recovery....

so the weekend is here, and im just chilling out. the past week once again was quite hectic and after each day i never felt more tired than before. Even my friends were asking me why I am looking so tired. so i spoke to Dr Ip and asked him for advice, on this mild burnout. Well according to him, people like me do not take enough breaks, and that's true. I feel guilty when i take breaks. and it is so hard to take a break and risk losing the momentum, especially in medical school where the knowledge needs to be at our finger tips everyday. But this weekend, i will take Dr Ip's advice and doing everything else but medicine. bought myself 2 books to kick back with, a 6 pack of pure blonde and some good ol' deli chip. recovery is the priority now......

lethargy...

the last few weeks have somehow been exceptionally tiring. I would reach back home after each day and feel incredibly exhausted. and come the weekend, all i seek is to spend a quiet time recuperating. my social life is at an all time low, I haven't been out partying or meeting people in the last 6 weeks.

On the top side, I've been on top of my game each day in the hospital. Pwning others in bedside tutorials and answering most questions from consultants correctly during the clinics. Something in this formula seems to be going right at this point; while it's not the best balance as noted from my insignificant social life, I feel my knowledge and competence as a medical student has developed quite tremendously and each day i feel more confident about my own abilities. rheumatology has been one field of Medicine that I have been able to keep my interest in (also cos i've been quite good at it), other aspects of medicine have just been plain boring, the only other exception being Gastroenterology. Neurology is coming up soon, so hope that goes well. i just hope I can keep the faith and continue til the end of the year without burning out.

Two books I've read recently, "gifted hands" by Ben Carson and "Hot lights, Cold steel" by Michael Collins. both stories about the life and experiences of surgical training, which have been discouraging yet at the same time truly inspiring. It's amazing how these doctors can achieve so much. Being in medical school seems like such a huge task already but yet they've far exceeded their own expectations. I hope to be like that one day, even if it means 90% work and 10% play.

080808

so today the date reads 080808, which in chinese tradition/beliefs would be perhaps one of the most auspicious days in history of mankind. chinesekind that is. today is also the opening day of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, in Beijing China. Much controversy have covered the lead up to the games, but it seems like it's turning out fine. you can always trust the chinese to be well coordinated, efficient and impressive. Although I personally have an agenda against the mainland chinese because of their general uncivilized behaviour and uncouth like nature, i hope they pull off a good one, and not embarass the rest of the chinese looking people around the world, who may be subjected to a case of mistaken identity.

and i saw this on fb today.....