Ok, now I'm really running out of time, so I'll be going really fast. Internship starts in roughly 3 days! I just fear that I won't be able to do justice to the rest of the services that I'm going to talk about, but what the hell..
NEUROLOGY
Ok, after spending about a full week in the loony bin, I had to move on to the organic causes of brain disease, the realm of mighty Neurology.. :D
Oh yeah, before I totally leave Psychiatry, I just wanna give a shout-out to Dr. Orestes Solis for making our Psych stay as bearable as possible. Thanks doc!
We made the swap with the outgoing Neuro clerks, them taking charge of the CC and us the Neuro ward. It was a really taxing job. You get all these critical patients, a majority of which require Neuroimaging immediately prior to beig brought up to the ward. And for some wweird reason, most CVAs tend to occur at night... Why the hell is that? :P Needless to say, me and Johnny were run ragged by the duty days we had in this service. In fairness to the Neuro department (who is also the Psych department), they were very forgiving when things couldn't get done as quickly as they would like, 'because they understand that the jobs are so many, but the clerks are so few... hehehe
The lectures we had in Neuro-Psych were very interesting. Listening to the great Dr. Poblete go about his thing makes Neurology seem so easy. I guess he's the prime example of someone who has a real gift for teaching.. I mean, I'm kinda biased towards Neuro as a subspecialty, given my condition and all, but hearing him make the subject matter palatable even to a lowly clerk kinda made me want to learn more and more... a rarity these days.. hehe
I have to note that this was the firat service wherein a patient expired while under my care.. WEll, not really, because I wasn't there when it happened, but the patient was decked under my name, so technically, that was my patient..
Also, life was a bit more bearable because we got along pretty well with our dutymate intern that time. Thanks Achi Margie!! ;) A shout-out is also due for Dr. Marc Molina, the hammer-twirling Neuro resident. Thanks boss! Hope to see you again in two years. :D
Then, before we knew it, Medicine already knocking at the door...
We had our orientation about two days before the start of the rotation.. Man, these Medicine peple really knew how to intimidate the hell out of you.. We had heard of the rumors but dismissed them as just ghost stories created by the other previous groups to keep the mystique of Medicine going.. But nay! Upon entry, the residents suddenly distributed test papers containg 50 items! This was stuff that, according to them, we needed to have known prior to starting the rotation!! Failure would mean a 7-day demerit even before we actually started!! No one could say a word...
After the exam, (which I obviously failed) they began a relentless orientation that haunts me to this day. The pressure placed on us was so great, tha tsome actually went home with migraines that night. They bombarded us with the various responsibilities we were to have, the numerous conferences we were to attend, the TONS of paperwork we were expected to accomplish, and a great many more.. We were dead scared...
We made our courtesy calls to different residents heading our various teams. I was in Team 4 (Go Team 4!!) with Kat LD, Janys, Christine, Justin, Haidee O., Nice, and Jacky. To add to our anxiety was the fact that our senior resident was the formidable Chief Resident Dr. Maureen Valentin! (ulp!) Our junior RIC (Resident in Charge) was Dr. Christine Untalan. ( I had seen her before on my undergraduate years when she was an intern, and I thought she looked tough..) They set down the rules and told us their expectations, during which we were able to breath a bit because they actually SEEMED nice! But still, I was on my guard, because you never know what the next day might bring..
The night before the big exchange, I was on duty at Neurology, which meant that I was FROM on the day we began!! Oh crap.. :S
I don't really recall the details of that 1st day, but I guess that was sort of a baptism for the entire group. No, we weren't handed demerit by the millions or anything of that sort. I guess being saddled with ACTUAL responsibilities provided a fresh change for us hardworking clerks, and I daresay we responded positively.
I could go on forever about that various day-to-day experiences I've had while rotating in Med, since most are firmly ingrained in my mind, but in the interest of tme, space, and practicality, I'll have to give a brief overview na lang.
Our first ever Team Intern was Gary. He was a walking Harrison's!!! He was very knowledgable and took time to teach us the nitty-gritty of stuff we had to do or needed to learn. He also willingly covered for us during those times we were absolutely shorthanded. Thanks Kuya Gary!!
During the middle of the 1st month, we had an intern swap, and new residents as well. This time our Team Intern was Mo (short for Moreen) who belonged to the beloved group of interns our group had grown to know so well. Our team residents were Dr. Emerson De Jesus and Dr. Romina Laguesma. And in the middle of our second month, we retained Dr. Emer as our senior, and got the slightly more OC Dr. Frederick Gabriel as our junior resident. And with that also came an intern swap. And lo and behold! We got Marge as our final Team Intern!!
The department wasn't as bad as adviertised. I now truly feel that Medicine as a clerkship rotation is seriously overrated. Fine, the workload is really a killer, but the Medical staff are SOOOO nice!! (at least, from my personal point of view) I guess it's really like that when you become "their" clerks. I recall during the OB days when people would argue over who makes the referrals to Medicine because they were really so scary...
I really learned A LOT from this rotation, mainly because this was probably the main "meat" of what being a doctor was about. (kaya nga tinawag na Medicine diba?). Also because we had good teachers in the ward (residents and interns) and my own personal interest in IM.
I have nothing but good words to say about the Medicine residents! They are so damn nice! They care about their clerks, have the drive and desire to teach, and (contrary to popular belief) aren't out to make our lives miserable! :D They were always there to answer our questions (but most of the time you'll also be asked a question yourself) :D.
Shoutouts go to the ENTIRE Medicine department, with particular thanks to the following:
Dr. Mossy Valentin
Dr. Emer De Jesus
Dr. Lyza Galia - current cheif res!! woohoo!
Dr. Bea Medrano
Dr. Hendra Nurjadin
Dr. Tin Untalan
Dr. Mina Laguesma
Dr. Eric Gabriel
Dr. Regina Yao
Dr. Julie Tapispisan
Dr. Isser Sugay
And to our beloved interns as well!
Thank you all!!! Medicine wouldn't have been the way it was without all of you!! :D
THE RETREAT
Now, in the middle of our second month in Medicine (just when I felt that I was about to totally burn out), we had the much-anticipated Clerks' Retreat at Angels' Hills in Tagaytay.. What followed was the three most relaxing days of Clerkship, EVER!! Nobody wanted to really do anything except sleep, eat, take pictures, and have a good laugh with friends.. I have nothing but fond memories of the place, and I do hope I'll be able to return someday... :D
ELECTIVES
Ok, after Medicine (yehey!), we were rewarded with the privelege of choosing our elective rotations for 1 month save for Radiology (the compulsory elective..). I opted to get 2 weeks of Medicine (under Dr. J. Go), 1 week of Neurology (yes, you read that one right), and the last week was for Radio.
The Medicine ("Dr. Go") elective was a hoot! We were finally free of the burden of having patients tied to our name and could now look at patients more objectively and "learn at the feet of the master". :P Dr. Go is a brillant man, no doubt about that, a trait only outdone by his generosity towards his clerks. We went on rounds with him at the CD ward and his Pay patients. He allowed us to sit in with his academic seesions for the residents. He brought us to the Christmas parties of the various medicine departments which had invited him. (It was nearing Christmas at that time, which worked pretty well for us, since we Electives people didn't have to do duties during the holidays. He fed our brains and kept our mouths stuffed with food. :P It all ended on a good note, and we were grateful to have been under him.
Next up was my Neurology elective. A lot of people thought I was pretty nuts to go and get myself involved in Neurology again, seeing as it's such a txic rotation that no one wants to put themselves through again. But I liked Neurology, and I'll go through it alone if I had to.. which I did.. :D It's a good thing the actual Neurology rotators at that time were all Medtechs. It made my stay there more enjoyable. Plus the fact that the interns there were also fun to be with. :) As an Elective rotator, I got to see what life was beyond all the q1 monitorings and the late-night runs to the CT scan. I went around with the senior resident to answer referrals. I got to hang out at the EEG room, I was regarded with respet by the Neurology resident staff and even got invited to have breakfast with them atMcDo. :D Of course, I still had to do 1 duty even though it was just an elective, and I helped out my Neuro friends by sharing their workload (except for monitoring of course!). After 7 interesting days, it was time to go to the final elective..
Radiology was cool, both literally and figuratively. We spent most of our time in air-conditioned rooms, doing light to minimal work, looking at impressive imaging devices and watching imaging-dependent procedures. The Radio staff was very kind as well. And i guess we got along fine with the Radio interns we had (Thanks Fritz! See you in Neuro!).
Well, I guess that's that for now. I'll wrap up the Sapang and Pedia rotations tomorrow.
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