WOW! : Confessions of a house officer #5 – Day 19 of life, the WOW theory~ and the WOW-ing me~

I guess my last post was rather traumatic… depressing,.. or more accurately, hateful, in a way… sorry about that. I did not meant to be demotivating. The last thing I need is to demotivate all those medical student / HO-to-be out there, or amplified the sadness is my fellow friends/colleagues.

You know, sometimes, when you are in your down-most condition… like when nothing can get worse,.. then suddenly, something happens, and things miraculously gets better.

I remembered once, a friend of mine, bingwui , he has this WOW theory. which was pretty interesting. So, allow me to share this theory with you today.

Quote: The reason I wanna do medicine is because medicine wows me. Medicine wows me more than other fields.

I think this is one of those things that keep us going.

When I performed my first delivery, the beauty of childbirth, bringing life to Earth, WOW! (correction, the mother brings life to earth, God creates life, we merely facilitates)

The first time I saw the fundus of the eyes, the pretty optic disc staring back, it was the most beautiful thing in the world, WOW!

The first time I auscultated a murmur, like the wind hushing,WOW!

The first time I heard a prosthetic heart click, like the clicking of the watch, WOW!

The first time I saw a craniotomy surgery, the pulsating brain, WOW!

My first forensic experience, although eerie, yet WOW!

The time my schizophenic patient shared his story, stories of attempts suicides, unbelievable...

The good old days spending time with the kids at the peadiatric wards, the time the kid gave me his transformer stickers, shared his toys, WOW!

The first time i saw blue eyes, correction: blue sclera, WOW!

The first time I performed CPR, and patient regained a pulse, *beep*, spontaneous breathing, WOW!


When I insert the needle into those veins, see the blood gushing out, WOW!

When I get a successful branula on a difficult patient, WOW!

When discovered a misdiagnosis, WOW!


When discovered an abdominal aorta aneurysm the other day, incidentally, WOW!


So yes, everyday is a WOW! day… there is always something new.

-------------------END OF WOW! STORY----------------------------------

I discharged 5 of my patients today. It was tiring, writing referral letters non-stop. I know, some might think I mengada wanna find work to do by referring here and there. But really, it makes a difference you know. Like when you incidentally found your patient to have a neglected cataract, the simple referral letter to opthal can actually give her the luxury of perfect vision again, something she might not think she’ll ever had. That referral to the health clinics can offer better compliance to medication and better diabetic/blood pressure control. That letter to Social Welfare and SOCSO may ease her financial burden. That request for physiotherapy may prevent contractures and improves quality of life. That letter for home nursing may ensure better supportive care for the patient. Like I had said earlier, the pen can be a very powerful object. And I ran 2 pens out of ink, within 3 days. My fingers and arms hurt. But, it is okay.


So, my hateful days at the wards did get better.


1. Guess what? I’ve got a new MO (medical officer), Dr Gary Lee and Specialist, Dr Ahmad in the ward, and they are SUPER NICE!! Serious!super SUPER NICE!! Sure, the workload did increase, with them being very thorough with patients, but it is nice that we learn a lot from them. And yes, they have a good sense of humour, they treat patients (and co-workers, and HOs) very nice and life just gets better.


2. My tagging days are over! Yippie!! I get to punch out earlier… recently as early as 830pm, I’m aiming for 7pm.


3. I am glad I am getting my daily dose of endorphins before sleep. ^^