After working 105 hours straight, finally I have an off day - which was spent for another medical program called Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) 7th Edition. Haha. Although I was a bit sad at the beginning to think that I didn't have time to drive home to visit my parents or have a day off from the hospital... however at the end, alhamdulillah, it was a good off day. :)
1. I woke up feeling fresh after 10 hours of sleep yesterday.
Being a doctor, I need to train myself to always search for opportunity to eat and sleep whenever I can. To be honest, it was a bit hard from the beginning. During my first few oncall days, I felt bad to sleep at night thinking I am paid to take care of the patients at night. But, I learned that I need to take care of myself too. Doctors are still human being and we can't function well without enough sleep.
I must say that most of my MOs are excellent doctors to be able to think wise in the middle of the night and that is something I need to learn as well.
Still finding tricks to function well under sleep-deprived condition. Haha.
2. I passed my first Neonatal Resuscitation Program (7th edition).
Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is a program that must be attended and passed by all housemen to be able to attend babies either freshly born or the one in the Special Care Nursery (SCN) / Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
As a houseman in Obs & Gyne, this course is important too. There must be at least a reason to call Paediatric team to attend newborn at the Labour Room or Operation Theater - like babies of mothers with diabetes mellitus, meconium stained liquor, fetal distress etc. Paeds team will not always be there to stand by in advanced if there is no indication.
So, doctors and nurses of Obs & Gyne need to know at least basic stuffs of what to do with babies if suddenly they are born flat (not crying, no muscle tone) before Paeds team rush over to attend.
3. I had iftar with good friends (although they are leaving the department soon sobss)
It is not hard to know new friends but to maintain a good relationship is not that easy. There are people you know you can rely on and you can also put aside your own problems just to help them as well.
Working in this field is energy and mental consuming. I am glad that I can still survive so far. It is not easy but insyAllah let's just pray hard Allah will guide us throughout everything.
I am a bit anxious to think about the seniors who are leaving in few days - as I will be one of the most senior housemen in the department soon. There will be colleagues (from other departments) coming in and I hope I can help them to adapt efficiently plus all of us can work in a harmony environment - though I am still adapting myself to work fast.
4. I received a postcard from Lithuania.
It has been a while since I last exchanged postcards. I miss writing my thoughts on them and share with others but it was a bit challenging to find time to look for good postcards around. To be honest, I went into lots of book stores and came out with nothing. Fortunately, I decided to visit the Tourist Information Center (my current town is a tourism site) and the lady gave me 12 pieces of postcard for FREE!
And sending a postcard from Malaysia is EXTREMELY CHEAP I AM TELLING YOU! only 50 cents for the stamp! It was at least 25kc (RM4-5) just for the stamp back then in Czech :D
5. I received my 2nd salary!
Gaji dah masuk oh yeah. Haha. I don't really put much thought on the salary to be honest but... I just knew it is a beautiful feeling to see the account balance.
M, Perak, Malaysia
180524
