"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
[ Jeremiah 29:11 ]

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jaNICE.
njc. 06S24. guitar. pa.
pl. 4a1. 3a1. 2a1. 1a. gb.

CHRISTIAN! =)

Let me rewind to sunday.

i went for Pentecost Sunday - a Global Day Of Prayer. Met JT, WT, EAT and ZM at Kallang MRT station at 5pm when the event actually starts at 7.14pm! Wahaha. So we were waiting. And waiting. JL and JN met us there. At around 6.45 or so, worship started and continued until around 7.30. It was really awesome. First time in my life seeing so many Christians gathered together, all worshiping and singing songs of praise to God =) Half of the entire NATIONAL STADIUM was occupied but the number of people was DOUBLE the capacity of the indoor stadium, which was booked for another event. There was also this reconciliation thing between the Conservative/Evangelicals and Pentecostal/Charismatics. Everything ended at 10pm then JL did not want to leave! haha so the rest of us left him alone :s quite mean la but we all had to go home.
the entire event was great but ZM and i actually hoped God would have done more. heh.

now to monday

First day of NHG Job Shadowing Programme! We were supposed to report to NHG college at NUH. i took the MRT to buona vista station and intended to take the shuttle bus. But, i could not find the waiting place and walked to the main road searching for it. Then, i saw the time. IT WAS 8.50am!! A mere 10 minutes before i was late for my first day of NHG JSP. Then i sort of panicked because i could not find the public bus to take. So, out of desperation, i took a cab and it costed $4.50 la! argh.
By the way, there were 7 NJC students and 6 VJC students (1 more was on MC) in the programme. Began with "ice-breakers" and sat in order of birthdates (year not taken into consideration). Later i realised i was the youngest there. The one and only J1. We had an introductory talk on Singapore's Healthcare System, followed by a catered tea break and a "discussion". Topic: Can we have a healthcare system in Singapore that is both world class and affordable? Actually it was not really a discussion because the speaker seemed only intent on getting one answer from us - offering a range of services, basic to the state-of-the-art kind.
The most interesting part of the day was visiting the Simulation Lab. They had many cool stuff there! 2 human-like robots which could mimick real diseases and conditions (costed $80,000), computer simulation of microsurgery, and stations to practice hand-eye coordination. i made the computer bleed in the simulation and it was televised on a projector! so embarassing :s
Later, the gastroenterologist spoke of the track to becoming a specialist. It takes more than 10years after graduation from medical school. Then a Medical Officer spoke to us. He was the best House Officer for 2005!
One thing to all considering Medicine as a career: CHOOSE WISELY. IF MONEY AND FAME IS WHAT YOU WANT, THERE ARE MANY OPTIONS OUT THERE. ONCE YOU DECIDE ON MEDICINE, YOU WILL BE STUCK IN IT FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS, IF YOU STUDY AT NUS. (due to the heavily subsidised medical school fees the government pays)
Yea. and i found out that i was attached to NHGP Bukit Batok for the next 3 days, together with this VJ guy named N_____. Attire was smart casual and the guy had to wear tie =p ahaha.
That basically wraps up Day One.

today

took MRT from bishan all the way to bukit batok almost late :s
anyway, we were attached to a doctor there (don't think i should disclose his identity) . What came later was a real shock. Jerk back to the harsh reality.

Medicine at the polyclinic level was not a very glamorous job, if not, downright unpleasant. N and i agreed that the doctor seemed cynical, completely out of our expectations. It was a good experience nonetheless. Doctor had to meet patients who lacked self-care and responsibility, expecting an instant fix to their problems. He seemed a little harsh to the patients at times but i later realised that he was doing it for the patient's benefit, so that they may face the reality of their condition, at the expense of seeming like a fierce, uncaring doctor. It definitely was not an easy job. Case files seemed never-ending. Doctor had to converse in a diverse range languages and dialects. Hokkien, teochew, cantonese, chinese, english, malay(now thankful that i took malay special programme and perservered until the O levels) and even tamil! Reason with unreasonable patients. Patients who can clearly afford to go to private GPs but choose to visit polyclinics, claiming that they pay taxes and complain of long waiting times. Frustration of not being able to allocate and utilise resources to attain maximum benefit to society (sounds super econs but a true reflection of market failure, applied to real life). Frustration of not being able to change anything. Oh, and he has to put up with questions from students like us. Not that we asked many questions (N didnt even ask a single question). But still, its an additional duty.

Anyway, polyclinics were set up, mainly to cater to the lower-income group, many of which have minimal education. It has a focus on preventive medicine and education. A large proportion of patients come for follow-up to chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. However, these people do not often get the level care they should receive because the overworked doctors simply do not have enough time to spend with them. This is where the Allied Healthcare Professionals come in. The nurses for example, counsel and educate patients on disease management. This was where i was attached to for the afternoon.

I still have a lot to say but its too tedious to type them all out, especially with my perfectionistic tendencies. Its really time consuming(i bet i spent more than 1 hr on this entry). sorry. i guess you'll just have to settle for this at the moment. just post any questions on the tag board.

wait for the other updates coming soon =)

Y,jaNICE
 9:12 pm

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