The Green Mile 25/12/2010

I remember watching a movie called The Green Mile somewhen in the year 2000 (I think) and it was one of the most memorable movie I've watched in my life (apart from old Disney animations). I could actually recall few bits here and there even though I've only watched it once (which was practically 10 years ago). I guess it was because of the intensity of the movie brought to life by Tom Hanks (acted as Paul Edgecomb) and Michael Clarke Duncan (acted as John Coffey).

This movie was an adaptation of a book by Stephen King published in 1996. It was about Paul Edgecomb who was a security guard in a prison who had some faith in supernatural incidents brought by John Coffey (an inmate who was to face death penalty for murder). But it wasn't about the supernatural-myterious-terrifying plots that caught my attention. I wasn't really sure why I remembered the movie bits quite well. Then I remembered that I was actually so happy I watched the movie and I bought that book 3 years after I watched the movie and boo-hoo... I've only got to read it now :P which probably means that the book has been quite dusty having being kept on my bookcase for a long long time :P.

Now that I finally get to spare some time to read while doing locum in one of the nearby clinics I feel only too happy to get back to my old hobby...reading. I used to read a lot of novels back then. Used to be so happy to be going to bookshops and I got to pick and chose any books I wanted and didn't have to pay them (my parents paid for them of course). But now I don't remember when was the last time I've stepped into a bookshop..Hmm..Or maybe perhaps I did get into one a year ago and that was to buy some pen hehe.

Now I'm already on the last quarter of the book and it feels good to almost finishing it because obviously I havent read a novel in the past umm..6-7 years? One thing that I enjoy most about this book is how people should always be given a second chance. Not just for people to reflect back on what crimes they have done in the past, but also for us to be more patient towards anyone at all for whatever kind of attitude they have showed to you and made you upset, etc etc. As I believe being patient and kind may lead to one good thing and the other.

I am now in my last posting of housemanship year and I'm in the emergency department. I don't quite enjoy my time here. Most of it because my patience has really been tested to the core as we are the first liner doctors in the hospital who will be attending to all patients before being coursed to the wards so we are dealing with all sorts of attitude and expectations and bullshit to be exact. There has been many challenges from not just responsibility point of view but my tolerance level too. I'm trying to wake up every morning reminding myself to have a good day at work because if I feel good my work will go smoothly as I'd hoped it to be (maybe not as often as it should).

Working in the emergency department is fun because I get to test my knowledge and recall on my previous encounters of the cases I've seen before. Something to brush up on my old piece of brain (where ever that piece is). The only thing that isn't fun in here is...well...don't think I want to blog about it in here because one day when I grow old and I read back on my old blogs, I don't think I want to be remembered of these ill memories.

So Green Mile, here I come back to your browning pages and hopefuly get to finish reading it before end of this 2010 to mark your 10th year since the time I watched you on tv :P

Housemanship bla-bla-bla

I think we have all read or heard enough of the current issues revolving around the lack of competency of young doctors going through housemanship years. I realised that this subject has been made generalised making the entire Malaysian community perceive that all young doctors are unreliable and unprofessional. Some patients or their relatives would not even consider being polite to the young doctors because they keep in their minds that the junior doctors are not fit to be one. This might sting a little if not a lot to those doctors who have dedicated their hearts into performing at their best while at work.

It is undeniably true that there are a few under trained young doctors all over the place, be it in capital cities or those trained in peripheral hospitals in Malaysia.

From my observation having gone through the housemanship course it really was a good 2 years of practice. In my view, I think it was a good first step because we were exposed to so many departments like general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, medicine, paediatrics, orthopaedics, trauma and emergency and anaesthesiology. I think the duration of each posting to be of 4 months is perfect if not too long or too short a duration. If this is cut short, one may not have enough exposure to encounter different cases since there has been a marked increase in the number of young doctors. If this is to be prolonged, I think there will only be more complaints not from the young doctors (they don't have a say at anything) but from the team they are working with, their colleagues and specialists in-charge. Why is that so? Lengthening their comfort zone as being a houseman will not make them a better team player as they will be left behind since they will not be carrying any responsibilities towards their patients and there are no contributions towards the team.

It is true as a houseman one will not be held responsible for whatever mishaps because they are still in training "under supervision". However, some might take advantage of this situation taking refuge behind this quote and running away from his or her responsibilities. Mind you, there are eyes and ears all around monitoring these doctors' every move in the respective departments and the hospitals. Sadly, what stays in always stays in. When senior doctors were enquired about these problematic doctors, their answers would be they have no rights to take actions towards these doctors and the only available punishment to date is to extend the duration of his or her stay in the department. Hence the problems only get worse as the problem is still unsettled and they still will not be able to learn to be reponsible for their patients or actions. This in time turns into a vicious cycle.

Regarding the increasing number of freshly gradtuated young doctors, I wouldn't even think of it as a problem. Do not only judge something based on what is seen in hospitals in Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur. I don't know the real number of young doctors in each department in those hospitals but after seeing Reggie Lee's comic on the ratio of young doctors to a patient, I think we can have a bit of an idea of what the situation is like over there. There are other hospitals which have very less number of houseman in their departments comparatively (please do not compare to what it was like 10 years ago to what it is like now, we know in the old times there used to be only one houseman taking care of 30 patients a day). Maybe what we need is a better system at dividing the appropriate number of houseman into each hospitals which is critical to ensure no decline in the experiences gained by the junior doctors.

We have understood the expectations of Malaysian Medical Council and what their concerns are. Maybe it is also time to look deeper into the issues and understand why the problems occured in the first place. I'm sure there are many controversies of what is really happening. This blog is not for me to leak our the dark secrets or fall up of the system but only to enlighten some dim corners that might have been overlooked.

I will start writing again :)

I'm so touched some of you are still reading my blog :) I feel so happy I want to give lots of hugs and kisses to all of you reading and many many many SUPER THANKS :)