#imed

[positive-infinity]

This is a late post! These are two photos with the people that made my IM rotation bearable :)

2 weeks ago, I finally ended my Internal Medicine rotation (6 weeks in the wards and 2 weeks in the ER). I definitely enjoyed managing patients in the ward. The ER was a completely different world, having to work in a limited resource setting with so many patients (each 1 intern having to handle 15-20 patients per shift). It was tiring, but definitely fulfilling.

[cam-studies-life]

Goodbye Second Sem

Wow. Ok. It’s been a long time since I posted.  This semester nearly consumed my soul, but I am alive.  I have so MANY feelings and realizations.  I will post again soon.  I missed you, TUMBLR

[tridentrans]

IM BITCH?

[regnbogahimna]

Not my favorite week, not my favorite class activity, but I got to take photos so I guess I'm ayt. - Mediscene: Hero - March 2017

[positive-infinity]

One thing about clerkship is that people tell you it’s almost all work with minimal learning. You are now outside the classroom and facing real patients. The days of spoonfeeding information are over. You are now tasked to chart, process papers, facilitate labs, follow up results, or basically be a hospital robot. Some days, it almost feels routine. Then one random day during a toxic rotation, I thought, “okay fine. I guess it’s all up to me”. Amidst all the frustrations about the system and the work load, I tried to find time to give myself some time to learn. To brush up on the basics and learn about the cases I encounter so I know how to manage them later on. After setting this mindset, I realized that I /actually/ have time after all - those small breaks in the callroom, maybe dedicate a half hour before sleeping, and if lucky, find time to study in a coffee shop during my post-duty. Although I miss my coffee shop adventures wherein I get away from Manila like in the past years, I learned to be thankful for these small moments that remind me I am still a student and a doctor-in-the making.

[positive-infinity]

Pediatrics

Posting this to remind me how much I fell in love with this rotation. I guess I just really have a way of connecting easily to children. From catching babies on their first day of life, visiting my patients (or others’ patients hehe) daily to ask how they’ve been, tell jokes to children until they smile with their teeth with dental caries (then reminded them to brush their teeth after), comforted and tried to explain various things that mothers get anxious about, learn about their cases during rounds, and basically the whole experience of health management of children.

I fell in love with Pediatrics and I can really see myself in this field. I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life, and I guess that’s it :)

[cam-studies-life]

First Two Months of College

First of all, I would like to apologize for my inactivity. I was supposed to write a post about my first week in college, but I was busy adjusting to a new routine and workload, and I didn’t find enough motivation to write. Nevertheless, here I am now, ready to tackle some of my realizations and significant experiences over the past two months. 

1. Freedom

While there was a shortage of freedom in high school (at least for me), there seems to be a surplus of it in college. For someone who came from a small, private school in the South, I couldn’t help getting culture shocked with the college system. For the first time, I had the freedom to enter and exit campus whenever I wanted to. (The guards by the gate are only there to inspect bags, not prevent you from cutting class.) Because of this, my block mates and I were frequently eating lunch or hanging out in Robinsons Manila during our break times. Other than this, UP’s non-existent dress code gives me the freedom to show up to class in stylish outfits or ratty, old shirts and sweatpants. Nobody gives a sh*t apparently. 

2.  Time Management 

Ok so time management is really important in high school, but I realized it’s even more important in college. Compared to high school, I’m spending less time inside the classroom, but my schedule for the first semester is quite inconvenient for my routine. On most days, I start at 10 AM and end at 4 PM. However, I leave the house as early as 7 AM, so that three hour period before my first class is not so productive. To compensate for this (especially on weeks when org activities keep me in school until 7 PM), I try to squeeze in some work during my lunch breaks. I also allot more time for studying during the weekends. With less hours in the classroom and long breaks in between, it can be easy to waste time. 

3. Buddy Stuff

For Intarmed students,” buddy stuff” are the equivalent of the Holy Grail (not even kidding). In the buddy system, a freshman is paired with someone from the older batch. The older student passes down all materials and references used in course (textbooks, handouts, old exams, etc.) to that freshie. As far as I know, this system is adopted by all courses in UP Manila. I swear, I’ve lost count on all the times my buddy stuff saved me from getting a bad grade in an exam. I also owe it to my kind, conscientious buddy for organizing his buddy stuff really well and providing me with many tips to get through LU 1. I need to meet the person who came up with this idea!!