Going cerebral

It's funny how things have a way of working out in the end, regardless of how long or convoluted the path may have seemed...

- 2014 -  

Aftermath

Gee, those two months went by pretty quick..

After resigning from my MROD duties at CSMC, I sought to return to my real passion.. NEUROLOGY (and PSYCHIATRY na din :P) Where else better to train for this but in the old alma mater? :P

So I swallowed my pride and applied once more to UST for a position in the NeuroPsych training program. With a bit of luck and divine intervention, I was able to hurdle the entrance examination and interview with nary a hitch. Then came pre-residency.. We were informed that this year, pre-res period would last 2 months instead of the usual 1, thanks to the GME messing around with the previously established system. I dreaded the possibility that we might have to go on every-other-day duty for 2 months as well, although the NeuroPsych tradition is only 1 month of sliding.

It was a time of great change as well, since the whole pre-residency thing found me finally living on my own sharing an apartment with a former Med classmate who incidentally was my batchmate in pre-res! It's really funny how things turn out when you least expect it. There I was, just applying for pre-res with the need for nearby accomodations bothering the back of my mind. Lo and behold, my classmate was going into NeuroPsych too! We were able to find an affordable place and had set up just in time before all hell broke loose.

We were told that there were 12 of us who applied and took the exam. 10 showed up for the interviews, and 8 went to the orientation prior to the start of pre-res. On the first day, we started out as 7, only to be cut down to 6 after a couple of days.

The 6th member of our merry little group bowed out after 2 weeks, leaving only 5 of us who went the distance. Luckily, the powers-that-be looked kindly upon us and we reverted to the all-too-familiar Pre-Duty-from schedule after the compulsory 1 month of sliding.

The breadth of experience I gained is too great for the intended size of blog entry to contain, although I would say that it has been the most challenging 2 months of my life. :P During pre-residency, I not only grew in knowledge, but in wisdom as well. On the flipside, I lost quite a number of pounds as well! :P

After two grueling months, we weren't through yet! We were required to attend the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) workshop, and a weekly lecture covering the basic neurosciences at the medical school.

Seeing as we only had a probable 2-week interval before the possible start of residency, my co-pre-residents cooked up a plan to go to the island paradise of Boracay, which eventually came to frutition. :D There we bonded and got to know a little bit more about each other which would hopefully prove useful if ever we were accepted into residency together.

Looking back on everything, it has been one heck of a ride.. From CSMC MROD, to UST pre-residency, to Boracay of all places!! :D I wonder where I'll get to in the years to come.. :P

Oh yeah, we LOVE Boracay.. :P