Good night and good morning

I just returned from the labour room, the place where babies come into the world from their mother’s womb. I spent nearly 12 hours in the hospital on a weekend. I think it was time well spent. Just few days ago, I was contemplating whether I would make a good doctor, and I had thoughts on not practicing as a medical doctor when I graduate. I had a long chat with my parents, and as usual, they reminded me that the decision lies in my hands. Spending a little extra time in the hospital really helped me organize my thoughts. I think I know the answer now. This to be revealed soon.

I spent almost as much time as the housemen in the hospital nowadays. 48 hours of continuous work. They can take little naps in between. Unbelievable.

I seldom blog about the hospital or wards. There are many happy things, but there are bad times as well. I personally think there are too much politics in the hospital. Work politics exists everywhere but I have seen how complicated things can get in the hospital. I could imagine what Savante had to put up with when he writes about it in his Bedtime Stories. In the labour room, the midwife staff nurses can become very fierce. They are highly experienced and specialized in their field, just like the ICU or OT nurses. In a hospital, almost everyone wants a piece of action when it comes to procedures and filling up their log books. Competition exists between the housemen, trainee nurses and medical students. I would not want disclose who the midwives favour but you can take a good guess. Bullying can become rampant and unsupervised in certain corners of the hospital.

I have to admit that medical students are better with theories than doing procedures. It is very important for us to have deep understanding of a disease so we would know how to manage it. Come to think of it, there more than a thousand diseases in the world. On the other hand, medical assistants and nurses are excellent in hands-on procedures but may not have the most in depth knowledge when it comes to subject matter. The training between doctor and nurses is very different.

I was prepared to deliver the baby after waiting with the pregnant lady for more than 6 hours. She was screaming, kicking in pain, knocking her head on the wall and trying to jump out of bed. In between all that, I had to chant a mantra of “breathe in deeply, exhale, relax” repeatedly to her. First time mothers are very anxious and unprepared for the pain in giving birth. The medical-personnel-who-shall-not-be-named was ready to pounce on me the moment I commit a mistake. I did my best and they were actually nice enough to lend me a helping hand. I think I was the only medical student in the entire hospital at 5am on a weekend. Probably they feel sorry for me and begun treating me like one of their own.

I left the hospital around 6am. You can see many peculiar things at the car park in the hospital when it is dark. I see legs sticking up from the backseat. Sometimes, you see the legs on the dashboard. No, the legs do not belong to people humping inside the car. There are actually people who sleep inside their car when their loved ones or family is warded or having an emergency operation in the hospital.

After I left the hospital compound, I had a quick McD breakfast. I felt so safe inside McD. I’m always a KFC boy but they don’t have Big Breakfast or hash browns in their menu. The counter girl was extremely smiley when she saw me. I must have looked peculiar in formal wear on an early Sunday morning when the sun has not risen yet. She offered me Milo when I refused coffee. She even offered to put just a little ice or none at all (depending on my request) in my Iced Milo. That was really sweet of her.

Time to go to bed. Good night and good morning!