A Real Teaching Experience
Posted on: December 8, 2011
My friend and classmate is a professor in college. He’s currently teaching third year medical technologists. He invited me several times to sit in his class. But unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t allow it. Today, we are celebrating the Feast of Immaculate Conception so some Catholic-based colleges are having a holiday – no class for us. He scheduled to have a make-up class with his students for their laboratory in Clinical Chemistry and I gladly agreed to become one of his panel during their reporting. It was FUN!
These students really have their critical thinking running. He said that some of these students are repeaters and what he needed to do is to encourage them to study. He also said that these students don’t lack the brains, they just lack the drive to study. He wants to be an inspiration to these students and he wants to push them to succeed in this career; since he is also a registered medical technologist who got a top rank during his board exams.
Somehow, he made me feel the essence of being a teacher. He made me realize how students see you as a teacher, the things that they are expecting from you and how you can influence their lives.
It made me remember one of my goals – that is to belong in an academe. I have always looked up to my professors. They are hardworking people, who don’t mind the amount of salary they receive or the lack of prestige in their profession. But they are very happy because they are doing what they love – to make a better generation out of us.
Heartless living machine
Posted on: December 2, 2011
I got a new nickname… a heartless living machine…
This is another round of med ethics debate. Why doesn’t it surprise me when my opinions are really opposite from the usual? It always happens.
I’m sorry if I am pro into withholding treatment for cases that are really untreatable or those that wouldn’t make any difference. I am sorry if my compassion towards other people is not that well-developed. Yes I do believe that what makes a good doctor is knowing what to do with the patient and to be an excellent one you also need to feel compassion. But I am not the touchy-feely person. I’m born with the most underdeveloped emotional quotient or so I think. But beyond that my goal to be a doctor is to help other people.
However, I will not settle for other people’s standards. I will define what kind of doctor I’m gonna be. And that is the doctor that even with a lot of emotional pressure can think rationally, can act on her best judgment on what is good for the patient and not what is good to serve my conscience.
Med Ethics Debate
Posted on: November 26, 2011
This has been going on in my Med Ethics class. Every meeting we are going to have a debate in class about a lot of controversial issues in Medicine. This week we had a topic about Embryonic Stem Cell Research.
For the record: I am anti-Embryonic Stem Cell Research for now…
Not that I contest when does life begin – that is a debate that no one is going to win. And it’s going to degrade the sanctity of humanity. No one can disprove another person when it is solely based on opinion; what I am afraid of is that the scientific community will be reduced to people jumping into hasty generalizations. A lot of ad hoc ergo propter hoc arguments will be formulated.
I just remembered this joke from a person before:
There was a person who experimented on flies, he cut 1 wing off and said “Fly!” The fly fluttered trying to get away. Then he cut off two wings of the fly and shouted “Fly!” But the fly did not move. He said, “I conclude that if you cut off the wings of a fly, it is already deaf.”
This might be truly an absurd observation but can be very true, if we continue on this scientific circus; blindly poking a bear. Scientists will be like Deedee saying “Oooh, what does this button do?” Let’s try to follow the normal course of scientific investigation.
A classmate said that even if there are a lot of failures in embryonic stem cell research it is worth the try and he quoted Thomas Edison “I did not failed 100 times in making a light bulb rather I found 100 different ways how not to make a light bulb”.
But I want to really say to him “Yeah, that’s right. But Thomas Edison is not stupid enough to use lightning.”
Hi there! It’s me again with my rants. Just allow me to flood my frustrations once in a while.
I have been through a lot these past few months and I thought everything would be okay. I tried to stop teaching so that I can focus more on my subjects. Last semester, I got very, very low grades in some of my subjects. I thought it was because I was juggling two jobs at the same time (being a tutor and a trainer) squeezing it into my very tight schedule at school and rotations in the hospital. In the first months my grades went okay on some subjects but it got way down on my majors. I also got sick a dozen times but it’s good because I helped my little sister with her school fees. But during the final months, my friends approached me and said “We won’t be warning you again if you’re gonna be kicked out from your scholarship”.
Bam! and it hit me. Yeah, I am a scholar that means I have a duty to study and get higher grades than most people rather than thinking how to live through every month.
So I decided to stop teaching and training altogether during my finals. At least I saved my grades. Although I am really disappointed with my overall performance. That was the first time I saw my grades that low. I thought I saw the end of it. But it’s happening again!
I could say that I am very lazy compared to my college days. Very lax… that is true. But I don’t know how to keep my balls rolling. I don’t know what more can trigger my mind to tick. Maybe it is my subconscious defying the things that I should do. But this is not the time for my id to be rebellious. I need to tame it and make my superego rule my self and let go of the regrets, the what ifs and the what nots. I should grow up.
GROW UP!!! I want to accept that this is not what I wanted but this is an important step for me to get to the career that I want. Being a doctor is my passport to be a geneticist. I should always have my eye on the goal and not wander.
STOP thinking about matters of the past and focus on what’s next.
MOVE ON and do Plan B. Isolate myself and learn to love all my subjects.
READ even the tiniest bit of detail in all my books. I am not provided with books for cockroaches and ants to feast.
ACCEPT that this is my fate. There’s no turning back now. Short-term Goal: I AM GOING TO BE A DOCTOR!!! Long term Goal: I AM GOING TO BE THE BEST GENETICIST I CAN BE!!!
I have to carve my future even if that means doing it by my sweat and blood! First stop get a very high grade in Internal Medicine, my nemesis – a very worthy opponent.
Hell Book - My Kryptonite!
A Visit to Nature
Posted on: August 28, 2011
It’s been a while since I’ve posted something in this blog. There are a lot of things keeping me busy lately… 😀
After the burial of my paternal grandfather, I blurted out in the very morning (still with a nasty hangover from last night’s heavy drinking even though I promised I wouldn’t do it anymore), “Ma, gusto ko mutan-aw ug Philippine Eagle bag-o ko magfinal exam”. Translation: “Ma, I wanna see Philippine Eagle before my final exams”. (blink, blink with puppy dog eyes :D)
There we go right after attending an 11 o’clock mass, which I really detest because my utter anger for religious people was again awakened. My mind was screaming: There is a very big gap between religious and faithful people. We can be religious because we are faithful but it can never be the other way around. There was an old woman scolding us this and that and the way that we should behave inside the church. Is it really a sin to cross your legs when sitting if the mass is still not starting?…grrrr!!! Well anyway, I’m attending the mass for my family not for other people.
Enough of the rants…Let’s go to the animals, most of them are birds (because it is a bird sanctuary supposed to be solely for eagles) 😀
First one, the Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi a.k.a monkey eating eagle. This is Mindanao. I don’t know if it’s only for today that this eagle is out of its cage but I assure you, this one is a well-behaved raptor. I think it’s still young because it still doesn’t have a mate and its just about 2 feet tall compared to the others.
In the local dialect, we call them “Banog” or in Filipino dialect “Agila”. They are also called the Haring Ibon or the King of Birds, that’s why it is deemed as the National Bird of the Philippines. Killing a Philippine Eagle is punishable for 12 years imprisonment and big amount of fines. It is said that only 500 pairs survive in the country. It is highly territorial and needs a vast hectares of land to call home. They also live above the canopy which is also the reason why their numbers are dwindling. There are a very few virgin forests here in the Philippines with trees reaching more than 100 feet tall.
Fun Fact: Did you know that the Philippine Eagle is monogamous? Once paired, a couple remains together for the rest of their lives.
Status: IUCN Critically Endangered
There is a very big note in the pen of this gargantuan being. It goes like this, “I may not be moving but I am living. Thank you for not throwing rocks at me.” Which is what usually happens when kids want the very big “lizard” to move. Unfortunately this one is nocturnal so don’t expect it to move its butt in broad daylight.
This is the saltwater or estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus. Yes, its big and a lot of big marshes in Mindanao are infested with this one, namely Agusan Marsh. Whoa, talk about the size, I also saw Pangil in Crocodile Park which has outgrown its pen…so huge I think it doesn’t fit in the normal truck.
Fun Fact: Did you know that saltwater crocodiles are the biggest living reptiles?
Status: IUCN Least Concern, also don’t swim in waters where they live. They’re known to eat different sorts of animals, including humans.
This is a Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus also known in the Philippines as Lawin. This one I think stayed in the PEF Center for so long that it has forgotten how to fly. Yeah, that means this guy doesn’t have a chain or cage. It just sits comfortably in a branch waiting for visitors to take a picture of it. Of course, with a Do Not Touch This Bird sign. When I was still in the university, in one field experiment we had to trap bats. We set up a net for the bats about 15ft above the ground. Unfortunately, we didn’t think that there would be birds flying that low in the night so the pitiful bird was trapped in the net. I guess because of exhaustion, it died. Because when we checked it the next morning there was a big hole in the net with a Lawin in it. We just stuffed it and put it in the collection for Taxidermy.
Fun Fact: Although, this bird looks like a bird of prey, it’s mainly a scavenger. It feeds on dead fish and crabs on marshlands and wetlands. Also, it exhibits kleptoparasitism, which means it may steal the prey of other hunting birds.
Status: IUCN Least Concern
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking I just got a “not so specific picture” of this one. And before you will say that this one is a butt-face, yes, that is the behind of the pig. Unfortunately this pig doesn’t want to face the camera and really doesn’t want to be disturbed. We tried to call it a dozen times but to no avail.
Anyway, this is the Philippine Warty Pig’s behind…hahahaha… Sus philippinensis also known in local dialect “Baboy Halas” or “Baboy Damo” in Filipino. There are a number of subspecies of this pig in different major islands of the Philippines and this one is from Mindanao making it sb. mindanensis. A number of my relatives used to hunt this one before but I don’t really like the taste. Other than the meat is chewy, it has a characteristic musky smell.
Fun Fact: Due to the increasing incidence of contact of Philippine warty pigs and domesticated pigs, there is an increasing problem of hybridization of the wild population.
Status: IUCN Vulnerable
I got a lot more pictures in the memory card. But, I don’t want to post them because they have cages. It’s annoying seeing them behind the wires. Next stop this coming semestral break is our trip to Epol and I also want to go to Crocodile Park again. 😀
So that you will know how it looks like. They don’t look so good with cages.
A Study Group Discussion
Posted on: May 24, 2011
Why does my last name start with A? I was immediately appointed as the leader for our first study group in OBGYNE. The case says something like this:
A 35 year-old female G0P0 came in for her first prenatal check-up. Her last menstrual period was February 28, 2011. Upon physical examination blood pressure was 150/90 mmHg.
For real? This is like a 3-sentence case. I’m already thinking ‘How can I stir a 2-hour discussion using this one?’. Wow, since my first year this is the first time that I worked hard for an academic activity. Anyway, I’m glad I pulled it off. Though I really have to improve big time especially in case discussions. I’m at lost on what to do. I’m just glad that I’m already through with it I won’t be leading anymore for the rest of the year for this subject…hahahaha (evil laughter)…anyway off to another preparation for a case endorsement, just these past few days I always pick the paper with ‘Congratulations!’ (that means I’m going to report)…Dang! 😀
A Medico-Legal Lesson
Posted on: May 13, 2011
Our Medico-legal class usually starts at 5:30 pm and ends an hour and a half later. However, today we didn’t have any class for EENT so the lecturer (a lawyer-doctor) opted to move our schedule earlier by an hour. We were somehow waiting for her. And because it is somehow a law class we didn’t raise our hopes so high for a fun lesson. Laws are all about technical words and pure memorization. Even a single word can change the thought of a certain sentence. Our lecturer started to tell us about the definitions of some words and then when she reached the part of the Methods for Detection of Deception — we are in for a new discovery.
1.Inhibition of the inhibitor – I really thought that these things are only in the movies but when she said about “truth serum”, my mind goes “REALLY?” I never really thought that there is a drug to weaken the inhibitions that we put in our mind in order to extract truth from a person. But when she showed the drug, all of us were already asking, “Doc, where can we purchase that?” She said that it is a sedative which means in Philippines it’s a prescription drug (highly regulated) that only several doctors with an additional license can prescribe. It must be good having them in your hands… 🙂
2. In vino veritas – yeah, it’s Latin. The Philippine Constitution is actually written in English. Most of the Philippine law terminologies and their explanations are in Latin. Sometimes you’ll be confused how many languages do you have to learn to understand it. Try to guess what the phrase means and you know for those who have experienced it, it’s true.
3. Hypnotism – I’m really doubtful of this process of extracting truth. Because it might not work and most of all it might even distort the truth in some situations. But what threw us in fits of laughter was when our lecturer said, “Be sure that the examiner is a professional because he might be saying — Luk at da boll. You are gaiting slippy.” Lesson: Pronounce it properly, because the defendant cannot concentrate because he/she will be rolling on the floor laughing.
4. Lie detector machines – uhmmm, I think there are a lot of ways to get away with it. There are some instances wherein people can beat the machine so it’s really not 100% accurate. Our lecturer said that you can also invoke your right not to undergo in this test. But just in case if you’re a wife suspicious of your husband, she said you can tell your husband he cannot invoke his right because it is not a criminal case…hahahaha…
5. Dura lex, sed lex – the main explanation she gave that stuck in my brain. A classmate asked about a person trapped by circumstantial evidence yet they didn’t really intentionally do it like some cases of being a drug mule without their knowledge. Sometimes, it is hard to accept but the land made these laws to maintain order so we have to stick with it.
Fulfilling!
Posted on: May 10, 2011
Since this is a beginning of a new year, I have a new set of groupmates but I really love them all because ever since first year we’ve been together in almost all groupings in different subjects — alphabetical order…hahahaha…although we had an additional member who came from another section but it’s alright. We usually encounter her when we have departmental exams in Anatomy before. Yesterday, our preceptor (a resident, since our consultant was not available) left us with a simple case in the ward. Basically, she gave us the room and bed number. We just have to get the history and do a thorough physical examination. We had a lot of bloopers during the patient encounter. Since we were left to fend for ourselves, we were a bit at ease. Whew!
This is the second day of our clinical rotation in the Department of Internal Medicine. This is our first consultant’s day too. We were all nervous because we knew that our consultant was known as something else in the clinics. My fellow groupmate also said that during his college days, she has a bit of a temper in Parasitology class.
Skittish — that is how we felt the whole time that we were just waiting for our consultant in the hospital corridor while she was giving commands to her residents. We were anxious and every time that she looks our way and tell us to wait for a little while we were nodding our heads almost incessantly. But alas, our dreaded encounter finally happened.
I really thought that we will be skinned alive during that time. We did not prepare a hard copy of our output instead it’s in a soft copy both in document and presentation format. So right there and then in the hospital corridor, she said give me the history of the patient. I was so happy I wasn’t called. It was the newest member who was called. We just helped her by giving some clues and signs. I think we pretty much covered what the patient told us yesterday and sorted out the things to include and not to include. Our consultant pointed out a lot of things that we have to clarify with our patient because she was particular about the details of the progression of the disease and the manner of how we ask questions. So to clarify things and to show us how it is done, we visited our patient again and this time it was her who asked for the history.
At first all of us were so nervous that we forgot the room and bed number of the patient (ughh…demerit!). Our consultant was forced to verify the patient’s information from the nurse station. At that time, we really saw how veteran doctors approach patients. We were amazed. Wow! She really has her own assertive way to ensure the reliability of the information that the patient gives. It was like a shock and awe technique. She’s very mindful of the details of the symptoms. After confirming the history that we had obtained, we were in a quorum once again to discuss any clarifications about the case.
It is a rule for junior clerks never to look at the patient’s charts and never to ask laboratory results during the admission. We are always taught that just by getting the history you can get the right diagnosis 85% of the time and with the physical examination it would be 90-95% of the time. We must never rely on laboratory results alone to arrive in the proper diagnosis and management of the patient. There were a lot of things that our consultant clarified. First, how we define the chief complaint, the reliability of our HPI and the different associated symptoms. In totality, we really learned a lot in just an hour.
But what really impressed me most is when she said, “You will have different consultants. You must not compare one from the other. What you should do is to get the best from each one of them and leave the not so good qualities aside. Your goal in this training is to be better than all of us. I cannot teach you everything but I’m sure you can learn something — that you should remember.”
Words not spoken
Posted on: May 9, 2011
Last Friday, May 6, we really had a lot of free time so basically we just hang out together with my friends. Our class started 8am but after an hour and a half the doctor said she cannot cover the next topic in just 30 minutes so she will move our next topic Medical Virology on the next meeting. Well, lucky me, she didn’t give a quiz. Lately, I’m really dragging myself to school. I don’t know why.
When I told this to my friends, they just said, “Aren’t you feeling that way ever since?”
“No, this time it’s really different.” They all know the reason why I landed in medical school. I was supposed to apply in a graduate school for research when we had a very big family fight. To cut the story short, so that my parents will not end up not supporting my younger sister, I just have to follow what they want — that is to become a doctor.
JM said, “You know, you really have to find your own motivation. It’s a pity sometimes when we know you can do better and yet you always end up sleeping instead of studying.”
I just realized maybe I saved a whole country in my previous life because I really have a very good set of friends. I don’t know what did I do to deserve them. I’m actually a freeloader in the group whenever they have study groups I just go along with them so that I can sleep and sometimes listen to them talk about the topic. They know the history of my insomnia and my other monsters in life.
I really thought at first that maybe I can spend my weekend alone and study but I always end up sleeping and I realized “Ooooh, It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday.”
So I immediately hurried to go back home. Just said to myself maybe I’ll find my motivation back home. So with the Surgery book in my hand, I went back home. As I arrived home, the house was empty. (I don’t actually call my family if I’m going back or not. I just barge in and say hi/hello to everyone). Since nobody was home I cooked lunch for myself and ate. After eating, I said maybe I should start reading. But then I heard a really loud wailing sound from the next house (my grandparent’s house). I was really worried, I was like “did something happened to Lolo that’s why Lola is crying?” So I run to the next house and saw Ate Lyn crying her heart out beside my Lolo. She was bound to leave 3 hours later that day. Ate Lyn has a very complicated family history and childhood life. She never really grew up with her parents instead she was raised by my grandparents that’s why she is treated like the youngest of the siblings of my grandparents instead of being a grandchild. She calls my Lolo as Papa and Lola as Mama. As soon as she heard that my grandfather had a stroke early this summer, she asked permission from her husband and brought her daughter along with her to spend some time with my grandparents. After all the hardships, she has encountered she really has the strongest heart I’ve ever known. Even if she will encounter problems, she has the propensity of not saying it to others so as not to bother them instead she’ll just find a way to solve it. It’s not easy living her life and yet she puts on a smile always. Between her sobs I can understand only a few words, she said “Pa wait for me, I’m going to visit again with my husband. Promise me you’ll wait for me.” She didn’t leave until Lolo nodded. It was hard seeing that scene so I left.
Just towards the end of last year, my other Lolo suddenly died. I did not have the courage to visit him when I knew his condition. I was afraid to talk to him at that time. I don’t what to say and I know I can’t promise anything. Maybe I am still bothered because I never said a word to my dear Lolo before he died. He was always saying that he was very proud of me because I was his first grandchild to graduate (because I graduated a year ahead of my eldest sister). He said before “Just understand your parents. Do you know that I’m so happy knowing that I will have grandchild who’s going to be a doctor”. When I heard that I said to myself, maybe this decision isn’t that bad after all. Because I can make them happy. I can make that person happy — he, who always supported me ever since and treated me well not just for a show. We, his grandchildren, always have him as our favorite. He has a way with kids that no other Lolo could do, even my other cousins told him so.
Lo, I don’t know where I’m going right now. Remember when you said, it’s going to be alright. I hope that you’re still here to tell me that everything will work out just fine. I honestly need you. When I can just hug you close and you’ll just pat my head, I know I can do anything afterwards. Why did you leave so soon, I hope I can also say please wait for me to become a doctor so that I can look after you.
We were supposed to fetch our sister in the airport. However before her flight left from Manila, she called us telling that we don’t need to. We were disheartened but anyway, we just thought — oh that would be good so that we can prepare for her welcome dinner. As we were going to the market to buy something for dinner. She called us again saying she’s back in the house but no one’s home. Wow, surprise, surprise — epic failure! 😀
After our failed surprise welcome party, Ate just wanted to visit my relative’s house. My other cousin, Ate Lyn, is also staying right now in our hometown after a few years of staying abroad. Ate was really lucky because she never knew that she was coming back. All of the members of the next generation in our family are really close, more like siblings especially those of the same age. Ate MJ grew up with Ate Lyn and the other older cousins. While I was close with Michael and Reymond (we were born in the same year, and take note Reymond was born 20 hours after me…hahaha…it’s really funny greeting each other during our birthdays) and two other younger cousins, Kissah and Cristel. Actually Ate Lyn was the one who looked after us when we were younger, she helped in the household chores, checked on us from time to time and cooked when we still don’t know how to do it. Ate first visited my other aunt’s house then went to another, more like a house to house visit. But what really kept us was that Ate Lyn is also visiting Michael’s family so basically, we are back to the old ways. The old ways in which, when close cousins meet, alcohol is always on the table.Our uncles and aunts were the ones who provided booze and food for the night. I met Michael’s wife although she doesn’t take part in the tipsy tradition she really gets along well with the others. I’m so happy. I really like her ever since Michael introduced her I think three years ago. Although, I warned myself not to drink too much, but you cannot really avoid having fun, right?
We ended early, I think, about some minutes before midnight and I have to leave early by 4 am because I have a class by 8am in Surgery and I have to travel from my hometown to the downtown area. When I hit the sack, my sister was really — reaaaallllyyyy — drunk, I was drunk too I think it was just my little sister who was not because she avoided a few shots because she was really tired from camping. When I woke up after four hours, I still have some traces of alcohol in my brain, a very bad hangover. It was about 2 years ago that I went to school drunk in normal classes or during an exam…hahaha… May 3 was the first day of our class. And for the most of it I was like floating my way through the school.
Karen asked “Jo, naunsa ka? (Jo, what happened to you?)”.
I replied briefly “Hangover!”
She just laughed at me saying, “So how are you going to enroll?”
“Don’t know maybe I’ll enroll tomorrow. I cannot undergo lab tests in this state. I’ll just enter class so I won’t be absent. ”
Maui just said “Bons, you really have to stop drinking. What in the world were you thinking coming drunk to school?”
“Old habits die hard!” (with emphasis) James butt in.
Wow, my reputation really is very bad when it comes to drinking (I’m glad that it’s only among friends from the same university before). It’s really a relief that none of my other classmates know about it. I’m the youngest in class and everybody thinks I’m a simpleton and naive. My other classmates in medical school really thought I just had a headache…hahahaha… 😀
Bonitz 
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