Wednesday, May 25, 2011

“MEDICAL is a Challenging Profession, yet a VERY rewarding profession”



This afternoon, a group of pre-medical students came to our hospital for a visit. They were JPA scholars who came for exposure and to learnt more about the hospital life and career as a doctor.

The ward sister introduced me to them, ‘This is Dr Wu, our house officer here. In the future, you will become like her. Dr Wu, can you brief them about life as a houseman?’

ME: Sure, what would you like to know?

STUDENTS: We would like to know more about life as a house officer. We heard that it is difficult and would like some motivation.

ME: Are you all already enrolled in Medical School?

STUDENT: YES. We are from XXX and YYY.

(Mind: Meaning, those innocent students are CONFIRMED stucked in med school…) Everything that come out of my mouth now HAD to be POSITIVE.

And I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth next:

“MEDICAL is a Challenging Profession, yet a VERY rewarding profession”

(very rewarding???) -YES, I said it!!

“You see results, like when you treat your patient, you see how he recovers and goes home”

“The moment when you first scrubbed in, your first baby delivery, holding those little soft fingers, your first appendicectomy, the feeling cannot be bought. The experience is somewhat special and you cannot find it anywhere else”

Sure, I pacify those students, motivate them more than I had ever motivated myself.

“Not just anyone can survive in the medical field. It takes a lot of strength, courage and hard work. If you can survive medical school, if you can survive housemanship, you can survive ANYTHING“

STUDENTS: What about medical school? We heard Medical is all about work and no play.

“Keep a balance between work and play. They say, study hard when you are student, it’s true… because those things you study, do come in handy when we work, especially those at clinical years. It helps in our work. But,  endless work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Participate in research, join students association,  go out with your friends, enjoy, go travelling, yes, work hard but have fun along the way."

“ when I was a student, I participated in a Student Organization named : AMSA (Asian Medical Students’ Association) and we took part in many activities : Paper Presentation, Poster Presentation, Research, Cultural Exchange,.. We travelled to Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong,.. meet students from other countries, understand their lifestyle, exchange views, hang out… it was fun"

And those students were staring back, like in disbelief that a medical student life can be fun.

Well, honestly, I did enjoyed my medical school life. The tough days were tough. Where the amount of facts and knowledge we have to study is not counted by how many pages, but is measured by how many feet high is those books and notes stacked up, per subject. It was scary, thinking back. But, the good days were good. And I had many, many, MANY fond memories of my student life. One thing was, I had very good friends. I was relatively active in school activities and student body, so, I had a great experience.

“You guys are JPA scholars, probably one of the brightest students in your high school. But in medical school, it is an all new thing altogether. You will be competing amongst yourself, the best students of the batch. And it can be very stressful at times. There will be two extremes categories of students. Those who just pass exams without much effort, A, and those who need to work EXTRA hard to pass exams, B. You might be in either of this category, A or B, or somewhere in between. If you happen to be in the B category, don’t give up, support each other, and put in the extra effort, you will reach the finish line.”

STUDENTS: How about on-calls? I heard it is terrible,….

“I have to say, you guys are VERY lucky now, as oncalls nowadays are VERY much better compared to those 10 years back, considering that nowadays, we have more house officers. Some departments in some hospitals even give post-call-off! ”
-I cannot believed I said that.

“The more reason you need to study as Students and house officers. The concept is simple. The better knowledge and skills you have to manage a patient, the faster you can finish your work, and the more time you have to rest. But is someone is Jonah, then, it’s just luck. Of course, a shift system would be much better for all of us. Unless the system change, oncalls have to go on. But remember, you have nothing to lose, every day, there’s something to learn. And those on-calls, they make you stronger”

The truth is, there are more house officers, but the work load has became more and more demanding. House officers have more scopes to cover. In some hospital, they need to do double entry for the computer system. Some HO has to function as MO. Some HO has to function as SN and PPK. Work is endless. You are the PPK, the SN, the HO, the MO- EVERYTHING! But of course, I couldn’t tell them that and scare them away.

NEW fresh students, they reminded me of how I used to be. Like a clean sheet of paper, so innocent, so ‘un-touched’, so eager…

When I was at high school, I was motivated by a medical student who came to our school. His name was Dominic.

I think I like this. ‘Motivating’ these young souls. Pacifying them.

And I think that was exactly what I needed back then, when I was in their shoes –MOTIVATION...

Haha, they should read my blog... NO, THEY SHOULDN'T.


Friday, May 20, 2011

MEGLIO - a new look? a new hook?



Confessions: I have hairdresser-phobia.

Yup, I have phobia of the saloon 
(and what are they going to do to my hair)…

I remembered one of my past experience, which made me looked like Prof Adeeb.

So you see, i am not only saloon-phobia, i am also curl-phobia.

So, very often, I avoided the place, the hair saloon,
until my hair gets seriously damaged and out of control, and needed to get some help. 

Surprisingly, I limit my visits to the saloon to about 1-3 times a year only (hehe)… shhhh,…..

So, this time, we hair was too long, with split ends at the ends, so, it left me no choice,… but to visit my greatest fear, again…


BEFORE:
(long straight hair)





I wanted to go to Korean Village, Park Chul Hair Dresser, or Oh Jun Hair Salon (near Ampang Point)  the week before (as recommended by ShinLoo), but the place was closed.

So, when I came back to work in Melacca, my friend, Lui, she recommended this place : MEGLIO at Melaka Raya. Many of my friends have their hair done there, so, it was ‘suppose’ to be good. I guess.  Lui suggested this guy, ANDY, who did her hair and my other friends’ hair.

When I first when to Maglio, I went up a flight of stairs, only to find myself in front of a bunch of students, cutting hairs for the first time. In disbelieved, I wondered - My friend recommended this place? Later I found out that it was the MEGLIO ACADEMY , where students cut your hair for a VERY cheap price. Thank God, I was directed to the REAL MEGLIO SALOON next door, or else, I might be making the greatest mistake of my life.

When I met ANDY for the first time, he was very friendly, and he put me at ease. He offered me a free consultation session, explaining to me about different kinds of styles, and those which suits me. He asked about my background, my job, carreer, how much can I change my hairstyle… etc…

According to ANDY, there are FOUR types of hairstyle:     
  1. FRESH
  2.   SWEET
  3. COOL
  4.  FEMININE (MATURE)


I was told that my face shape belonged to the FRESH / SWEET category.

He said he wants to change my outlook, and he guarantee satisfaction.

He said, if I am brave and daring enough, he’ll like to give me some bangs (fringe). He said, that it’ll help to make the eyes look bigger and brighter. 

Being kiasu or what-not, I accepted the challenge. I was hooked.

Which I kinda regret a little later, as it was a little too childish for me. But, oh well, it’s now or never.

And so, I had fringe.






ANDY was a very observant person. When he realized, i wasn't reading the magazines he provided, he asked, do i prefer English magazines? and offered a changed...

 As time was getting late, Andy said, " This will take a while. Have you have your dinner?'
I gently shake my head. -no-
"You must be hungry, I'll get you something"
So, he made some hot chocolates and offered some cookies. ^^
I like a place with good service...
 I wanted fringe with straight hair, but he insisted that I curl them.
I shared my previous bad experience with curls,
He said, he'll do it differently.
He asked me to trust him.

He said, “You have to trust me. I cannot perform my best if you give me limitations. You need to believe in me, and I will give you satisfying results, I will give you a great hairstyle, a great outlook.”


He seemed so confident. High self-esteem and ego.
And so, I just gave in. I was hooked, again.



 * applied LOREAL hair curl chemical*

 He used some huge curls and gave me a digital perm.

 There was so many wires attached to my head.
And Oh Boy, it was hot.

 They used some thick paddings so not to burn me (and my scalp)

 In the end, i looked like a cartoon doll with ROBOCOP HEAD
 Finally, 20minutes is up, the sufferings end, and the solution washed off...

 Last trimming and blow-dry

 ANDY recommanded this:
1. REDKEN ringlet 07 curl cream

2. KERASTASE Oleo Curl Nutritive

 I would say, he's a good salesman

So, finally: 
TA-DA!!


And this is ANDY
Thank you for the new hairstyle





And i took this with my WEBCAM



MEGLIO
ANDY Seet (Stylist / Color Master)
06-2861119(for appointment) /06-2831119
No G-1, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1,
Jalan PM2,
Plaza Mahkota,
75000 Melaka


Operating hours: 11:00am-8:30pm
Closed on Wednesday

Author's Note

Dear friends and readers, Thank you for dropping by and leaving comments/ shoutouts. More importantly, thank you for being there... please accept my apology that, lately, i may be busy with work and not have time to reply youir messages/comments, but rest assured, each and everyone is read, and highly appreciated :) have a nice day! ^^

of love

Today, i heard a story which was not a story of falling...
of living in the dark end of winter turmoil..
instead, it was a love story..
of a couple who did not live happily ever after...
but they live, loving each other..