When I Suddenly Realize...

I'd be in my senior year in 4 months' time!
I recall the happy times back in Chung Ling when I then was told TCU was a university different from others - "emphasizing humanity in pursuit of academic excellence" I say. And I was hoping it would be different.
I recall being a freshman, then still 80kg (whoa!), naive and ignorant to a life in university. I recall missing out on so much fun because in medical school, the ONLY time you have fun is during your freshman year.
I recall being seemingly so busy at sophomore year - choir, SCOPE (still remember what it is?), and many other wallahs. I made many friends, lost some, and turned out fine at the end of the day. And the month of July spent in France would be the one I'd remember till I'm 75, if I'm still alive then. There was a time, when young, powerful souls like yours sincerely believed everything would if your will is strong enough.
Then comes junior year - the endless days and nights spent in Anatomy Hall, with friends, with textbooks, and with a teacher who never talks. Even though at times fatigue crushes down, showing as shoulder aches, headaches, anaphylactic allergic reactions and simply dozing off anytime, it was a happy semester. It was a dedicated, karmic, and well-planned semester of lessons and labs.
Unlike what we're having now - chaos in lesson planning, "we'll try this for once" attitude and an ineffective evaluation again and again.

I've lost faith in school since my sophomore year, when inefficient management plagued a compassion-dominated environment - "he lost your cheque? Well, he's too busy, give him another chance." When we witnessed the leaving of dedicated and ambitious teachers to more promising places, because what the school promised and what it fulfilled wasn't barely an equation at all. We see with our own eyes how little school staff are paid for their massive work, and how massive amounts of money are poured into landscaping and gardening.
I have also lost hope of pursing both humanity and professional skills - while the ultimate goal of medicine is to have both integrated, how Tzu Chi does it still yearns for more improvement. Current medical school and hospital environments dictates for professionalism or getting the sack, and we have to compromise. I am no longer naive but I vow never to lose the primary passion - to make a difference, with a smile, a small gesture or an offering of tissue paper, whenever such circumstances arises.
And I'm 4 months away from sophomore year! One year away from donning the white robe, and giving out orders and prescriptions. I am glad I have many role models to follow, and my path had been laid well in front of me, recession-proof, stable income. My upbringing instilled upon me that I would never settle for second best. And with the end of my junior year, I pray hardly to the Almighty that TCU will remain strong and competitive, and equates all the inequilities in the world with what started it - great love and selflessness.

Weekend in Taimali

As a prerequisite for the Sabah trip this summer, we have to gain some experience in rural services. And here it goes:

Taimali - 3 hours away from Hualien, 3 hours more rural.


While others are busying away...



Here's me pretending to be busy

The turnout wasn't good they say.

Doktor Gigi washing someone's teeth.


Dean: Eat, sleep, what else can you do?

On The Edge

Shall I bore you with some insight into my schedule? And perhaps also some distressing turbulences we are currently hitting?
Well, basically we would have no weekend this week, after a mid-term for Integrated Program II, with 8 more hours of classes after that. How long till Integrated Program II? H'm, 2 days including today. And I'm still sitting here merrily complaining away.
I did not had a good day. In fact, I haven't had good days in days. Anyway, you won't do anything much on bad days, and here's with me -

1. Class' over. "Why in the world made her set the fonts so small I could barely see from row three?" "And look at my elbows, it's so full of mosquito bites. Someday when I conquer the school with my troops I will remove air-conditioning from the offices and install them in the classrooms. And I will say to the teachers 'speak at a speed of 1 word per second and set your powerpoint font size to at least 50!'"
   
2. I have to tune my mind to 'study mode'. Given the current bad mood and the fatigue that it suffers from Immunology the previous week and god-knows-what before that, the tuning usually involves flipping through some magazines, and probably a little snoozing. The above process takes up to 30 minutes.
3. Finally we can start - Pharmacology page one.
4. "Drugs for asthma are mostly prophylactic, except terbutaline and albu-... see that guy with the checked shirt is gorgeous!"
5. "I wonder what a twitter is? H'm, gotta check it out as soon as all this heck is over."
6. "OK OK, back to work...and steroids are the only way to manage long-term asthma because it relieves the chronic inflamm-... I am anti-steroids! How can these people administer steroids with such limited considerations? What the heck are these pharmacologists thinking? According to my secondary school Pendidikan Moral teacher, steroids are no good!"
7. Friend comes, asks a question. Answer "I don't really know lah, just remember A causes B. No need such effort as to why or how, the patients won't ask you anyway."
8. "No," the friend says, "according to the new WHO- and UN-approved medical education guidelines, which specially emphasize problem-based learning, you have to fulfil the 5W1H criteria to graduate - what, where, when, why, who, and how the drug works...."
9. Pretend to go to toilet to avoid further grilling.
10. "Omalizumab is an anti-IgE antibody that will inhibit normal IgE from attaching to high-affinity IgE receptors on mast cells...sounds wonderful. Next time I go to the ER because of asthma, I'm requesting for this drug."
11. "But look, heck, it costs $600 for just 15mg. Are they selling gold or what?"
12. "The good-looking guy is looking this way."
13. "Now, seriously! Bronchodilators - Methylxanthines, Theophylline...I wonder if Theresa Theng carried a bronchodilator or a beta-agonist? She definitely takes steroids, look at how she became fatter as her disease progresses..."
14. "Oh, 5.30, time for dinner!"

Then when I come back home at night my roommate would console me, saying it's ok and we'll wake up at 6 and have an early start tomorrow. Thinking this would compensate for the inefficiency during the day, I happily start blogging.
The next day I would snooze the 6am alarm and sleep right through till 8, while my roommate sneaks off and had a headstart. And my vicious cycle would begin again.

Trivial Nothings May

Time's up for trivial nothings again.

• Summer holidays is one month away, and the school has yet to announce when we're starting fall semester. I suppose that means we won't have a fall semester? Summer vacations through winter anyone?
• My roommate claims to have the world's most painful headache and he is still watching a Mainland Chinese drama, laughing away.
• H1N1 successfully penetrates Malaysia as we speak. Two Malaysian students returning from MH091 departing from New York was confirmed infected cases.
• With the lackadaisical Malaysian attitude and almost non-existent screening in KLIA I am certain it would be a blast soon. Surprised? Well, KLIA was voted the world's most friendly airport, so of course they won't measure your body temperatures when you alight the aircraft.
• Anyway, the pandemic virus is shattering my summer plans. My Sabah tour is now on the edge, and an August trip to Jakarta sees gloomy skies.
• Airfares was bang cheap though, seems they would even give it out for free.
• We finally completed our presentation for Discussions on Gross Anatomy, a 50-minute presentation about the disease which caused the death of our silent mentors. It was very challenging and I liked having the liberty of choosing the topics to present and discuss with my classmates.
• It did occur to me, later this week, when we were attending a CPC (clinicopathological conference) that presentation skills is equally important for medical practitioners as medical knowledge.
• More so especially if I'd like to go to the capital's main hospital in the future.
• Read in Times today "dreaded by SARS less than a decade ago, elevator buttons are coated with plastic and sanitized every hour in all major hotels in Hong Kong."
• Cathay Pacific, being airline of the year, is considering filming and broadcasting how their aircraft is sanitized and disinfected from ceiling to basement (aircrafts have basements?).
• That really makes us think twice when riding on AirAsia, who does everything from disembarking, boarding, loading food, vacuuming the floors to cleaning the toilets in 20 minutes (or do they?)
  
• Mum says I very rarely post my pictures online. Well, first of all I'm not as good looking as Ryan Reynolds or Hugh Jackman. And secondly I'm not narcissistic, though I spend a considerable amount of time in front of a mirror whenever there's one. Thirdly I hardly get any chance to photograph nowadays, too busy.
• I have nothing to do the long weekend week after next. 5 days break with Microbiology Finals after that. But, hey? Who studies on the first....erm, 4 days?
  

Mamma's Day

"I'd Give My Life For You" from Miss Saigon, tells a story of a Vietnamese mother in war-torn Saigon at the last days of the Vietnam war. Note the beautiful lyrics.
Happy Mother's Day!

32nd Medchorus in Taichung

A 32nd time for Taiwanese medical students, a 3rd time for me. This year it was hosted in Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU), located in a little suburb in Taichung. I was ambivalent about going until late April, when I said to myself "if you don't go this year, you certainly won't next." And the fact that I really loved singing, but hated the practicing - so I was still flipping through the scores and memorizing melodies on the way up the stage.

To save traveling time, I opted the High Speed Rail, from Taipei to Taichung in less than an hour. Maximum speed 290km/h.

The loss-making bullet train is offering up to 35% discounts on certain rides, such as mine, departing on a Saturday evening (NT$455 for an hour ride).

In very little hassle and a little sleep I was in Taichung at 8.30pm.

Waiting for Uncle Gao, Dad's ex-classmate to pick me up.

The next day at CSMU Da-ching campus. It's an isolated campus for co-curriculur activities. The campus is generally dull, but all (read: every single) classroom is air-conditioned. That's a major lead compared to stingy TCU.

Air-conditioned and well-lit.

Da-ching township is nothing of a wonder - just a small suburb with a 7-11 and many eateries.

Not forgetting the customary shot after the show. Note less and less people in choir.

Team from Taipei Medical University (TMU). The judge says their white gowns make them look like brides, and I can't agree more because it's so bright I can't even spot where the conductor is.

On the way home. I got a haircut the Friday before going to Taichung, it costs me NT$350 (I usually settle for the old lady for NT$100, but my friend talked me into the designer hairdresser). To me it looked just the same, except that they shampoo and apply hair cream after that, which made me the best looking male in class for the rest of the day. The next day after I washed my hair myself, I returned to the normal Jun Yi.

And not forgetting a teacher who made choir and singing fun. He wore the same trousers and shirt on stage.