Clinics

It feels good to finally be doing what we signed up to do. Over the past couple of years, it's been nonstop studying mugging lectures; kind of like jc without the uniforms and discipline and with people that are older (not necessarily more mature). Throughout it all, there's been a growing sense of frustration, that this was not why I signed up to do medicine. And now, finally, that is being dealt with, and we're becoming doctors in the true sense of the word. Of course, we're still the lowest life forms in the hospital, subject to the whim and fancy of our tutors and surgeons (all of whom are inevitably busy). But it feels good anyways...

I'm at Changi General Hospital, far far away at the opposite end of the island from home. The place itself is wonderful, with brand new facilities and a student lounge with individual lockers for each of us. We're getting positively spoiled here, based on what some of the others are experiencing; but I'm certainly not going to complain haha. The commute is a fair enough drawback. Hours are long, with lots of time in between where we're expected to study on our own. And there is a lot to study as well, but this is much more palatable simply because it's relevant, and we're using the knowledge daily; more than can be said for 90% of everything we did in the past academic year. And that makes all the difference...

It's really ironic; with all the emphasis we've had on communication over the past few days, and all the going up to complete strangers and asking them to talk about their medical problems. And yet that old feeling of being alone within a crowd still lingers; maybe it's the new group dynamics, rather different from the one I've had the pleasure of being in for the past couple of years. Whatever it is, it's one thing I miss strongly, and one thing not likely to ever return. The other, of course, is the lengthy timetable, that leaves everyone drained at the end of each day. But this, we better get used to, for it's all downhill from here. Sigh...

I don't like the feeling of being taken for granted. I doubt you'll be reading this, and maybe I'm just being oversensitive as usual. But I really hate it.

Btw, my photos of europe are too ordinary and numerous to put up. For top quality pictures taken by a pro, please head on down to http://itshappypillsforyou.blogspot.com/. Kudos to Ouyang for patiently documenting our trip on film (er, bytes now haha). Fantastic job man...

Replies:

Nat: Woke up from sleep at 3.40 am, not went to sleep at 3.40 am hahaha...
Julius: 3 week break, yes. But not soon; it 's only in first week june...

"Language has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone, and the word solitude to express the glory of being alone."

-Paul Tillich