alrighty, #s 6 to 10, here we go...


6. most toxic duty



this has to be that fateful day in august when we went on duty in the ob admitting section. we examined patients non-stop for 24 hours. we had no wink of sleep, had nothing per orem except a few sips of water, had 2 intubated patients, ran one code, had no time to sit, and no bathroom privileges. at the end of our duty, we realized we also had oliguria. acute renal failure, duty-induced, ftw!

honorable mention: pedia er duty with only two interns and an intermittent reliever (bwisit siya). you can just imagine the toxicity.




7. best “good patient care moment”

i think i blogged about this years ago. in LU 5, i had a patient who had abdominal enlargement. at that time, i was a clueless 3rd-year medical student who did not know that her case was ascites, most likely malignant, secondary to a probable ovarian cancer. all i did at that time was interview her, collect a pap smear specimen (which turned out to be very painful for her), and endorse her to an intern because i was late for an sgd. hours later, we ran into each other somewhere near ward 16. after exchanging hellos, she thanked me for all my efforts earlier. after a good cry, i thanked God for teaching me an important lesson in patient care.

honorable mention: upon hearing that i was on duty until the following morning, my patient’s watcher went to jollibee and came back with dinner – for me. wow.



8. most septic moment

a few months ago, during my SOD days, i was decked a partial gut obstruction patient. while inserting an ngt, he emptied his stomach contents all over me. furious, i stalked to our station to grab my keys. i needed to change into clean clothes stat. our dear SOD resident made a funny face at me and asked me what that disgusting smell was. with a wry smile while gesturing at my vomitus-flavored scrubs, i told her it was me.

honorable mention: my only lrdr duty in LU 5. after delivering the baby’s head, a gush of amniotic fluid and blood poured all over my newly-purchased crocs, soaking them, me multi-colored socks and my poor, tired feet. disgusting.



9. best duty team



service 6, hands down. reunion with former blockmates ed and mel? check. being JI to tin's japod? haha. check. two amazing clerks, dee and ching? check. the best, most fun residents who love to eat out? check. awesome rotating interns marguerite and john? check. non-stop partying no matter what the status? check check check!



honorable mention: the toxic tetrad of joy (reyna ng katoxican), geno (hari sa reyna ni joy), rj (ssssslackyyyyy) and me (hindi ssssslackyyyyy haha). it was fun guys. kayo lang ang nagpakain sa akin sa mess hall, at nagturo sa aking okay lang tumambay as kabilang ward basta mag-iwan ng number. in other words, mga BI kayo! :P 




10. best block

most fun block (meaning least grade conscious): block b.
best in extracurricular activities: block 7. kumpleto pa with girls’ night out dinner.
most hardworking: block 9. sa sobrang sipag, hindi na tayo nakapag-beach. kamusta naman ang surf, sand and sea? :P
most BI: block t. mga salbahe kayo! dahil sa inyo, makulay na ang aking personal and social history.


obviously, i’m biased. ;)

it's hard to summarize all that has happened in 5 years in a single post. hence, i won't even bother. this will be the first of a slew of posts inspired by sentimentality because apparently, i'm brimming with it.



first up, tara's upcm-pgh top ten - part 1




1. most memorable small-group discussion

as upcm students, we very quickly get sick of these.



the 7:00 am sgd on diabetes mellitus with... MALA. yikes. the lethal combination of lack of breakfast, the complicated subject matter, early time, the north pole-ish temperature of the room, and the consultant proved to be... well, lethal. we were all shaking in our seats as we attempted to answer each question the best we could. nothing we said was deemed... sufficient. we learned a lot that morning - from history-taking, to writing the primary impression. in a way, it was a good thing we had the MALA experience... but once is enough thankyouverymuch.



honorable mention: our sgd with dr. _____ wherein he lambasted our group for dividing the work. he spent more time scolding us than teaching us about history-taking. and as if that wasn't enough, he demanded that out group be re-assigned to him for the next sgd. back for seconds?




2. most difficult exam



written: first patho exam during LU 4. i passed it, but only after reading more than 10 chapters of robbins. yuck!



practical: LU 5 grand osce. tama bang aralin ang physical exam ng lahat ng rotations? then perform it in one afternoon?!




3. best lecture



way back in LU 5, after the module exam, dr. _____ gave a summary lecture about the topics covered. it was only then that all the previous lectures started to make sense. after he finished, my seatmate turned to me, asking, "why was this lecture given just now?" i probably would have done better in the exam if he did give it earlier, but it didn't matter at that point. that lecture inspired me to be two things: a cardiologist (which the lecturer was) and a teacher.



honorable mention: dr. _____'s lecture on anatomy, because he made it fun with jokes, stories, and... fine, maybe the firecrackers helped a bit too.




4. most humiliating moment



in LU 4, we had a practical exam on cardio physical examination. my case was a PDA (an adult). i should have heard a continuous murmur, but only heard a systolic murmur. in my defense, as a student who heard only a few murmurs in my life, i was expected to distinguish this so soon? well, my consultant was very unhappy with my answer, and yelled at me in disbelief because i did not hear a continuous murmur. with tears threatening to pour down my cheeks, i listened again. my ears were pounding with humiliation so i heard no continuous murmur, no murmur, and no heart sounds for that matter. trying desperately to sound confident, i informed him i heard it. then, i ran to the next station.




5. best phl



our very first phl in LU 3 was about family planning. being enthusiastic, clueless freshmen, we put on our grandest show complete with props, backdrops, a contest with prizes, and several song and dance numbers. years after, i still remember how the mothers of ward 15 stared at us as if we were all nuts.


part 2 (#s 6-10) to follow.

a good friend of mine (whom i have no respect for haha) messaged me on facebook this morning inviting me to join her masterplan of making blogger a hit again. thinking about my pathetic blog sitting untouched for several months with only spam messages for "recent activity," i readily agreed. now... what to write about?

probably not about these stupid rumors going around that our university graduation is going to be canceled in the light of protests, noise barrages, and mass LOAs.

probably not about how facebook is limiting my creative writing to two poorly-constructed sentences all written in third person.

probably not about how the near future scares me, how all my carefully thought-out plans are crumbling before my very eyes.

probably not about how i recently just made a fool out of myself, and how i'm still convincing myself to not regret doing it.

probably not about how i absolutely dread the day when my newly-found and my oldest friends, and i will finally go our separate ways.

probably not about how self-reflection made me realize how much i've changed, and how i don't really like the person that i've become.

sigh. probably not any of those things.