Medics.
Have been taking EFR lessons to get myself re-certified because my licenses have expired this July.
Should have done that last year... though last year I was hoping that I could get directly to the tests without the need to go through the lessons. Apparently they ignored me after a few emails and I didn't bother to pester them further.
Haha so, I became a student again after practising for 2 years and trained people for 1. It is, hmms, quite dumb to sit through lessons which I used to teach... And there will be people in the class who (I assume they have taken first-aid courses before) try to insist that they should administer aspirin to patients displaying symptoms of angina pectoris.
Hello. I went through 1.5 years of training and practice to get to the stage whereby I am allowed to give aspirin to patients with angina pectoris
who have been prescribed that before and
have a confirmed medical history in which they don't have any NSAID related allergies. Since you are so good, go ahead and administer warfarin or heparin as well. IV. Since they kind of work similarly - all anti-coagulants.
Oh don't forget, nitroglycerin at 3 minute intervals sublingual. Ultimate combo. Bet the guy will start leaking blood from his ears.
Haha suddenly I feel that the SAF is actually pretty professional. They have better equipment too (Better BVM? Better manikins? In the CPR room we even have electronic ones which will start blinking red when you do something wrong :P) Anyway I used to train with the SCDF guys so hahaha when you call 995 those people responding to your calls are basically at my standard :P I didn't get to the crew leader level though...
Haha as you can see I am quite proud to be a medic (I'm sure some of my friends are too! But yeah quite a lot aren't :P). It's true that basically we are nothing - we have to address any doctor Sir or Madam, seek his/her permission to do almost anything, and do almost anything he/she asks us to do - but it's also true that people like us do make a difference.
I have cared for patients in the jungle of Malaysia with severe infection on his feet, so much that he couldn't even walk; someone in the same jungle with 40deg fever (NOS viral infections usually :P); ran with all my equipment for hundreds of metres to reach a patient with heat exhaustion; sent a guy with some maniac disorder to IMH after helping my MO drug him with haloperidol ; helped to do CPR on a patient with cardiac arrest in SGH - and my life as a medic is still not the most happening yet. Missed almost all the most serious E-cases in my medical centre, and hahaha luckily I wasn't there if not I would have less ridiculous stories to tell :D
Though the best thing that I as a medic have ever got is the trust that people give me. They trust what I told him, they trust that I know what I am doing - and I am happy that I can give them the confidence and the reassurance they need the most. Of course, I have to get the trust from the doctors that I work for as well - I am quite cool with them actually :D Learnt a lot of stuff from them! I should admit that I have forgotten some but I think most retained :P
Haha there is one thing fundamental which keeps me from actually becoming a medical doctor - I believe I have some unknown neurological problem which causes my hand to shake unvoluntarily at certain positions. It happened again when I was injecting a mouse and dissecting mouse stuff today - it is seriously quite annoying. My MO always used to laugh at me for that; my hand will shake automatically when I set plugs and give jabs because I have to do those things in those positions and it is not because I am nervous. Usually I can get the job done but well, if you are a 80-years-old uncle and you see the doctor shaking when he is doing your catheterisation, what trust will you have on him?!
Despite still being quite sour about A*Star shutting the MBBS-PhD door on me in 2004 and pondering hard over MD-PhD in the US, I found another alternative called Harvard LMS. It's a Harvard PhD programme with an extra clinical component - basically you meet patients, study what the medical students study, and do your PhD at the same time, but in the end you get a PhD 'with a distinction' and not a MD-PhD. 5-6 years. Now mum and dad have different opinions, my friends have different opinions, and I am hmmmms confused.
Though still have one year to decide... Haha anyway should be taking 19th Century British Fiction next semester for the extra 3 random humanities credit (i.e. non-history) that I need, and that is an English class. P-Chem and prob-stats shouldn't be a problem. It's just that stupid physics requirement! Argh.
Labels: Life
Our Library.
I love my school's library. Absolutely awesome, brilliant, wonderful, amazing, and unbelievable.
They have
everything. Yes
everything. Anything you can think of. I am doing some work on my p53 project (as usual) and I have no trouble finding articles that are already 20 years old. Even if they don't have it online but only in print in Welch, all I need to do is to submit a request and they will photocopy the whole thing and send it to me via email.
They have subscriptions to wonderful databases which allow me to trace citations and get all kinds of online articles for free. I can borrow books from Welch and get them to deliver it to MSE so that I don't have to go all the way down to pick it up. I have done that before, and I will definitely do it again.
Just that until now I still don't know what that D-Level Challenge thingy is. Someone please enlighten me!
Though our library does not have stuff for leisure. I.e. no fiction, no travel guide, but there are tonnes of DVDs, VCDs and video recordings because we have a film studies programme :D
Hahaha I suppose all academic institutions should have such amazing libraries. And probably the reason behind my hype is because I am an insane guy who visits libraries for fun (yeah I went to the British Library for fun). Oh well :P
Labels: Life, Random
Classic! CCP!
Hahaha GCS you are going to love this MTV!
Queen's Road East or '
皇后大道東'
Awesome song! - from a British Citizen who followed his parents as they ran away from the CCP 13 years ago :D
Labels: Sharing
Stuff.
Do you know what is the most important similarity between Oral-B, Pantene, Head and Shoulders, Olay, Duracell and Pringles?
Answer: they are all produced by the same American company. It is called
Procter & Gamble Co. - or P&G.
It is quite scary really. I never know that your teeth (I don't use Oral-B), your (I don't use Pantene)/my hair, your skin (I don't use Olay either - I hate oil-based moistrurisers and thank goodness I never need them), the rabbit playing drums on TV, and my psychological satisfaction all depend their well-being on the same company.
Anyway, this is seriously a small world. Realised yesterday that Ce Xiang was on the same 小小状元榜 episode as me - meaning when we were in Primary 5 (or Pr.6? Can't remember) we were rivals on TV. It was really quite funny... basically GCS and him were watching that episode on tape with my mum yesterday and I happened to call back at that time, so I got to join in the fun :D The thing that I remembered the most vividly from that competition was that huge red plastic bag filled with Horlicks products they gave us after we got kicked out - it was supposed to be a nice hamper. After consuming all those stuff I ceased to like Horlicks.
Oh by the way both Red Swastika and Bedok South got into the semi-finals. I don't know who defeated Red Swastika but I know my team was defeated by Catholic, because we couldn't get to the bell fast enough. It might not be a bad thing after all - imagine a bigger plastic bag filled with Horlicks :P
And err. They remixed '
It's a Small World' (or '
世界真細小') for Disneyland HK. Haha though, I think we have been singing this until we forget that it actually came from America already :P
Labels: Life, Random, Sharing
Started.
So things have really started.
Have been pretty busy... Take today for example. Woke up at 6:30 for breakfast, then started doing some work (and went online for ~1hr) before heading out to get some letter from the advising office. Then I had classes from 10 - 12, followed by some financial officer training, then went to lab to get some work done. Came back at 4:30 for another class which ended at 6.
Didn't rest at all since I woke up basically - later I'm going to take a nap :P
Tomorrow will be almost the same. 2 meetings in the morning: my lab meeting in the medical school and an appointment with a professor in Homewood, followed by classes and then admin. Will have first-aid classes at night as well - haha Nicholas will be there too.
Thank goodness I have a car now!
Anyway, I am really happy because my IHC staining finally worked! After trying for 1.5 months I finally got the right conditions. Haha finally I can do some meaningful stuff now! Yayy! I have not interpreted the results because I have to rush back today but I am pretty sure I will have some nice entries in my lab book tomorrow :) :)
Came across this Jurong West Monkey God thing on tomorrow.sg:
The Story of Monkey God Tree in Jurong West Street 42Haha this kind of Monkey God Tree saga is not unique to Singapore. I believe it is more likely a general Chinese cultural phenomenon. If you have been to Taiwan you will realise that they can make the Queen's head out of a rock, beancurd out of some seaside cliffs, and a Red Indian's head from a boulder along a river. Their imagination is simply amazing.
I do not remember anything like that from my trips in Europe at all. The Europeans nowadays seem more concerned about a place's natural beauty and its historical heritage than anything resembling Saint George slaying the Dragon (hmms maybe that is a just bit too hard). Though throughout history they do have these superstitious practices - in the Medieval period people will buy any piece of wood the vendor claimed to be a chip from the Cross.
Though it is quite hard to tell from a tourist's standpoint how superstitious the Europeans are these days, simply because I don't know them well enough. Anyway, this is an interesting comparison.
Oh well. Professor Principe's class on the scientific revolution is fantastic. That means I will have more places to visit and re-visit during future Eurotrips - kind of have decided to either go home or not travel at all during Christmas to save funds for summer :P
Labels: Life, Random
Cousin + Work.
My baby cousin! Hahaha he's sooooooooo cute :) And smart too! :D
About work. Mum always preaches this but I think my sister needs some reminder so:
> HY Junior: If you want the song I can send it to you... It's sung by Julie Andrews.
A Spoonful of SugarJulie Andrews
Mary Poppins:
[Spoken]
In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job's a game
[Sung]
And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It's very clear to see that -
*A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way
A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his bits of twine and twig
Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song will move the job along - for
Repeat *
[Interlude]
The honey bee that fetch the nectar
From the flowers to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro
Because they take a little nip
From ev'ry flower that they sip
And hence (And hence),
They find (They find)
Their task is not a grind.
Repeat *
> Moral of the story:
Don't complain over something you chose to do yourself. You chose to study physiotherapy and you chose to go to HK so you can't complain about the workload and having to do everything yourself and whatnot - you are fully aware of these facts even before you chose to go...
And and and -
don't ask people to do your own things for you as far as possible! 1) You'll owe people favours 2) You'll grow dependent - you'll not learn what is independence 3) You'll take it for granted very easily 4) Most seriously you'll never know what the other parties think! Not everyone is like us - we don't really care if we are being taken advantage of but there are people who are extremely sensitive over these things :P
Labels: Life, Values
o.O
My dad sent me this. The subject of his email was 'Meh Meh' and the message was 'Hi... You like it, don't you?'
How can I not love them - seriously they are the cutest parents in the world.
Labels: Random
Before Starting Again...
Let me blog a bit. Haven't been updating for almost a week.
Classes have finally started: as I have predicted, this semester is going to be rough. The class on Cell Signalling is pretty intense (the lecturer presented more materials on signalling than 1 sem of cell bio covered during the first lecture); it is almost like a graduate level course already. There are graduate students in the Molecular Biology class; so it is essentially a graduate level course which allows undergraduates to enrol in freely. The History of Life Sciences class is a class which requires us to ultimately produce a research paper 18 - 25 pages long.
Fortunately both Genetics and Scientific Revolution are not as time consuming as the rest - from what I can perceive at this moment. My prostate development research is under way; I have already a research direction and plan drawn out so now I have to execute it (meaning more reading and literature research).
Haha and I am enrolling into an Emergency First Responder class (hmms to refresh my skills? And get accredited in America...), and might be joining Zx's design team (depending on whether the BME department allows).
So, if I am doing design team I will be doing 21 credits + other stuff = 7 official credit-accuring classes + other stuff. Still nothing compared to the rest who are BME majors (and other minors)but still...
GCS has left the US for good this time to return to Singapore to complete his NS. I couldn't help making fun of him... Haha contrast how happy he was when he disrupted from service 3 years ago. He always feels negatively towards NS (partly because he didn't have a very nice experience in BMT - neither did I though, but I think mine was still comparatively better), and he doesn't exactly like going back to Singapore for some reason, so he wasn't looking forward to it at all. Well, I have already taught him how to use his medical condition to his advantage, and I have already wished him luck in his posting, so everything else would be up to his fate.
Haha Ce Xiang and him should be going to my home for dinner soon. I have also offered my family as a source of support if he needs it, so it shouldn't be too bad for him I guess :P
Oh the car. Spent $450 fixing: 1) muffler (now it is much quieter! I want it to be quiet, not cool :P) 2) motor bracket 3) the ball joint in the steering mechanism 4) wipers - and completed the inspection with an oil change. Dad says that it's also around that price in Singapore, so I don't have much to complain about that. Basically there are still minor things like the locks and the rusts and the wires and the spark plug etc. that need to be fixed, but those are not safety issues so I can delay it a little.
GCS was insisting that I am overly cautious and taking care of the car too much - but from what I can tell his way of maintenance is certainly not sufficient to my standard. He didn't even know that there are rusted spots on the paintwork. I rather be overly cautious than not - people who know me well know this for sure. I rather wait unnecessarily than to rush and be anxious and be uncertain and then have a heart attack before catching the train at the last minute :P
Since that experience with Yj in Switzerland I have adopted that philosophy... I can still remember the steam that is coming out of Tk's ears when we were on that platform in Zurich.
So I have gotten everything for my car to be premanently registered. Soon I will take the driving test and get my Maryland license - and then I would be done with the whole thing! Haha and I can then be the first known Singaporean undergraduate in the recent era who bothers to go through all the administration to get a car and a Maryland license. This tradition ought to be passed down!
Pictures of my room and apartment, as promised:
Overview!
My desk: very messy right. Not enough storage space at all... I need a bookshelf and probably another drawer or two :P
The kitchen is not good... note the lack of space for cutting, the existence of only 2 stoves and the absence of an oven. The microwave doesn't work - Kai has already gotten a replacement.
The very messy underutilised living room. I will have to tidy it up some time.
Yiran unpacking...
Labels: Life
Back in Baltimore.
Got back to the Greatest City of America (so the slogan on the bus stop benches claims). Have been running around quite a bit...
Spent my first night scrubbing and cleaning and throwing away trash. No one bothered to clean up my place before I moved in so there was rotting food in the fridge and ibuprofen and isopropyl alcohol left on the coffee table which I have to process. Then moved everything back from Zx and Laura's place... took Yi Chung and me the whole morning.
Then GCS drove his car all the way down from Chicago to Baltimore to pass it to me. Have been playing with it and doing admin for it for some time. There is something I have to do to make it better (especially the locks - it locks but it can't be opened sometimes) but in general it is a pretty good car in pretty good condition. Good enough for a car in which I only have to pay for registration, insurance, parking, and maintainance (haha see what is missing :P)...
I won't have proper classes until Monday, so today I was down in Mt. Washington to attend a retreat organised by the pathobiology graduate programme in the medical school. It is a great way to be inspired again :D very exciting research topics are being pursued in Hopkins. And it is great catching up with the rest - haha will start work next Tuesday.
Realised also that the pathobiology programme is flooded with Singaporeans... I think there are 7 at least, out of ~40 students?! We certainly have a presence in this field, as far as I know...
Oh photos of my room and apartment. I will post them next week, because seriously my room is still in a terrible mess because GCS's stuff (A LOT) are still there. I will need to spend some time clearing it up when he's gone... Haha good luck with his NS back in Singapore :D
Labels: Life
Going Back.
Will be going back to Baltimore in around 22 hours.
I am not exactly looking forward to it because I know that the 8 months I have ahead of me is going to be really busy. Sophomore year is almost always the hell year.
That's alright though. It is kind of expected. There are nice things lining up ahead as well; lab, car, South America, hiking, Europe. Though there will be a lot of coursework too: genetics, developmental biology/lab, molecular biology, immunology, seminar courses (3 in total for next sem!), and history of science coursework.
Seminar courses will be fulfilling - but usually workload will be high. Imagine reports every week and term papers and some may even have mid-terms and finals.
I hope I can make it. Aim high: maintain 4.0 with A+es! Then maybe I can get a 3.8 :P
And I seriously need to get out of the hole - i.e. my room. MSNing too much is not healthy. I'll see what I can do. Hiking - rock wall - first aid course (I'll just learn from scratch again I guess) etc. And and, should go to the gym more often.
Argh and this year, family-wise, is not better than last year. Last year my sister is still around; this year my sister is in HK undergoing sushi transformation. Parents are not in a very good state of mind - when both of us are away, the house will be much quieter, and this without-us-to-talk-to state combined with empty rooms are indeed depressing.
Last year I wasn't so worried, because my sister is around to take care of things. This year no one will be around to make sure that my mum won't overexert herself with work (or random things which she insists in doing) or to defuse when mum and dad are upset. After I leave all I can do is to maintain a constant communication stream between them and me so that I can check on them and they can find me when needed, and vice versa.
That sushi can also be a potential source of problems - HK transforms people. She is among a whole bunch of various relatives as well. She can be trusted to a large extent, but I am not entirely convinced that she will not screw herself up. I.e. need to check her out every now and then as well.
C'est la vie, isn't it? I can't be around all the time. Doesn't make sense to come back too often either (30-hour flight!). Things have to be let alone, like mum and dad letting me venture out.
My parents are doing well, my sister is doing well, I am doing well - I am very very grateful for that. Please let things remain this way?
Labels: Life
