Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts

October 8, 2015

The Woman

"You're gonna be a Surgeon? How will you find time to raise kids?", he asked.

"Just like my Mom did", answered the daughter of a Surgeon.

Until next time,
Chandana Shekar

October 12, 2014

Those Defining Days, a story

"Hey everyone. I'm Deepa Subash Mysore, from San Francisco, CA. Well, Medical School is something that happened to me out of the blue and hence, unlike all you guys, I don't have a specific reason as to why I 'wanted' to be a doctor. Other than that, I love playing the keyboard and traveling. Well, see y'all around then. Cheers". 

That was my fresher's speech at the most boring 'freshers' day' ever in history! As I awed at the oil-factory in the samosas and pakodas that went with tea, and the dress-code of 'salwar kameez' that I couldn't even spell; my batch mates awed at me for being an ABCD, which in their lingo was old-school for American-Born-Confused-Desi. Here I was, at a City that made my Surname and yet, a place I had never been to before. 

My Parents, both Indian Physicians, had migrated to the United States Of America way back in the 1980s, even before I was conceived. Maybe they fancied that country more than their Motherland, or maybe work and the country kept them busy enough not to get back to India, not even for vacations. The fact that most of their kith and kin had also made America their abode, gave them all the more reason to stick around. As I grew up, except for my name, family and skin, nothing in me was 'Indian'. Infact it took time for me to even realize that there isn't any language called 'Indian'. When I was done with School and was to get into College, my Parents insisted that I get into Medical School. But I, always thought Medicine and Law and the like were for boring people and not for me. But, unable to convince them that I wouldn't be enjoying it, I made other plans. I intentionally didn't fare well in the MCAT Exams. Nevertheless, my strategists Parents dumped me  at a Medical College in Mysore, India, after paying a large amount of money, that was the norm for N.R.I. students and sparing me the Entrance Exams. Students in India were working their back off  to get through pre-med and hoping like crazy to get into Med school. And there I was,having no idea why the world(read my parents) was doing this to me! But well, for some unknown reason, I didn't fight it much.


Things were okay until my flight landed at the Bangalore International Airport, and I boarded the Vaayu Vajra Volvo Bus to the Bus Station. Just after that, I was living a nightmare! Why on earth was the Bus Terminal at Bangalore called 'Majestic'? What was so majestic about the place? It looked like the biggest chaos I had ever seen in my life! Preparing myself for the pleasant and not-so-pleasant surprises that were yet to come my way, I reached Mysore. I got myself geared up to spend the next five and a half years of my life at the campus of J.S.S. Medical College. In a couple of days,Lectures started and I sucked!. I found everything weird, and weirder. The bossism of the teachers didn't do down well with me. Rules were rigid, competition was too much and I suffocated. The students fighting over every chance to dissect the Cadaver, the Histology diagrams always going wrong, pricking one's own finger for those drops of blood for the haematology blood-count experiments, and worse - so many charts and tables to know by-heart. Aarrgh! I hated it. Very soon, the N.R.I. me was an outcast. I couldn't figure out if the students had made me one, or I myself had.

Come weekends and I hardly had any company to hang out at a pub or so. The city being a small one, went to sleep early too. As they say, destructive things are easier to happen, I befriended a couple of students from other countries supposedly 'pursuing' different courses here. I should have been friends with the ones who liked their stuff, but instead I had chosen the ones who complained about every single thing around them, just like myself. What followed was obvious. I stayed away from classes, partied hard, went on vacations, flunked exams , and basically- wasted time. 

One fine morning, I realised that this was not what I was here for. Being a useless-bug was not me. I wanted to do something with my life and the best option that was in front of me, was to go back to College. But that wasn't an easy task for me. I realised that I needed a break and hence, decided to travel across the region I lived, alone. What I had in store, was nothing less than a treasure. Who said India was a poor country? The sea and beaches at Kanyakumari, the hills and tea estates at Munnar, the Jog falls and the Western Ghats in Karnataka, left me wanting to see more of India's rich nature. The hospitality and harmony with which the people lived here was something the world could learn from. There were petty villages with poor people sure. But the broad smile on their face and the authentic cuisines which changed from one region to another were so Wow! We are always taught to treat guests well, but only in this country do they mean what they say- 'Athithi devobhava'!. 


Back to College, I started afresh. All I had to do was return the smile I got from my batch mates and they were more than happy to help. Friends, happened within no time. Dhanya, a half Punjabi and half Mysorean, who later went to be my best-friend-forever, insisted that I shift base from the hostel to her home. Her family, unlike what I expected, were more than welcoming. Inviting an outsider to stay at your place for 5 years odd wouldn't have been something I would have done. But well, this wasn't me. It was them! Within a few minutes after I stepped into their house, I had turned from 'Deepa' to 'Beti'. So much affection in so less time? Was again another point to be added to my 'What I love about India' list. The bond that Indian families share is one of a kind. They don't just come together at Holidays. They live together, everyday. They share duties and responsibilities, joy and laughter, sorrow and tears with so much ease as though they have a gene in their chromosomes just for this. Relationships weren't as simple as brother and sister or uncle and aunt. It was specific for every kind of it - anna, akka, thangi, thamma, maava, aththe, chikkamma, chikkappa, dhodamma, dhodappa; well, the list continued. And there were different versions of this in different languages too! These little things were what made these relationships so special I guess. As I lived there and it kinda became 'home' for me, the essence of India slowly started to sink in. Festivals followed and the pomp that came with it- prayers, rangolis, sweets, lights, fireworks, colors, was nothing less than a cultural extravaganza. It was only at Deepavali, that I understood the actual meaning of my name. Deepa - A Light to lead the world away from darkness. I couldn't hold my tears when Ajji said, 'When you become a Doctor, you shall treat the sick and lead them into the light of health from the darkness of disease.' Well, maybe 20 years ago, my parents thought so too!

At college, I fared nothing less than 'great'. Though I had initially frowned upon my Parents' decision of getting me here, now I was thankful to them for the same with all my heart. I started learning the languages too and ended up mixing Hindi and Kannada with English. My friends were the best language tutors I could bargain for. The first line they taught me in Hindi was, "main tumse pyaar karthi hoon", supposedly meaning, 'how r u?'! Seriously? Wonder what was 'I love you' then! The Nurses at the Hospital, addressed as 'Sisters' and 'Brothers', were a sweet bunch to work with. Every morning, they would greet me with a 'thindi aaytha?' (meaning 'had breakfast?' in Kannada) and I would fluently reply 'aaythu'. From being an almost-firangi who couldn't pronounce a patient's name if it was Savithramma, I went on to be able to explain the risks, benefits and procedure of a surgery to a patient. And all that, in Kannada! 

Within no time, the 5.5 years passed by. When we Graduated and were administered the Hippocrates Oath, I had two families by my side - my biological one and the other, who made me one among themselves for the past 5.5 years. As friends parted ways after promising each other a million times to be in touch, Dhanya's wedding happened and it was indeed a Big Fat Indian Wedding. The Rokah, Sagaai, Sangeeth, Mehendi, the music, dance, joy,friends and family, celebrations,Baarath and the final Phere and Mangalsutra; the whole journey was amazing.It was Culture at its peak. It made me tell myself, 'It happens only in India'.

India is rich. India is glorious. India has so much treasure in itself, that the more you experience, the more is left to explore. India has something to offer to everyone who come here, be it oldies or youngsters. Tourists and the like have amazing experiences here and come back for more. For me, it had helped me realise my roots. I was way more Indian and less ABCD.  With Utmost satisfaction and at the same time, a heavy heart to leave the country, I stopped my tears and boarded my flight to San Francisco. For reasons, obligations and other perspectives, I had to return to the US, at least for then. Today, on the August 15th, the Independence day, far away from India at St.Mark's Hospital in San Francisco, I sat in my office staring at the miniature India Flag on my table. Memories raced through my mind as though it were happening right in front of my eyes. I was just telling myself, 'India is indeed incredible', and there was a knock on my door. It was turn for me to see my next Patient. As he walked in, as destiny would have maybe wanted it, I noticed that he happened to be an elderly Sardarji! Well, I couldn't help, but stand up and great him with, 'Satsriyakaal Papaji'.


Until the next story,
Chandana Shekar

July 1, 2011

Happy Doctors' Day 2011












To the 5.5 years of medical college,
To the cocktail of slogging and fun,
To the pre-pg and pg struggle,
And the life that starts later on..
Cheers mates... Happy Doctors' Day :) :)
 
Loads of love,
Dr. Chandana C. Shekar

August 28, 2010

Me, Viral and Ramblings..

Down with Viral, studies screwed up, bad days go worse. As though it wasn't boring enough to sit in a chair the whole day for months together studying for one life-making-or-breaking-examination, now I had to get confined to the bed. The only compensation I got was to shift to the couch in the living room if I wanted to watch TV!  I hate Viral. They say, 'Doctors are the fussiest patients'. So true. I've seen other doctors behaving so. When it came to me, was no different. Well, Thats enough I guess. This is my space in the blogosphere. I own it and the rules are mine. So no more negatives about me is gonna come up here. Man, I missed a friend's wedding today. And one more tomorrow is gonna have the same fate. Shit ya.

Anyways, I know nothing of this is making any sense. Oh come on, I'm not keeping well!. I can't be writing an award winning post here!!. I haven't gone out of home since 10 days!! Can you believe that? I realised it just today. Well, that has nothing to do with the viral though. Viral started just two days ago. But yeah, come what may, I am going out tomorrow. I hope any of my friends come down to Mysore for the weekend. I wanted to talk to a friend today and called him up at 11 pm. Well, for the busy being he is, that is the only time he would be free. And he said he needed another 2 hours to finish work at the Hospital. And its a non-call day for him. We Doctors are way too overworked yaar. Especially during our Post-Graduation period. And even after knowing that, we PG aspirants do everything we can ( and can't too) to get that one PG seat. Well, I guess we are the most optimistic lot on Earth. We look at the future, years and years ahead when we will be successful Practitioners. And with a hope of getting to those greener pastures, we go through all the torture for 5.5 years of MBBS, a minimum of a year of Pre-PG, 3 years of PG, sometimes 2 more years of super-speciality , add one more year for miscellaneous. The number of years after that to become an 'established' practitioner making good bucks is very individualistic. So much?? God, Please make me earn big BIG money when I start practising! Ah! There I go rambling again!!

Anyways, Like everyone else, when bored, I also get on facebook. And randomly keep 'liking' pages which have a line to them and nothing else. And today, was a day with the highest probability that I would do it. And I did! I 'liked' quite a few pages, which I felt 'spoke out my heart' in those one liners. One amongst those was really good. I 'actually' liked it. It said , "Sweetheart, he's just a lesson you needed to learn". Wow! That's the best line anybody can say while consoling somebody whose been dumped or cheated on!. The line makes you feel good about yourself, not crib about what happened and at the same time says that the guy was an asshole and was not worth anything more of you! How true! Nice nice. Like, like and the more like.

Okay I need to get off now. Party hard the weekend people..and miss the sick me :( ... ;-).
Chao,
Chandana C. Shekar

April 19, 2010

A Conversation


Started studying today. Thanks to a friend of mine. But when you try to study after ages, Oh man!, it's really tough to even sit at your table yaar!!. Needed a change. Got an urge to write. But staying at home all day almost leaves you with nothing to write on. Was just remembering If I wanted to write on something earlier and I hadn't. And one thing struck me. A conversation. And then I was sure that that would be the post here for today.

I had some guests at my place a couple of days back. A family with a 4 year old son. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him. After Paediatrics posting during my internship, I hardly found kids cute. Almost everyone from my College would agree to that (excepting the people who wanna take up paediatrics as a speciality). Our postings were so hectic and irritating ( Coz we did all other work except what Doctors ought to do), and with kids crying all around, at the end of one month, we had had enough of kids!!. But this one, was too cute and refreshing. I wouldn't mind spending time with him every single day. Loved the way he talked. I'll tell you one conversation that happened.

His Dad happens to be an Orthopaedician and the way this kid describes that is ,'My dad repairs broken hands and legs'. Courtesy his Kindergarten School, he can identify parts of the body. Now,


Him: " You also are a Doctor like my Dad? What do you repair?"
Me: "Well, I'll be a surgeon. I'll repair a lot of things then."
Him: "Lot of things? Name them."
Me: "Well, If I become a plastic surgeon, I'll repair scars. Like the one you have on your chin."
( He had a scar on his chin due to a fall and I thought that would be the easiest to explain to him).
Him: " That's all? Why repair that? It doesn't hurt at all!! Repair something that hurts. That will help people"
Me: "????...Ok.Forget it. So what will you become when you grow up?"
Him: "A Cricketeer, but only in the evenings. I'll play for RCB one day!! I'll be a Doctor during the day."
Me: "Oh!! That's nice. So will you also repair broken hands and limbs like your dad?"
Him: "No, Dad will do that. I will repair only knees and elbows"
Me: "Why only that?"
Him: "Because they hurt the most. Don't you know?!!!"

Well, All I could do was smile. Smile at his innocence, his know-it-all attitude, his zest for life (cricket and medicine huh?), and his thought to help people... Kids, they think wounded knees hurt the most!! :-)  No comments, but I really wish his innocence stays with him forever. Hope nothing else in life hurts him more than wounded knees.

And oh yeah, Cricket!! India and Cricket can never ever be seperated!!Never. No ways!! It's a religion out here. I guess that's the only thing wherein you can actually call India as a secular country. The only religion that everyone here is tolerant to. Such a small kid, and he wants to play for RCB!! I can understand if he would say that he wanted to play for the Indian team, but RCB??? Well, IPL Impact !! Guess this is worth all the publicity and hype and media coverage and what not the IPL has!!.

Chandana C. Shekar

August 31, 2009

One week at Immunisation

They say na, when you truly ask for something, you do get it sure.. Well, I asked for a week off from paedo postings and I got it sure :) I always cribbed about the Paedo postings in my college and guess what, I got one whole week off!! Asking why? Well, I was posted at immunisation for a week!! Yippee!! :)

One week of just you and the nurse at the immusation department, with no P.G. or staff that you have to keep reporting things to (trust me, that feels really good) , hardly any work on days other than monday and thursday, no collecting reports and best of all, no taking samples to the laband no roaming around for references :). WOW!! Plus, you have flexible timings. No running to the hospital before 9 am. To top it all, I had one half day per se and a sunday holiday!Whoo, my first sunday holiday in the whole 51/2 months of internship!!! College fest too was at the same time, so I was not there in the hospital in the afternoons :) (coz our college fest events start in the afternoon). Had no problem asking for permission and crap, and no headache of running back for night duty after the events get over late evening.

And yeah, not to forget, I missed two OPDs!!! Missing even one single first unit paedo OPD feels like you've missed hell!!No exaggeration here for sure. Felt like I'm a doctor for a week and not an ayah(In our hospital paedo, interns are just doing ayah's work of taking samples to labs, taking the patient along for all the referenxes and x-rays and scans and blah blah blah). We get to sit in 'The doctor's chair', and not in the one next to it. You have your colleagues coming over to chit chat when they are free and you too are (Immunisation is free on all days except mondays and thursdays), and nobody will question you anything about that. I swear, I was as happy and and as relaxed as I could be. :)

Well, one week gone by, I never realised how swiftly it passed by. Had a real nice posting here. Will have to report back to paedo first unit from tomorrow. That's not something I'm looking forward to. But, as they say, all good things come to end. So did immunisation postings. I'm glad that I got one week atleast. I have got the highest number of days at immunisation amongst my colleagues and all of them are invariably jealous of me. That just gets an impish smile on my face ;-). So, back to paedo emergency ward tomorrow, and hoping this fortnight passes soon :)

Chandana C. Shekar

June 19, 2009

Just when I think I'm done...


Saturday is back again!! Unfortunately!! :( Yeah, you didn't hear me wrong..I said 'Unfortunately' itself. Almost every sane human being looks forward to 'weekends'. For youth like us, Saturdays are always more fun than Sundays. But for me and a few more working with me, well, we just wish Saturdays cease forever..

It feels like just yesterday, that we had Saturday and our OPD and admission day and night shift and all that crap. And Saturday is here again :( How soon did the week pass by ? :(

Physiology says , your body and mind needs adequate rest.Being doctors, we all have studied it properly in our very first year of medical school. We know the disadvantages of not getting enough rest. Then why on earth are we doctors ourselves expected to work like donkeys?!?! We aren't some machines right? Why are we put on 36 hour shift and 70 hour shift and all that? Forget me, one of my friend took up MS general surgery in a government college recently. And poor fellow, he is getting to sleep only for an hour everyday for the past five days!! I mean, won't our efficiency decrease if we work like this?How much can you force your body and mind to work. When your drowsy and your mind is not analysing the history and findings and investigation reports of a patient to come to a diagnosis, forget the treatment part, whose at loss? What if you make a blunder in the treatment?At the end of the day, patients do get affected because of this right?But the world's very diplomatic. Everybody is of the opinion that, 'your a doctor. The noble profession. You should be able to handle all this'. What crap!! I wonder why shifts are so unreasonable. But I know for a fact that, nothing can be changed.

Intake of PGs and staff can be increased and work load will reduce. MBBS graduates are staying at home without PG seats and very low paid duty doctor jobs. But no. No college admits more PGs. I wonder why.When you can admit 150 students for an MBBS course, and you know that just an MBBS degree without an MS or MD leaves you nowhere, why is that you hardly have 50 seats for MD and MS? What are the others supposed to do? Stick to a 10,000 job all through life? Amazing logic ya!! Whatever it is, the hierarchy in this field is horrible. 'Rules' here, means, just what the seniors say. That's it. They are the rule makers and breakers and everything.

I'm not feeling well today. It looks like its gonna continue for tomorrow too. And tomorrow is supposed to be our busy day. How do I work when I myself am not feeling well? But yeah, I have to and I have previously worked while ill too. According to me, almost every intern and pg would have. Nobody in the hospital bothers about it. If at all I go and ask for leave, I won't get it because tomorrow is duty day and moreover, even if i get it, my leave for shruthi's wedding will get cancelled. Heights!!

My friends who I used to hang out with all these years have now shifted to Bangalore and elsewhere because most of my friends are engineers and are working in Metros. They come to Mysore only on weekends and they laugh at me when I say I'm at work!! Wow!! Amazing na? Life is screwed up if your weekends are screwed up yaar.

Anyways, I'm in this department for two more weekends. I'm on leave next weekend and that leaves me with only one Saturday duty and that's tomorrow. Hope things go easy tomorrow and hope my leave for the next weekend doesn't get cancelled. Want to get done with this..ASAP

Chandana C. Shekar

June 6, 2009

May I consult Dr.Chandana please?

It's a saturday morning and as usual, I was expecting a busy day and night at work. I go to the OPD at past 10 , after finishing the dressings in the ward and there is an OPD card lying on the table unattended. I ask the PG if he is done with that patient and if I can dispense the card, and he says , "That patient wants to consult you itseems". There's no doubt about my reaction. You can guess it right?I know he is just kidding. I ask him to stop it and he says the same thing again. 'What the hell ya, how can somebody fool around like this early in the morning when there is a busy day ahead yet?' is what goes on in my mind. I ask him for the last time to stop acting weird and there he goes, "The patient said that she wants to consult Dr.Chandana itseems". Ah!! Now I know for sure. This guy is nuts. He is having fun at my cost.

Then, for some reason, I turn around and see, and I find that, THE PATIENT IS ACTUALLY WAITING FOR ME!!!. I was shocked, speechless, wondering what my staff would think about it ,and happy too.

Now the explaination for her waiting for me goes like this. This particular lady had come to the OPD last week too and wanted a female doctor to examine her and she was pretty scared about something regarding her health. As I was the only female doctor around, I did examine her, but rest of the diagnosis and treatment part was done by my senior. That time, it has so happened that she has got to know my name from my name-plate. Now,this week, when she has come for follow-up, she is asking for Dr. Chandana!!!

Whoo!!! Felt good in one way. It's a completely different story that it'll be my seniors who will be doing the needful for her and I'm here just as an intern, still in my learning process. But when most of the patients address you as 'Sister'(Patients think any young girl in an apron is a nurse!!! weird!!!) and you keep snapping back at them saying 'I'm a doctor', if a patient asks for you and waits for you, it is but obvious that you will feel good right? When at times, you don't even get the respect that the para-medical staff get, by you very own staff, if somebody is respecting you as a 'Dr' , you will feel glad right? When most of the time you are doing clerical work at the hospital, if a patient actually wants you to treat her, you will feel great right? :) Nice :) :)

Chandana C. Shekar

May 28, 2009

ENT and Ophthal

Done with ENT and Ophthal postings. One cool month. Over and out with it.:( Life was 'cool' these days. No post opd and post op duties.No staff shouting at you- Thats because the PGs there form your armour and they get all the shoutings and yellings and screamings and 'gaalis' too. And that makes you so very protected :) Amazing PGs ya. Really, very friendly.Schedule there for interns was so very simple.Roam around, chit chat, sit in OPD,do clerical work(lolz)...Life just passes.. Wow!!! Now that I'm into surgery postings, I miss those days. I really do. Minors were fun.I feel like I'm doing the whole last month's work in 3 or 4 days now.

And hey, I did a Tonsillectomy during Ent postings :). Interns doing it is a rarity in our college. Very rare sure. But I got to do it. Luck by chance I guess.All thanks to my Unit Chief and more than that, my PGs ya!! Ashwini and Sandhya- two amazing people I've met. 30 years from now, if somebody asks me about my ENT postings, there will be two things I'd remember. One- that I did a tonsillectomy. And two- the two PGs in the unit.I cherish that I worked with them for a while. You might find PGs who are friendly, fun to be with, not so cranky and all that. But if your searching for those who are all these and 'kiddos' at heart and mischievous and so very nice to each other, you better go to these two. You just don't feel that they are your seniors. Spending time with them is just the way, when you are with your friends. It was 'really' fun being with them :). Well, all happy things come to an end. So did my one month of ENT and Ophthal. Now into surgery, first few days were hectic. I'm the lone intern for the time being.So.. Anyways, there are a few things that are making the postings a bit comfortable. So, lets see.. Wait for further updates :)

Chandana C. Shekar

May 11, 2009

Heights of advertising!!!

My parents are doctors and their clinics are in the same building. One Medical representative comes to my Dad's clinic and requests him to come to my Mom's cabin. My dad goes on with it, though confused. Once in my mom's cabin, the Rep takes out a box and hands over a ladies' watch to my Dad and asks him to give it to my mom. My Dad's mind starts telling him that something is wrong with this guy for sure. My Mom has the same opinion. Then he gives my Mom a men's watch and asks her to give it to my Dad. So she does and both my parents are laughing by now. And then goes the Rep in full zeal - " We are from Susten Sir and Ma'm. This is 'Sustain with Bandhan'. We are in bandhan with you, and you are in bandhan with each other"!! My Dad thinks they are funny. and my Mom thinks, whoever made this ad, is definitely an alien!!! Oh god, how can somebody come up with ideas like this?!?!?! I and my sister end up laughing and laughing and laughing :)

PS- Susten is a drug from a medical company. And drug companies give gifts to doctors usually. Titan Bandhan is the name of the watch set that they gave. Now try reading the line the Rep said, you shall get it I guess :).

Chandana C. Shekar

April 16, 2009

Shift + Ent

I've been shifted to the department of E.N.T. I whole - heartedly wish this hadn't happened. Reasons? Oh, many of them. All of us had two 'batting' sessions on the first day itself for actually what seemed like 'no reason at all'. Did nothing other than writing what the professors said to write in the OPD registers and prescriptions. Hardly examined one or two cases. So got nothing to learn. Afternoon session was nothing but sitting in the seminar hall and listening to P.G.s do seminar, which went well above our heads!! Mind you, attending it was compulsory. One consolation prize- biscuits and coffee at the end of the seminar!! Phew! Forget us, P.G.s go through more than us. It goes without saying that they are the scape-goats for everything. And when they are missed for a target, we are caught!! Wanted to take leave for the next day, to go to b'lore, but due to circumstances, couldn't get one :(

Day 2- I went to B'lore last evening after postings to see off my uncle and aunt who were leaving to USA. Came back early in the morning to Mysore and I was so god-damn sleepy. Went to O.T. and had 2 'batting' sessions from some anaesthesia staff!!! Jeess!!! I don't even come under that department and she shouts at me for 'absolutely no reason at all'!!!! What the hell!! When your an intern, every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks its their birth-right to shout at you I guess! Again a consolation prize- The P.G. tells me that they too get scolded by that staff for crazy reasons. I feel consoled after listening to those reasons!! We get to do nothing in the O.T. Just stand, stand and stand, and fill some histopathology forms. Thats it. Thats such a waste of time. Thank goodness, O.T. got over by afternoon and I could go out for lunch with a friend.

Have OPD tomorrow. Hope things go well.

Chandana C. Shekar

April 15, 2009

Happy ending :)

Oh boy!! Dermat postings came to an end :( How I wish it hadn't. Enjoyed this posting thoroughly. Asking me reasons? Oh there's no reason not to enjoy it. Go to the wards even after past nine and put notes, nobody will bother (unlike other departments where you go at 8 am and odd). They just need that job to be done. Everybody from the HOD (who is moody at times and blasts everyone and anyone when he isn't in a good mood) to the professors to assistant professors to P.G.s to nurses to patients are very cool. No 'kirik parties'. No patient comes as an emergency. And yeah quite a few people remember that they have skin problems only on government holidays and sundays!!! Because they get free then and so the OPD is loaded with patients on government holidays :) Nobody shouts at you for minor mistakes. Nobody wants you to be 'very' punctual. They don't exercise their power unnecessarily. All they bother is that you should know your work and do it. And for that, you get all the help you want. There is a 'comedy material' in the department too ;) ( only people from my college who have finished skin postings will understand this :) What say people? )Most important, they teach you stuff. At the end of the postings, I'm able to diagnose the common skin conditions atleast(I think so). I agree that you have to do the clerk kinda job here too. But still, you do quite a bit of intern's work also. And hey, if your interested, you get to learn and do procedures too. I did and I loved it. Thanks to the wonderful P.G.s - Pavithra and Sandhya especially, and the assistant professors (especially, Dr. Savitha). I liked the procedures here too. They are so delicately done. I agree that all surgeries are delicate. But these are extrw-delicate. Cosmetic reasons you see :) I am now keen on Dermat as an option for my P.G. than earlier :) Its a nice subject. I liked the prospects of it for an M.D.

Given an option, I would definitely finish my whole internship in this department itself. Missing it :( Had a real nice time and hope the next postings go as good as this. :)


Chandana C. Shekar

April 8, 2009

The first surgery I assisted at JSSH


17 days of internship and Oh Yes, I get my chance to assist a surgery. Do I call it surgery or a procedure? A procedure maybe. But it took one and a half hours. Well, I assisted a Micro Punch Grafting :) . I placed 6 grafts myself too :) Though its not the first surgery I've ever assisted ( I've assisted my mom whose a gynaecologist quite a few times), the fact that its the first one I 'washed' (my hands) for, in the hospital I'm officially doing my internship makes it feel so special :). And I liked it :). I always love the 'First Time' in every aspect of life. First medal, first award, first concert, First monsoons, first birthday gift, first crush, and on and on and on..And this is no exception. I'm happy about it :) Was excited the whole day. :) This happened around 5 days ago, but never got to write about it. Now, i finally wrote about it too.Yippee.. :)

p.s. : I'm liking Dermatology :)

Chandana C. Shekar

April 5, 2009

Lolz... :)

Lolz... funny pic I must say... But 'History Taking' is very important is what the professors tell medical students right? hehehe... Wat do u say guys(other medicos)?


Chandana C. Shekar

April 1, 2009

My first day at the Department of Dermatology

Dermat postings started today and it was as cool as anything. It was just in contrast to the casualty postings. In casualty, you were always on your toes and in dermat, your always sitting :) Go to the department OPD at 9.00 am.Sit with a consultant, and prescribe whatever he or she tells for the patient. You get to see cases and you'll be taught a bit too. Saw an RFC (Radio Frequency Cauterization) being done for the first time in my life. Never got to see it in my MBBS life (It's a different story that I never attended skin postings then, but people who attended also never got to see it). An hour of lunch break and then, you hardly get any patients in the afternoon session. To get one report from the microbiology lab, I went thrice!! Anyways, no regrets about that. I was sitting since morning and I needed to stretch my legs and that was a nice stroll :)


One thing I liked about Dermat is that, the diagnosis is very direct. Your diagnosis is right in front of your eyes. Its just what you see. Its not that you don't do tests in this branch. You do do investigations, but comparatively, the diagnosis is more direct and straightforward than the other branches. Or do I have to call the diagnosis as easier than other branches?!?!? I'll decide about it in the next 14 days of my postings :) I have one more job to do before my postings get over. Learn as many cases as possible, and decide whether I'll want to do Dermat for my M.D. I've kept it as an option and now I wanna decide about it. Oh boy!!MBBS life was far better. One more year, and we shall be a part of a big pool of unemployed people, not knowing what to do in life next!!


Before finishing, I wanna mention about one patient that I saw this morning. For people who are not from the medical world, The department is actually "Department of Skin and S.T.D.". So HIV +ve patients also come to this department for their check ups. They are advised regular check ups. One lady, aged around 35 years, a middle class-working woman, came to the OPD (Out Patient Department) for her check up. I saw her OPD card and it was written that her spouse was not HIV +ve , but she had received blood transfusion and had undergone a surgery. She didn't look like somebody who could have had an extra-marital relationship either. Now, how did she get the virus then? Whose to blame? You never know!!! She's been positive since the past 4 years and her spouse was tested 2 months ago too and her spouse and her kids are HIV -ve yet. I went through her record and saw that she has come regularly for check ups every month and she has had some or the other problem every month- multiple joint pains sometimes and oral candidiasis sometimes and something else some other time. And she comes all the way alone from Coorg for her check ups. She smiles at you when she comes in and when she's leaving, as though nothings happened. Felt really bad for her. Well, tip of the iceberg I guess...


Chandana C. Shekar

March 31, 2009

Done with casualty postings

Finally the fifteen days of casualty postings got over. And it was a good experience in total. Though it was hectic, the only thing I hated there was the fights that used to happen when patients' attenders were told that no beds are available and the patient's condition is bad and they had to take the patient immediately to some other hospital. Had nice co-interns to work with and when you have nice colleagues, you can work anywhere!!Don't you guys agree? :) I learnt a lot of things in the 15 days of casualty postings that I never learnt in the 4.5 years of my MBBS life.
Chandana C. Shekar

March 26, 2009

The First suturing I did


Hey, one more thing. I did the first suturing of my internship today :) I had tried 2 days ago on a kid who had a cut, but he was crying so much that I left it for the experienced to do it. And I did suturing for a lady with scalp lacerations today :) And I feel so good about it :)

Chandana C. Shekar

March 23, 2009

One whole week of Internship passes by..

One week has passed by and I never got the time to write a blog entry. Do night shift from 8 pm to 8 am-come home-freshen up-have breakfast-go to sleep-get up and get fresh-have somethin to eat-run to hospital again. This was the routine. Oh I'm so glad casualty night shifts are over!!! But I had fun too. Actually, it just depends on the people who are working with you. If they are jolly people, you will have your part of fun :) And I did, except for some two days.

My first day was really something I'll never forget. Not because anything special happened, but just because it was 'The First Day' and I'm sure nobody will ever forget their first day. Lots of patients, my previous shift intern telling me that its too hectic while she was giving me charge, asking help and suggestions for almost everything possible, a brand new name plate with a white background (for those who are not from my college, medical students have name plates with black background and interns have those with white background) and more than everything,the feeling of hanging my steth over my neck for the first time!!It just felt WOW!! It was the transition day from a student to intern and the experience was nice. We just started so naive and tryin to find out as many things as possible. The only thing that I didn't like was that there was no proper duty doctors' room where I could relax and I was so very deprived of sleep..

The later days of my internship were actually better than the first day. A senior intern was posted and she was so much fun to work with. We had our share of ups and downs at work, but had fun too. The fact that she was around made problems so much easier to deal with. Really, I couldn't have asked for a better co-intern to start my internship with.She's finished casualty postings today and I'm gonna miss her for sure from tomorrow. Will miss you Nishika :-( and will miss your 'maja mari' and our 'musk melon juice' breaks :-) Wish I get such people to work with again!! At the end of the day, It feels great. The good feeling outweighs the problems :) and ya, Im still hoping things go well :)

p.s.: 22.3.09 - my first sunday at work :)

Chandana C. Shekar

March 16, 2009

Hope things go well :)

Starting internship tommorow... Oh wait.its past 12 midnight. So that means to say I'm starting internship today!!! And I already have two problems.
1-My tailor hasn't given my apron which I had given for alteration. So it made no sense that I bought new aprons. I am forced to wear an old one on the first day of my internship!!
2-I don't have my vehicle. It was given for servicing and I haven't got it yet. So have to go to hospital by auto tomorrow and I hate doing that.
Just hoping no more problems pop up!!

I finally cleaned my room and it looks so neat that I'm wondering where I am!!

My friend's given an interview and now he's trying to host a site which is just not ready to get hosted.lolz ;) I just wish he gets through..All the best Sid :)

Too tired to write on any topic, though I have topics in my mind to write about.. But then, my mind is pre-occupied with this internship thing and I'm just asking seniors how things will be. So once I get to understand something tomorrow, I'll get back to write other things :)

Have mixed feelings yaar. Excited,nervous,happy,and on and on and on. All in all, it feels great :) All the best to myself for my internship :) Hope things go well :)

Chandana C. Shekar

March 15, 2009

I'm a Doctor at 21 :)

"I"m a 'Doctor' at the age of 21"!!! Feels great :) I must be telling that line to myself around 4-5 times a day. The first half of the sentence makes me feel good and the second half makes me feel younger :) Most of my classmates are 22 and odd and I'm 21. Well, I'll be 22 in a few days. So kind of enjoying this line until then :)

Last few days of hols and I'm trying to enjoy as much as possible. From monday, my wake up time would shift from 11.00am to 6.00am.. Thats's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of internship :( Oh my god!!! Internship's starting and I wonder how efficient we shall be at work!! To top it all, I have casualty postings to begin with and I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to manage it!! And yeah, my stupid tailor hasn't given my apron yet :(

Had a real nice day today. Had been out with friends, was quite a bit on the phone too and met friends again :) Loved the 'milberry juice' at 'Just Gelato'.. But ya, one thing that's still pending is---I haven't cleaned my room yet :( :)

Altogether, Im going to bed satisfied with the day.And if history ever repeats, i just want history to have days like today :)

Chandana C. Shekar