular exercise. Proper sleep hygiene. Relaxation technique. And the most important thing, pray to God for the best of me.

Study technique? Rote learning is not a plausible option, but somehow it might helps, given the fact that time is running out. So this is the only option for me in order to consolidate the memory. But first I have to grasp the principle of the topics first. Plus the tips from the site that I've mentioned above.

Positive. Be positive. Repeat after me. "I am going to pass the exam and become a safe doctor".

I AM GOING TO PASS THE EXAM AND BECOME A SAFE DOCTOR.

Ameen...

The Last CPC

Yesterday we had our last clinicopathological conference (CPC), which was under the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. I had a mixed feeling about it. Happy, because soon I will be graduating (hopefully). Worried, of course, because it means that the final examination is really around the corner.

One of the presenter had mentioned that over the last few years, there was no CPC paper from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Thus, the likelihood of Ortho CPC is high. But one can never be 100% sure about it. After all, it was only speculation. In fact, I would have to cover all posting nevertheless. But it's worth considering anyhow. Maybe some extra study sessions for Orthopaedics - and less on Primary Care Medicine, because I have covered most of them. =)

The CPC was about a 5 year old child who presented with complain of left knee pain. Since the patient is under paediatric age group, so we would have to discuss about the different approach in paediatric patient as compared to adults. As the supervisor had mentioned, "children are not small adults". When the child complain of pain, it may not be necessarily be pain, it may be numbness or paraesthesia. Perhaps the child is too young and unable to differentiate between those symptoms. Apart from that, in any case like this, we must take into consideration the possibility of non-accidental injury (NAI). Not only for extra marks during examination, but because the incidence of NAI is increasing over the years. Sad but that's the truth. It really makes me wonder, how can a mother or father did such horrible things to their very own child.

As for the management part, multidisciplinary approach must be taken, which covers "bio-psycho-social" aspect, as what our Psychiatrists cum lecturers had stressed upon.

I have no intention of bringing the whole discussion here, because it was quite lengthy. It's just that after attempting the questions, I noticed that I was still unable to obtain maximum marks. Perhaps I should attempt more past year questions so that I can get used to the questions.

p.s. It has been a very tiring day, so I need to have a good rest for tonight and wake up fresh in the morning. I've been quite busy for the last 3 days, which is why I did not update this blog lately. On call, case summary, growth study project report, and a visit from an old friend. But somehow I was quite happy, since that I believe I have already gained the momentum to prepare for the final examination. Hopefully I can maintain such momentum so that I will be well prepared for the upcoming examination. May Allah grant me success... Amin.

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Reminder to Myself: It's Saturday, time for housekeeping and laundry. And don't forget your appointment at 8 a.m. Then I should continue with my growth study project report which is already half way through. Hopefully will manage to finish it by this weekend. Oh, and on call on Sunday. T_T