It's been about half a year since I last wrote in here. Come to think about it, it's been half a year since I've written anything at all! And by writing, I mean penning down my thoughts and feelings; not those note taking you do in class or mind maps that you draw while studying. As I'm perched on my desk at home in Malaysia, while staring out my window at the brightly lit night skies of KL staring back at me, I feel like I should reflect on the past year that went by like a whirlwind for me.
Quite honestly, 2013 was tiring. But don't get me wrong, it was tiring in a good way.. well somewhat. 
The first half of the year was spent worrying about whether I would make it to the US to continue my clinical years. After finding out that I was one of the 6 students to twin to Jefferson, the other half of the year was spent worrying about whether I would do well for my rotations. I guess you could say I'm a worry wart and it's hard to remember when the last time I wasn't. To worry less and to have more faith - that's definitely on my "New Year's Resolution List". The only problem I have is sticking to "the list". 
White coats in the US are short for medical students. The coat gets longer as your rank rises.. My sis jokingly said that if you're an attending, your coat will touch the ground! The longest it gets is only until below the knees. 
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To those curious about what medical school is like in the US, it is very very different. For starters, students there are older (they're 25 years old on average) as medicine is a postgrad degree and hence, I would think that my fellow batchmates are also a lot more matured and experienced. Not to mention they also speak a lot better. That was probably one of the biggest struggles I had to face when I first arrived - learning to speak up. It's still something I struggle with on a daily basis but I'm taking it one step at a time.
Rotations have been fun though. In chronological order, I've had my Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynecology rotation and I can say with confidence that I feel a lot more comfortable seeing patients on my own as compared to the preclinical years. I remember thinking that seeing "ang moh" patients would be kinda scary and intimidating 
but when you're placed in an environment where you have to see patients on a daily basis, it kinda becomes second nature to you! 
I've encountered various kinds of patient: from super friendly ones to super cranky ones that would not want to be seen by students. But you'll learn something new from every patient. A doctor once told me, entering a patient's room is like entering a darkened hallway. You won't know what to expect until you've reached the end of the hallway, or in our case until you've entered the room and have spoken to the patient and I think that is very true. Some patients will blow your mind (with their crazy antics or their sheer stubbornness) and some patients are just plain simple to treat.
Some of the experiences I've encountered on rotation will forever stay with me. One of the most memorable (and also the most recent one) would have to be the time I first witnessed childbirth. I was on the Ob/Gyn rotation (it's funny how in US, everyone calls it Ob/Gyn and not O&G like how it's called in Malaysia.. ) and I was on the Labor & Delivery service. My first thought after the delivery of the baby was "wow, I didn't know childbirth was that messy.. 
(as in blood and fluids everywhere!) " >.< and the thought right after that was "okay this is pretty touching". I teared while watching the whole delivery process and the look on the father's face as he watched his newborn being brought into the world was pretty much priceless. In that first delivery, I was allowed to deliver the placenta and it was pretty cool! And in the following weeks, I was allowed to deliver a baby, which was probably the highlight of the rotation. 
But of course, it was a "hand to hand teaching" meaning the attending (or in other terms, senior doctor or consultant) had her hands placed over my hands while delivering the baby to make sure that nothing went wrong. It was still an awesome experience!
I've also experienced a situation where I was threatened to be murdered by a psychiatric patient. The patient threatened to kill "girls with pony tails" aka me if we don't admit her to the hospital. She ended up not getting admitted though but thankfully, I wasn't the one that had to break that news to her. >.< So the thing is, there are a lot of homeless people in Philadelphia and sometimes, people feign suicidal/homicidal tendencies in order to get admitted to the psych ward for shelter and food. Our job is to differentiate those with real psychiatric issues from those who don't. After 6 weeks of seeing psych patients, you'll have an idea.
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Hmm didn't realize I had this much to say.. I guess I should probably blog more frequently, not just to share my stories and experiences but I think this would be a good form of stress relief. It can get pretty stressful at times and I've lost count of the number of times I would come home to the boyfriend and cry and whine about how terrible the day went. But it's all good. I've made it through half of third year. Just another half to go and I'll be a forth year. (They say that's the easier year.. Not sure how true that is though!). 
These 2 weeks spent back home in Malaysia has been a good break and a good stress reliever for me. I'm glad I came home. I almost feel like I don't want to leave the comfort of my home and I want to continuously be surrounded by my loving family but I gotta grow up and face the real world! So in a couple of days, I'll be on my flight back to Philadelphia to continue my medical journey but it's all good because I'll always have my family's love and support no matter where I am. Plus, I'll continue to trust in God as I know He has a plan for me (also, I've replenished my supply of Malaysian food that would probably last me a while! ).
Oh yes, I've chopped off about 10 inches of my hair cause I got so sick of the split ends and the static that comes with wrapping a scarf around your neck. So say hello to new hair!
The ladies of the home.
People have been telling me I've gotten fairer! I didn't realize it until I saw pictures!
Okay here's an abrupt end to this post. teehee..
Till next time!
I'm not too sure if the prices of food and stuff are cheaper in conjunction with the festival or if they raise the price due to the increase in amount of people but I will make a comparison once I visit the Italian Market for some grocery shopping. 
). It's pretty sweet and quite nice actually. 
But then again, I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I should probably try tasting it one day before placing judgment. So I take it back, tomato pie. 
But nothing caught our eye in the end anyways. 
