Becoming A Physician

Basic Life Support (BLS) is LIFE-SAVING!!! To see it performed incorrectly on films and TV shows is absurdly disappointing. I just finished season 3 of The Flash because I now have the time to do so. One of the episodes showed Julian performing CPR on Caitlin, and it was so ugly to look at, I was cringing the entire time. His chest compressions were so ineffective, it's no wonder why they failed to revive. The rate was too slow. He was pushing hard enough.  He was bending his elbows. And don't get me started on the defibrillator. I could go on and on. It's so frustrating that something so essential is being portrayed inaccurately. A friend of mine recently tweeted that actors should probably get a quick course on BLS, and I agree. The potential is there. Even if viewers only learn how to perform bystander CPR, that's fine. Bystander CPR has evidence of benefit. I'll end my rant here, but if you're interested in learning more about BLS,  you can go to http...

I absolutely wanted to take an elective overseas this summer. There were just 2 major roadblocks on the way: 1) I wasn't sure what field/experience I wanted to expose myself to; and 2) I just didn't have the money to pull off a trip this year having gone on two tours with MedChoir for the past two summers. Well, I'd like to believe these were really the reasons that hindered me from going. But now that I have this much free time, I have this sinking feeling that I just got in my own way again. For #1, I'm sure further introspection would lead to me to the right answer. For #2,  it's the same thing I thought last year when we went to Europe, but I (with the help of my family) managed to pull it off. I guess that once again, I got in my head and disqualified myself from opportunities without even really trying. So, I decided that I need to make this summer a very productive one. Here are some of my ideas: 1. Get a job Or at the very least, a source of income. ...

It's been more than half a year since my last post, and a lot has happened since then. I got a new phone, a Flash Plus 2 which I got at a very affordable price on Lazada (thanks to my brother who financed the purchase). I turned 22, which wasn't really a big deal. Most importantly, I finished my 3rd year in medical school (known as the "ICC year" because 3rd year medical students are referred to as Integrated Clinical Clerks/ICC). As ICCs, we transitioned from lecture halls to the clinics. ICC year focuses mostly on ambulatory care, so we spent most of our time at the clinics in the out-patient department. A lot of the students really like the ICC year because of the relative amount of free time with which we get to do just about anything we want. Some use it to explore new experiences or develop new skills. Some focus on extracurricular activities by being more active in student organizations, even becoming leaders while others really just use the time to rest and ...

Today, my phone said goodbye, sort of. Before I started examining a patient's abdomen (who had an interesting case of gangrenous foot), I checked something on one of my medical apps (which I will definitely review in the future) just to make sure I was going to do the right thing. When I was done checking, I put my phone on my R back pocket. After my examination, I sat down to organize my findings. As if on cue, I heard a faint cracking sound. Behold, it was my phone, and the screen was cracked. I was in shock for a few minutes, but I had to compose myself since I had to finish my part. My group still has to report our findings to the consultant preceptor. I only had time to mourn the loss of my phone after we finished. Actually, I'm not sure I've quite accepted the outcome. See, there were only a few cracks on the screen. However, it's no longer responsive to touch, so I could only be helpless as I watched new notifications and messages appear. Luckily, I enab...

Hey, guys!  This will be the first of my reviews. Please bear with me as I haven't really ironed out the criteria for judging. I just wanted to put up something light.  Today, my black Uniball Signo Micro 207 ran out of ink as I was writing down my physical examination findings on the chart, so after being dismissed, I went to National Book Store (For those of you wondering, it's the country's most famous store for office and school supplies. No, it's not a public or state-owned company) to buy a new pen. Well, they were out of stock for the Micro 207, so I checked if they had the Micro 307. Unfortunately, they still don't have it. (As a side note, I would really like to point out how the National Book Store branch in Robinsons Place Manila (a shopping mall near my school) seems to be always lacking. It's a bit frustrating.)  So, I chose new pens. I have some kind of affinity for Uni pens, having the Uni pin 0.2 mm as my first Uni writing instrument. ...

In the early parts of medical school, we were focused on basic sciences which include anatomy, physiology etc. However, the whole thing's organized by organ systems, making it some weird hybrid of problem-based learning and the traditional approach. We're told the system's unique to my school, at least in the Philippines. But this is actually a topic for another time. What I'm here to discuss is something else entirely. During the first two years of medical school, the only learning we had in terms of clinical skills was through the conduct of demo-return demo sessions (wherein a consultant first demonstrates the skills followed by students trying (sometimes miserably) to replicate them), eventually culminating into OSCEs (will discuss these in the future). We also had to do several patient interviews during small group discussions (SGDs). Many first years would consider the ward works in Neurology midway through the 2nd semester to be highlights of the freshman ye...