Becoming A Physician

Three years ago (thanks, Facebook, for reminding me!), I listened to a TED talk by Dan Gilbert entitled "The Psychology of Your Future Self," and even now, the message still resonates with me. It reminds me that with all my faults and mistakes, I am still not done. I am not done trying to make things better, making myself better. There is hope that in the future, as I take my last breath, I can be satisfied and proud of my identity, my work and my legacy. Dan Gilbert ends with the one of the most powerful ideas I have encountered: "Most of us can remember who we were 10 years ago, but we find it hard to imagine who we're going to be, and then we mistakenly think that because it's hard to imagine, it's not likely to happen. Sorry, when people say "I can't imagine that," they're usually talking about their own lack of imagination, and not about the unlikelihood of the event that they're describing. The bottom line is, time is a powe...

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 ...