Happy Holidays!!

Hi everyone! This will be my first Christmas blog, despite the fact that its already been 4 days since Christmas.

Let me start things off with the last day at school before the break.. While I was driving to school, the streets leading to UST were relatively empty. In fact, when I got off my ride inside the campus, the school was DESERTED... fine siguro exxage ng konti, but it felt like being in a ghost town.. It was so eerie... kinda like UST in the summertime, but with cooler weather, which made it kinda pleasant. Then the realization struck me... We were most likely the only ones having a class in the entire university!!! Sure I saw a medtech intern and a clerk, pero they're supposed to be there dahil hospital duty na yun!!! It was the day after Paskuhan (you know, the big Christmas party that UST holds on-campus every year with the giant christmas tree and the grand fireworks display.. ahh, memories..), and while everyone else was at home resting their asses, here we were in full uniform for a 7am class with a quiz to boot!!!

The derma class went as expected. I got a lousy score at the quiz, pero at least pasado.. Thank God walang grand rounds!! :D

After that, everyone was going around exchanging pleasantries before scurrying away home. I met up with Joanne to lend her the CD containing the mini-games I got off the 'Net, and she had gifts for me and my GF! :D I also got a card from Maan and collected my Kriskringle gifts from Rubi and Chot (Thanks so much!!).

It's getting kinda late, so I'll continue the holiday stories another time.

So once again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

(And to my classmates, enjoy the remaining days of the break... these are the last we'll be getting in a long, long time...)

Second to the last day..

This is just great... I'm here in school chilling/studying with the C5ers, some of whom are preparing their powerpoint presentation for Derma tomorrow.. It ain't really that bad if you look at it.. chilling out sorrounded by the warmth of friends. :D But the thing is, we shouldn't be here!!! We should be at home bumming around and enjoying the Christmas break!

I just finished reading Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" over the weekend. It was a great read. :D Very thought-provoking and interesting.. though I wish I had more time (and funds) to read more books like that..

We had our class Christmas party last Friday at the La Cocina.. :D Games and laughter galore! It just saddens me to think na it's gonna be our last Christmas party, next year being clerkship and all.. I was really touched when the C5ers wanted me to be included in the pictures with them.. sniff!! Thanks a lot guys!! You really made my Christmas this year! That being said, I'd like to give them a shout-out here by mentioning them all one by one.. :D

Thanks to Boom, Danison, Barbers, Anna, Chadman, Ferdie, Madel, Ceres, Al, Ginny, Tiffers, Tanya, Borj, Carla, Patty, Myners, Alex, Pons, and Michelle :D

Pasensya na kung cheesy, but thanks pa din for showing the love. It really means a lot.. :D

XS Pride and Glory: SEA Games gold!!

It's LRU time again. Been here for the last 30 minutes just bumming around. It's friday again.. and I've got a helluva week coming up.. but for the meanwhile, LRU time is MY time.. :D

Life has always been crazy in Medicine, and it shows no signs of letting up. Just came from a grueling quiz in Neurosurgery.. It ain't so bad, pero they asked some really tricky questions. :P I now have in front of me a take-home quiz in Pedia sugery.. I haven't had a take home quiz since way back in... 3rd year high school?..This is gonna be good.. :D

Yesterday was the feast of the Immaculate Conception.. No school for us. hehehe I started off the day hearing mass at church with the family, then the rest of it was spent alternating doing schoolwork and being a driver... some holiday it turned out to be.. I was so tired that at night when I hit the bed, I was out like a light!!!

Before I forget, kudos to the XS boys who garnered gold in the recently-concluded SEA Games, specially to our batchmate Valda.. You rock bro!! Check this out... Xaverians win Gold for the Philippines!

Whoa, gotta go.. pa-shut down na daw eh.. ;P

Week's End..

Friday na!!!!! :)

Santa Banana!!! I survived another week! Yehey!! :D Grabe, life is going pretty smoothly so far.. Got past the Derma reporting without any hitch, I haven't really been failing any quizzes lately, and I've been learning a lot, both at school and while studying on my own at home.. Plus the fact that this seems to be the most BENIGN shift that I have ever seen in my entire time here at medical school. :D Man, this is gonna be a nice weekend..

I've been thinking... The first semester of this third year has got to be the LONGEST semester of my entire LIFE!!!! I mean, it's gotta be the most toxic, the most challenging, the most exhausting part of any schoolyear I have ever been through..

The first semester is always longer than the second, or at least it seems longer... 'coz the second sem has the Christmas break smack in the middle. :D And there seems to be a lot more individual holidays during this time too. ;)

Here I am wasting away at the Student Council office (sarado na yung LRU eh.. It pays to have friends in high places ;) ). I thought of typing my patient's history a while ago but nah... :P Hm.. com to think of it, I guess I really should start getting my shit together on that report.. Sige, 5:30 na lang siguro... :D But for now, I surf... :P

Harry Potter Erratum

I made a booboo...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was directed by Alfonso Cuarón

while

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was directed by Mike Newell

Sorry about the mix-up I had in an earlier post where I said that both the third and fourth movies were directed by the same guy...

Mike Newell deserves an ovation for a great job in bringing back the "magic" of Pottermania! =P

Oh, and by the way, I still think that the third movie didn't live up to my expectations of the franchise.. but for the sake of continuity, ok na rin siya... (the power of the brand label is really astonishing..)

Once again, my apologies to everyone... tao lang po...

Harry Potter and the Very Slow Week...

Its lunchtime again at the LRU.. Had an early lunch during the break in between Derma and Gyne so I won't be going with the lunch rush.

This week has just been incredibly benign.. so benign that its beginning to creep me out... Its kinda like Moses parting the Red Sea.. Everything toxic seems to just sweep aside once we get around to it... Absent facilitators, unexpected no-quizzes, a purely lecture day, it's astonishing, as though someone up there decided to just keep on answering our prayers with no end in sight...=D But I guess I have to knuckle down for the next week.. Thank God Monday is a holiday.. hehehe =D

Watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with the family last Sunday. It was the first time I've watched in the Promenade theatre. Ang ganda!! Reclining seats and foldable armrests! (Sorry ha, di kasi ako nanonood sa Gateway or sa Makati eh) =P The seat we got weren't that good though.. Dun kami sa left side. Pero ok na rin naman! The only downside was that apparently, our seats were directly underneath the aircon! And as luck would have it, wala kaming dalang jacket!! =P So we were all shivering through that 2 1/2 hour movie...

as for the movie itself, it was EXCELLENT!! They really outdid themselves on this one. Me and my bro were a bit hesitant 'coz we heard that the director was the same one who directed the third movie.. (to be perfctly honest, we think it didn't do justice to the books, or to put it more bluntly, we think it SUCKED, badly..). Good thing this guy decided to wake up and feel the magic. =D

There were slight deviations from the book, a prime example of which is the physical appearance of Victor Krum. In the book, he was described as a guy with scraggly hair who walked around with his shoulders hunched.At some parts naman, I felt that the movie was rushing things (most likely due to time constraintsDespite the minor adjustments, the movie suceeds in capturing the flavor and magic of the Harry Potter series which was sorely lacking in the third movie.

The pacing was just excellent, and the overall feel of the movie is at par with what is descibed in the book.. At times even turning things up a notch..

Hey, I'm no good at making movie reviews, but I strongly recommend this movie (as if further recommendations were needed). It's right up there among the greatest movies I've ever seen!

All that being said, I can't wait to see how the fifth movie will turn out... =D

KIlling time..

It's lunchtime at the LRU. As expected, this place is packed. =P Grabe, parang palengke! I was lucky to have been able to eat early and get a seat here. =D

It's Friday! Thank God! But I don't think I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Looks like all the toxicity associated with third year is gonna catch up to us once again.. Oh well, good times never last anyway di ba? I just hope I'll be able to get through this storm unscathed. ;)

I ran into an old friend yesterday. It's been ages since I saw her.. high school pa.. tapos I think I saw her a couple of times during college (turns out I was right, siya nga pala talaga yun) =)

Grabe, I'm so tired. Can't wait for the weekend. I believe we're gonna go and watch Harry Potter this sunday after mass. =D The feedback has been positive so far, but me and my bro have our reservations about this director.. Well, I guess we'll just hafta watch it and see for ourselves..

Hey, look at the time! Gotta run!

Go ahead, indulge yourself..

Went to school yesterday to attend a testmanship workshop which unfortunately fell through (and I wasn't informed, though I had recieved an invite earlier) :( Wound up spending a little time in the LRU downloading some stuff via my PPC. Then I decided out of the blue to just indulge a whim to go to the mall.

Yeah, I went there alone. It wasn't as bad as it seems. Being a very reserved person, I was kinda excited to get some time alone and think about things or do whatever I want without following a timetable or taking somebody else into consideration. :) Call me weird, but it's what I do. :P

So I went off on my merry way out of the building with Alex, who had to go meet up with Krisel to play badminton. Where that dude gets all his energy, I'll never know. :P We split up upon reaching the Health Service, as his journey requires commuting via Espana while I went via Lacson. The trip was generally uneventful. However, as the FX neared my destination, it soon began to rain.. HARD!! :( I prayed "Lord, make it stop, kahit sandali lang.." Serves me right for not bringing an umbrella. But hey, how was I supposed to know that I'd wind up going to the mall right? :P

Buti na lang the Lord answered my prayer! :D As I opened the door to alight from the FX, I prepared myself to make a hurried dash to the nearest covered area (coz through the window, it seemed like it was still raining). Much to my surprise, the rain had completely STOPPED all of a sudden. :D Thanks God! :D

So there I was, in what I personally felt was the best damn mall in the metro. :D Hats off to those people that made the Shang possible!! :D It has such a great layout and gives me that cozy atmosphere of a classy mall with so much to explore (even though I've been there a number of times already). :D Ang sarap talaga dun! :D I decided to grab some grub at Kitaro, and take my sweet time just sitting there and eating. Man, I should really learn to slow down..

It was like I was high on something. :P It felt so great to have all the time to myself!!!! :D So I went around, doing the things I wanted to do and look at the things I wanted to check out. I spent a great deal of time browsing around National, Tower Recorsd, Powerbooks, etc.. Managed to grab another book at the bargain bin in Natio. I don't remeber the title 'coz my dad hijacked it
:P, but it's about West Point. :D Also got my bro a copy of Julius Caesar for his English class. Eventually, I got tired and decided to go home. On the way out, I bought a half dozen Dunkin' Donuts. "Pasalubong ng Bayan", 'ika nga. ;)

So yun, that was my day yesterday. Tomorrow's enrollment. Ugh, gotta be in uniform pa! :(

This is the life!!...

I'm at the second week of my (hopefully) last ever semestral break! Ang SARAP ng buhay!!! :D Nothing doing but kain, tulog, TV, PC, basa (ng novel ha?), swimming (once in a while), and going out with my GF every week (with absolutely NOTHING to worry about! No deadlines, quizess, etc, NOTHING!!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!) :)

Damn, I'm going nuts sa sobrang saya... :P

Here's a list of noteworthy things I've done over the past week or so..

• Finished Diner Dash
• Finished Insaniquarium (twice!)
• Read a book about the Red Ball Express (the first truck-borne supply line used by the Allies during the push towards Germany during WW2)
• Read "The Da Vinci Hoax" (Its the definitive debunking daw. A very good read. I recommend it to everyone na nakabasa ng Da Vinci Code who wants to know the truth behind those supposed "facts" written down there)
• Watched "Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo" (It's a ton of laughs! Grabe!)
• Watched "Blade of the Rose" (you know, that imported flick starring Jacky Chan and his son. Ok lang, it was kinda mediocre, pero fun na rin.. mabait akong critic eh :P)

Haven't been able to go out-of-town yet though... :( Siguro after enrollment.. sana..

Well, yun pa lang so far... At present I'm playing Civilization III and I just bought a second-hand copy of "Red-Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy.. Looks like its gonna be a looong night again.. :P

Haven't been sleeping as much as I'd normally like 'coz I've been having a ball reading. :D It just feels so refreshing not to force yourself to read something, and just be able to read for the heck of it. :D

Was supposed to go to that World's Longest Buffet thingie with Reg, but things didn't pan out. Ok lang, kasi I heard na may mga complaints about that eh, and some were even demanding refunds... hay...

Well, that's it for now folks. Kung sipagin na lang ako ulit.. :P

It's over!!!

At long, long last, the semester is finally OVER!!!!!!

Grabe, I've really been looking forward to this since about 2 weeks into the schoolyear! The workload is just incredible!! :(

Now, on to some other blog-worthy stuff I failed to put up for one reason or another...

My father had a myocardial infarction..

Or for the non-med people, he had a heart attack...

for the really OC people out there, he experienced an episode of stable angina. Came home presenting with diaphoresis, cold extremities, atypical chest discomfort, hypotension (i took his BP..), and pallor.. (AND I couldn't papate a radial pulse or apex beat. Hell, I couldn't even really hear his heart beating thru my steth!!)

Don't worry, he's fine now. All this happened roughly a week ago, while I was in the thick of things during the hell week before the finals...

I won't go into much detail for now. Basta the important thing is that he underwent a successful intervention and is now back here at home with us, full ambulatory, but under medications and strict dietary control. hehehe :)

GRabe, I never thought anything like this could happen to us. It's just so unreal...

Pero sabagay, if you're gonna really look at it, my dad was just an accident waiting to happen.. Biro mo, he's obese, sedentary, diabetic, and hypertensive! You can find a better MI candidate than that!! :(

Whoa, it's later than I thought! I'll just continue this some other time..

Oh, before I sign off, I'd like to give a shout-out to all those people who helped me through these tough times while at school.. Thank you to the C5ers, especially Al, Borj, the Brainstem Barkada (Ceres, Pons, Ginny), Barbs, Tiffy, Tanya, Myns, and everyone else for "adopting" me, making me feel welcome and accepted during that time when I felt that had no one I could really turn to... Thanks also to Ed, Pat, Boom, batchmate Joanne, Maan, Braix and Potpot, and all the other people who, despite their busy lives, took time out to lend an ear and reassure me that eveything would be alright.. Oh, and I'd like to give tribute to Dr. Timothy Dy. Thanks for the sucessful procedure! (and for taking time out to educate me on the finer points of interventional cardiology) You're so cool doc! When I get older, I wanna be just like you! :P

Med Day

As always, I'm here again at my favorite room in school.. Med week is winding down, today being rthe final day of festivities.. I'm in civvies today, a fresh change from the usual all-white garb we wear to class. The council was able to make college shirts to be worn this day (nice one SC!!) and thus hindi namin kelangan mag uniform. :) We still had class from 7-8am though .. not bad, kasi I was supposed to report din naman today, so it's better na tapusin ko na rin 'diba? At 8, there was a mass held in the Med Audi. There was a surprisingly good turnout. In fact, it was so good that the dean decided (with the blessing of the Father Rector who was the main celebrant) to suspend classes and declared the rest of the day a holiday. He even gave the clerks some time off! Thanks Dr. Lopez! But we shouldn't forget the man who made it all possible, so once again, Braix, I salute you!! =P

After the mass, there was the Medigras, a kind of bandfest which is handled by the brods and sisses from Phi Sigma Gamma and Theta Lambda Phi. I found myself in a bit of a funk sometime in the middle of the mass. Seeing all my friends who are brods going around doing stuff and making themselves useful, kinda made me regret (yet again) not being a brod.. =( Looking back at my MTS and OMTI days, I've always had this penchant for doing behind the scenes stuff. Seeing everything come together just makes my day... =D Sigh...

But God really has a way of making things come together. Even though he strongly manifested that being a fratman really just wasn't for me (I'll talk more on this next time..), he heard my little prayer and came to the rescue by putting me in the thick of things helping out the tech crew pull their stuff together. Needless to say, I was happily toxic once again.. =D

And just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, I ran into the guys from GBE who were selling their neato T-shirts in front of the LRU. 200 Php lang each!! It was too good an opportunity to miss! I quickly snapped one up before maubusan. I'd buy another one if they'd sell those gray ones in my size. :D

Hay.. what a week.. at least we got a day of rest kahit paano.. It was fun being able to chill out with friends kahit sandali lang.. It helps keep us sane.. hehehe

So once again, I'd like to give a shout-out to the Med Student Council for a job well done!! =D

Babalik ka rin...

Wow, it's been like 3 weeks (i think) since my last post. A lot of crazy stuff has been going on as of late. I know I've said it before, but third year is HARD! I'm learning to cope though.. At least I'm doing a bit better in my subjects, and I study more too.. =P Credit goes to the Lord for taking care of me and never letting me down (Thanks God!) :D The recent recollection we had really turned things around for me. I just hope I'll be able to sustain all this productivity and sudden rush of enlightenment all throughout the year. ;)

We went to Megamall yesterday. Went to mass early para 'di hirap sa parking. It turns out my folks wanted to celebrate my birthday a bit earlier, so they opted to forego the usual fast-food lunch and we ate at a classier place (minsan lang naman eh. Thanks mom and dad! :D). Then I was able to buy a pair of cool jogging pants at the Surplus Shop. To top it all off, I was finally able to get my hands on the one song (well, actually it's an instrumental track) that I've been looking for since the MT Grad Ball. It's hard to find music if you don't know the title if there's no lyrics 'diba? =P Let me explain how it happened..

We wandered into Powerbooks not really looking for anything in particular.. I drifted off to the Tower Records area on an unexplained whim... It was there that I thought "Mahahanap ko pa ba kaya yung track na yun? Will I ever find the title or who performed it?.." So I was just going around, looking at CDs at random.. then I heard a similar-sounding track being played over their local system..

Befor I go on, the CD in question is The Best of Bond (you know, that all-girl instrumentalist group)

I thought "Parang ganun, but it's not it.." Then I went to the area where they had the "DJ" booth to check out what was playing. I didn't notice the Bond CD displayed there 'coz I thought it was some kinda diva compilation CD or something lang.. The cover wasn't what I expected.. I thought they'd be clad in black or something, basta gloomy or serious.. Anyway, I asked the guy what was on and he told me na Bond nga. 450 bucks.. man, that's a lot.. He then showed me the other Bond CDs available there.

Again I was thinking.. "What if the track I want isn't there? Eh parang nakakahiya naman magtest ng mga CD tapos hindi ka pa pala bibili.." (You see, I'm kinda stingy at times.. =P) So I thanked the dude and left.. On my way out, I ran into Mom who asked me where I've been. I told her that there's this CD that I really wanted but it costs a bundle.. She told me to go get it 'coz may isasabay din daw siya para isang bayaran na lang daw. So I got two CDs (The best of Bond and another album) and brought them to the testing area. Umpisa pa lang ng first track, I knew I already hit the jackpot!!! Grabe, I was so thrilled to get that! Finally, after 3 years of wondering and hoping, I finally have it!!! :D Thanks mom!! You're the best!!! (It turns out the track was entitled Victory, and I couldn't agree more.. :D)

It looks like for the first time in so many years, I'll be having a really happy birthday once again... Sniff! ;)

I wanna be a Medicine!!!!... =P

Good thing Blogger's up and running again. I thought I wouldn't be able to post despite being in school for the whole day (what a waste that could have been!).. =P

The prelims ain't over yet. We just had our examination in Pediatrics a few hours ago. I thought about going home but nah, I'll be able to accomplish more by staying here. Had lunch with the guys at the hospital canteen. It's so refreshing to be able to hang out with friends without much pressure bothering you. I mean, we take our exams very seriously, but the fact that we're free from other worries is already a load off our tired minds. Medicine 2 is up next tomorrow. Some of you non-med people might be wondering "What the hell do you study in the Medicine subject? Isn't Medicine what you call your entire postgrad course??" (listen up Reg, you might just learn something.. =P)

Well, the Medicine subjects (we had Med 1 last year) teach you how to integrate all the basic stuff you learned in first and second year. Last year, we were taught how to perform history taking and physical examinations (because "90% of the time, you can make your diagnosis with a good history and PE!"). WE also had a smattering of cases for common illnesses to expose us to the wild world of diagnosis and management. This year, we're taking it to a whole new level. With our fundamentals (supposedly) in place, we now tackle more in depth cases, are given more detailed lectures on the different pathologies affecting the different organ systems, are given workshops on some of the more practical aspects of diagnosis andpatient management, and are even expected to give more detailed reports even encompassing the realm of diagnostic procedures and treatment! Ah, such fun.. =P

I could go on and on, but alas, time is against me, and now Ii must return to my little nook up there in the library to continue my romance with the different interesting facets of the topic known as Endocrinology.. =P

Who knows, Imight even blog later when i get bored again.. hehehe

Prelims week

Ok, here I am at the first day of the prelims (or midterms for those from other schools). We'll be having a single test per day, which isn't really too light considering the amount of material covered by each. :P Yes, I have survived hell week, which wasn't really as toxic as I expected. In fact, it turned out to be quite pleasant in the end..

I'd like to sincerely apologize for what I said about our facilitator before we had a chance to meet her. I was SO WRONG to base my impression from feedback from another group! While it may be true that she may have "terrorized" them, she was very nice to us, although demanding. =P But the thing is, I was able to really appreciate the points that she was trying to get across. It was really a great learning experince, going to the wards ALONE handling your own patient for the very first time, and being expected to give a good output. It was very tiring (and tension-filled because of what we've heard from the previous group), but very rewarding at the end. I didn't get chewed out, was appreciated for my effort, and even got to snack on some peanuts which she brought for our group! Such a nice lady!! :D Though she was quick to point out our shortcomings, she did so in a fair and non-hostile way. I dunno about my other groupmates if they were able to grasp her message like I was, given the fact that we have different ideas with regards to how learning should be. =P

If I was at the brink of giving up before we started this module, I now find myself more determined than ever to finish medicine, complete my specialty training, and maybe even come back to school to teach! =D

So to doktora, thank you for giving us the chance to go solo flight at the wards. There is really no substitute for confidence and experience, stuff that can't be learned from the books or in the classroom. I know I didn't do so well the first time around, but thanks to you, I've identified my weaknesses and will be able to work on them as I grow to be a full-fledged physician someday.. (naks!) =P

Whew, now that that's out of the way, I guess I gotta get back to the books. OB is up next tomorrow! The fun just never ends! Yahoo! =D

Hell week

Nah, it's not prelims week yet, though with the present load, one can never tell.. We've got at least two exams per day this week, some of them considered "major".. The week has barely begun but it already has me worn down. It's bad enough that we have to study non-stop, but our group even has an additional "mini-revalida" to contend with... This isn't funny anymore.. :P

At least I was able to attain my objective this weekend, which was to finish up my reports for thursday.. Well, they're not really done yet, but I guess its a load off my mind to have been able to accomplish that much. Sometimes I don't want to think about what tomorrow has in store.. I'll be living day-by-day for this week.. It's the only way to get by...

Day by day
O dear Lord, three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
To love thee more dearly
To follow thee more nearly
Day by day...

Here we go again...

It's another saturday, and yes, here I am at school.. :P My group got assigned another batch of new cases.Ok lang. I guess we've gotten over the initial shock/fear of going alone. I was able to get a better history this time, with a more thorough physical examination to boot. :) I don't really care anymore if we're gonna get chewed out when we meet our facilitator on the thurdays to come. The experience we gained is invaluable. Confidence in your capabilities can't be taught in school. :D Sure there were some screw-ups, and I'm pretty sure we made some more with these new cases. But what the hell, kaya nga medical students diba? :D

I've learned to look at life from a fresh perspective. Actually, I guess it's more of rediscovering what I already believed in before. I had a chat with one of my classmates the other day. This particular classmate is one of those who worked before deciding to enter medical school. Basically she told me that the outsidre world isn't all it's cracked up to be.. and I guess her pep talk worked.

Oh well, gotta go. The ward is waiting.. :P

Sabado

It's Saturday, and here I am in school... and I'm even in uniform!! :P No, I don't have an extension class, nor did they declare that they were making life even more toxic for us by cutting our weekend in half. :P I just came from the ward where i visited "my" patient. Though I'm still disgruntled with the extra load this module has placed upon us (more than any other subsec for that matter), at least I'm grateful for the chance to be able to go on a solo flight and handle a patient all to myself. :D It's really something else when you do it alone.. Nobody asking questions in an order you wouldn't normally prefer, no more lengthy arguments on physical examination findings, etc.. It's just you, your skills, and the patient before you. It just feels so empowering! Though I know come thursday I'll probably be chewed out by our facilitator for stuff I surely missed or failed to do, at least its been a good learing experience.. (though I wish my learning experience could be a bit more pleasant if our faci would be just a teeny bit nicer to her students.. :P)

I'm beginning to learn how to cope with the multitude of stresses that Med throws our way.. I guess I shouldn't take everything to seriously and just to my best to put up a good and honest effort in everything I do.. though most of the time it's easier said than done.. sigh... I'm just praying I won't get chewed out so much when the time comes..

2 1/2 hours post prandial...

(What happened?)
Wow, after 10 minutes of furiously typing, I suddenly pressed something by mistake and all that I typed just vanished!!

Anyway, I was ranting about how toxic it is here in med, and how it got a whole lot more toxic due to the addition of an unecessary stressor.. I won't delve into that any more, but it would be enough to say that I feel like a neophyte again... :(

Sometimes I really don't get these doctors.. or the way medical school is conducted..

Some of them expect you to come to the first meeting knowing everything without making errors!! Eh kaya nga medical students pa lang diba? There's supposed to be an allowance for error! They set their expectations very high and if you fall short of that, you're nothing!! :( It's so sad when you think about it.. students who are willing to learn encounter teachers who are unwilling to teach!! It can get so frustrating and discouraging at times..

I understand that Med is supposed to be toxic. Siyempre doctor ka, kelangan madami kang alam 'di ba? But can't the consultants be even just a little bit nicer or more understanding? Kahit konti man lang?? (I'm not talking about the entire faculty here ha.. just a select few who, in my opinion, seem to hate students for what they are..) :(

Now I'm really toying with the idea of quitting.. I've had enough! The load just keeps piling up with no end in sight!! I don't even have time for myself anymore!! :( Every night when I go to bed (usually at 12mn or later) I always wonder when I could get a good nights' rest without worrrying about what's gonna happen the next day or week!! Dammit! I'm living life day by day!! Its so pathetic!! I'm sick and tired of always worrying, always being toxic, always pushing my body, mind, and soul to strive for something I'm not even sure I'll be successful at in the future!!

I never thought I'd wind up like this.. I was always the idealistic one.. I was foolish enough to think that I would never become jaded.. I can only laugh at myself now for being so naive.. In the past, if you'd ask me if I would change the choices I've made in my life, I'd probably tell you "No way! Ano ako, baliw?" Now the situation has changed, and I now think that I must have been crazy to have decided that way in the first place.. I now, more than ever, envy my batchmates who have chosen different paths and lead conderably simpler lives.. All I ever wanted in life was to be happy and have a sense of purpose.. Now I find myself with neither..

Life will go on, and stuff will happen. I'm at the point where there's no turning back.. I just hope I'll be able to do my best with the choices I've made , and live by the ideals that I have set my heart to ..

Make your light brightly shine 'til the journey's end; Luceat, Luceat Lux!!!

Monday blues and UAAP games

It's the start of a new week, and I'm taking advantage of some down-time to squeeze in an entry while we wait for our prof for Ethics III. I find it amusing when i see that the only subjects which we take through all these three years are Ethics and Prev Med. Oh well..

The past week left me absolutely DRAINED.. so drained that I didn't even have enough energy to blog (or go for a swim for that matter, which made me feel really lousy.. :c ). It was terrible. We had quizzes, cases, and lectures all around! The usual stuff kumbaga.. but the sad thing is, there appears to be no end in sight!!! :c So we just trudge along day by day, always reading, always studying, with the hope that it'll be all worth it someday... For now, I guess we'll just have to suck it up and take whatever Med throws our way.. there is no alternative.. Hoping for a better day just wastes time and productivity.. Damn, I sound so mechanical all of a sudden..

Medicine is hard, there's no question about that. I knew it was gonna be hard, but I guess it's still different when you get to confront it for real.. No, I'm not thinking of quitting.. because I have a vision, and a sense of destiny... that my life is supposed to follow the path laid down before me.. At times I still fail to understand the choices I've made, and yet I go on, motivated by some unseen force which slowly guides me along the course which I tread... I've seen God's hand in many points in my life... especially at those crossroads that would drastically shape the course of my life until the very end.. I just pray that I haven't read the signs wrong for even though God is perfect, I'm not, and the possibility of having misinterpreted everything still hangs over my head.. (but then again, that's why there's the process of discernment, diba?)

I watched the Ateneo-Lasalle game yesterday. :) Took some time off from the madness to watch another part of their epic struggle against each other. :P Tambak!!! Grabe, Jayvee Casio was clicking on all cylinders, hitting a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point land during the 1st half, helping DLSU to a 30 point lead (50-20)! I was wondering when he would really come out and bring his deadly shooting to the collegiate level. It couldn't have happened at a better time for the Archers. With the departure of leading scorer Mac Cardona, a lot of people were wondering who would pick up the slack and fill the void. Being an undersized team this year, La Salle is expected to rely heavily on their firepower from beyond the arc. They didn't disappoint.. :D Going up against a tall Ateneo lineup with the "Baby Rocket" JC Intal and lanky Japeth Aguilar manning the middle, La Salle was forced to shoot from the outside after consecutive blocks by Aguilar and Intal made the inside a bit too crowded for comfort.

More postgame analysis next time. Class is about to start.. ;)

Its the weekend! Oh joy!.. =P

Whew! An end to a LOOONG week! I never thought I'd make it through! =P There was like half a dozen quizzes, case discussions left and right, and a handful of presentations stuck in between!! Argh! Toxic!! Add that to another extracurricular source of stress that's been bothering me lately.. but i won't go into details anymore..

I was supposed to go home early today coz of the lighter sked, but instead I hung around to photocopy some materials that I'll be needing for the next week. It was time well spent. I got to bond with some of my classmates who were also there at Asturias hanging out while waiting for their respective xeroxed stuff.

After getting my stuff, I boarded an empty jeep and sped off. Ang mahal na talaga ng fare sa jeep ngayon!! The jeep stopped after a while and there was this really old lady who boarded. Out of the blue, she began to talk to me! She first pointed out to me a kid on the street and said that he was her grandchild, well, actually her nephew's son (she was an old maid daw, and according to her, she wasn't ashamed of saying that to people either! ). I humored her kasi matanda na din nga naman siya, and she's probably looking for someone to talk to, as are most old people. So I just listened with feigned interest as she went on and on about her nephew's kids whom she was supporting. She talked about her family and also said that she was 89 YEARS OLD!! Whoa pare!!! Anyway, things got interesting when she took note of my uniform and asked if I was a medical student. :D Siyempre I said yes diba? So she went on to ask me about her painful"bones" (joints actually) which was strongly indicative of arthritis. I worked my questioning along that line but was unsucessful for the most part because the jeep's stereos were turned up so loud that she couldn't hear me!! :( But I got some measure of satisfaction when I told her my impression and she said that was what the doctors in UST told her. :D Yahoo!!! :)

So now I sit here feeling pretty good about myself not because i was able make the right diagnosis (that's chicken feed, any idiot would know arthritis!), but because I was able to build a good rapport with the patient. I know what I did was nothing much, but we need these little victories in life that boost our morale to keep us going. :)

Its not what you know, its what you BOTHERED to know..

After 10 years.....

I went to Mobile1 in Makati today to pick up my membership card and I thought I'd squeeze in a few downloads while I was there. :) However, when I got there, the sole computer dedicated for Pocket PC Downloads was occupied by another member. So I had no choice but to sit my butt on one of their comfy chairs and wait for my turn. (Buti nga kamo they had comfy chairs) As luck would have it, I sat there for what seemed like an eternity... Luckily they also offered free WiFi access so you wouldn't get bored. But after a few unsucessful attempts at blogging (yes, i wanted to post one while I was there), I grew kinda restless and just sat there. Sadly, the downside of using WiFi with mobile devices is that not all the sites you want to go to are compatible with your web browser version. :( sigh.. So i was just sitting there, thinking about what a great waste of time it was (remember, I haven't finished studying yet.. see previous post..), when at long last, the guy finally stood up and it was my turn! Hallelujah!!! =P

It wasn't a very productive download day. I only got a handful of EBooks (Netter, Harrisons 16th, etc) coz the files were so big and took so long to download!! But the most important thing I was able to download was the program called Pocket Slides, which is essentially Powerpoint for the Pocket PC. :D That's cool..

Now for the gripes.. I wish Mobile1 would get another computer to accomodate the multitudes of PPC-toting members so we wouldn't have to wait so long just to get a handful of downloads.. Sayang talaga sa oras.. Those guys on Palm have it easy. They've got two computer stations for their downloading pleasure.. Its just not fair! =P

It's amazing. I never thought I'd find myself blogging at a regular basis, especially in the middle of the schoolyear. =P I find it kinda therapeutic actually. At least now I have some kind of creative outlet to defeat the overwhelming madness that is medical school. hehehe :)

Oh, and by the way, I'm almost done with my readings. I guess a little proper time management and determination to get things done will really go a long way.. ;)

Manila Day, Unproductivity, and the NBA Finals..

It's the first day of a long weekend down the drain, and I just wasted it! Damn!! Yup, its Manila Day, and that means NO SCHOOL! :D I really thought I'd get some work done, but as I look over to my left and see the pile of handouts/xerox I haven't read plus the list of unchecked things that I haven't done, I couldn't help but say to myself: "Dude, where'd the day go?''...

A chunk of it was spent watching the NBA Finals. Hats off to both teams. It was a great, hard-fought series! First Game 7 in 11 years!!! And it went down the wire!! :D It can't get any better that that! I was rooting for Detroit though.. :P However, I won't take anything way from the Spurs, 'coz the winner of a series like this truly deserves to be called a CHAMPION! :D

I knew it was too good to last... The forum I put up for our batch in medicine is barely hanging on by a thread(pun not intended).. It prospered beautifully over the summer, being supported by roughly a dozen active members. But as the schoolyear drew nearer, the postings stopped coming and the entire thing just grinded to a halt.. Oh well..

You might ask: If you're so flustered about being unproductive today, then what are you doing online now? Shouldn't you be studying or something?"

Well, to you tell the truth, I was already trying to get some sleep when, after tossing and turning for quite a bit, I found out that I couldn't. So here I am barely awake clacking away at the keyboard, and no, I'm in no shape to study! =P The past week left me just totally drained.. And I know I'm not the only one.. I dunno if it's because we're adjusting to the heavier workload or our bodies and minds still aren't used to studying after that long relaxing summer break (sigh!). Honestly, I felt that my body would break in half last night 'coz I was SOOO tired when I got home. My back hurt really bad, and I could barely stand straight when i tried to get up from bed.

It's getting pretty late. I better turn in while the getting's good. I'm gonna try get up early to swim tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to do it weekly so I could stay fit and sharp throughout the schoolyear..

Third Year blues...

Wow ha! It's been quite some time since i last posted anything.. I just saw Reg's blog and thought, what the hell! If he can do it, i can too! =P

We're now roughly two weeks into the schoolyear. I'd have to say we got a kick out of coming back to school, with our NEW V-NECK uniforms and all. =D Its amazing how much respect a uniform can command around the campus, one that has UPPERCLASSMAN written all over it.. hehe.. power trip..

But surely enough, the novelty soon wore off, and we were once again exposed to the daily grind of a medical student's life. And believe me, the 3rd year workload is no joke! We're in school monday to friday the whole day from 7am. Having about a dozen subjects doesn't help either.. =P At least I've discovered a better way to manage my time (finally) and hopefully i'll be able to maintain this level of efficiency throughout the year.. (coz if i don't, then I'm DEAD!)

I watched Batman Begins last Sunday with the family. Good movie. At first I was apprehensive about watching another hero flick, 'coz a guy can only take so much! To my surprise, it didn't disappoint, and I'd probably go as far to say that it's a better movie than Episode 3. No offense to all the Star Wars fans out there (as i am also one of them), but for me, I feel that it's a better stand-alone movie than EP3. Sure the movie (EP3) was great and the visuals were nothing short of fantastic. But i feel that the main strength of the Star Wars franchise is the continuity aspect, and that hyped things up so much for EP3 that i felt kinda lost in all the hoopla..

I know i'm not making much sense, so let me just say that I expected a great movie with EP3 and got what i came for. But with Batman I was expecting NOTHING and came out of the cinema in total EXHILARATION.. ;)

That's all for now. I'll try to keep the updates going.. :)

Oh, and by the way, I'd like to welcome the Freshmen of UST Med batch 2009!!!!

Be afraid, be very afraid.... bwahahaha!!