So that’s why they called it “residency”… it meant you’ll be living in the hospital for a good number of years tending to patients of various shapes, sizes and cases. I just got home a good 30 minutes ago and I so badly want to rest my head on a heated mattress pad and relax a bit after spending more than the required time in the hospital today. I can’t believe I’ve gone through so much in just two days of residency training. My head hurts so much and I am not liking it. It saddens me that I’ll be living like this for the rest of the next three years. *sob*

In a matter of hours, I will be waking up to the last duty day of my medical school career. I can’t wait! I’m thankful for the busy life that I had, ‘coz it didn’t really felt that long of a wait. In two days, I will be ending my career as a student which spanned almost 23 years! (Yep, I started schooling at 3 years old. ) I wish though that I the technology then were as good as it is now so I could have better documented all those 23 years of studying that I did. Imagine, if we only had digicams, internel and document management software before! Hah! I bet all those photo albums that I have now would have doubled up. Hehe. Anyway, I’m off to sleep now ‘coz I’m expecting a long day ahead. I should know. I’m a magnet of toxicity! =P

If they’re giving out trophies for the world’s best procrastinators, I’m sure to receive one. I just spent four+ hours here at Bo’s Coffee in an attempt to maximize my studying hours for the comprehensive exam slated some 10 days away. In the end, I was only able to finish 30 pages of my Pathology reviewer ‘coz I spent most of the time stalking people on facebook. =S

Now, it’s almost 11 pm and we’re supposed to be leaving soon. I don’t want to go yet ‘coz I know for a fact I’ll be spending the next few hours sleeping back at our apartment. But I’m too chicken to travel alone at this hour too. Boo. Mnel, if you want to graduate on time, you know this is not the proper time to waste those hours. =S

Once again, St. Luke’s College of Medicine prides itself with the outcome of the February 2011 Physician Licensure Examination. It’s a 100% passing for first-time takers from Batch 2010! Hooray! To my friends, Dr. Allan Gamo, Dr. Apreel Noble, Dr. Christina Sio, Dr. Millicent Carino, Dr. Gabriel Zetazate, Dr. Melizza Villalon, Dr. Neil Apale, Dr. Fatima Juanday-Hernandez and Dr. Lester Chua, your victory is also ours. Congratulations! Hoping for the best in your careers!

On the other hand, all eyes are on us as we, SLCM Batch 2011, are about to face one of our life’s biggest challenges: The Comprehensive Exam. It’s a win or lose situation. No gray areas. This is really scary. So help me God.

Learn more about the results of the February 2011 Physician Licensure Examination from here.

I am not yet on vacation mode. I repeat. Not YET on vacation. Notice the emphasis on YET? Uh-huh. In a sheer twist of fate our group manages to get ourselves a week-long break for the holidays. Lucky us! While most of our colleagues back at “home” in St. Luke’s goes on with clerkship life, our group who got to be thrown at East Ave. Medical Center for the OB rotation gets a chance to have our lives back. If only there wasn’t any fighting over who gets what schedule, it would have been nicer. But moving on…

I am looking forward to seeing my friends when I get to have my holiday break from the 26th to the 1st of January. Although I know how hard it’s gonna be not to spend the holidays curled up in bed. I fuckin’ need a social life – and excuse the french for that. Life in East Ave is que horror. I’ve never spent the whole 24 hours awake just monitoring pregnant mommies-to-be ’till I got to East Ave and I’m not talking about just 20 or so patients. I guess I get to encounter almost a hundred of them in one duty day. But you know what they’re telling me is true. Even if a duty day in East Ave beats all other weight loss pills in the world, the experience and fun you’ll have spending with all these friendly faces around is an energizer that could keep you going. So bring it on!

It’s November 3. Technically our third day as Psychiatry rotators but officially our first day as one. The first two days of November were holidays so only the poor duty clerks like Pau and I had to endure the jittery moments of being alone and forgotten as Psychiatry clerks on duty.

Since I was the only person in the group who can go on Day 1 duty, I had to be within hospital premises last Sunday despite being absolutely clueless on what to do as a Psych rotator. It didn’t help that I was sick (read: febrile) the entire day. Good thing that the gods of the heavens were smiling upon me that day. I was greeted by 0 referrals and 0 ER calls for my first duty day. Pau, on the other hand was a little less lucky than I had been. At 12 midnight, I received a frantic call from her asking me to cover for her since there was an incoming Psychiatric patient and she was miles away from Manila. Que horror! Pau actually went home to Pampanga thinking she wouldn’t be called to see any referrals that night! Pau made it back to Manila on time and I believe it was a lesson to remember for all of us: never ever go home while on duty.

Our day as Psych rotators started with confusion. Among so many patients who could walk in to our little abode known as the Mood Clinic, an SS (social service) patient decides to drop by. Oh well hello there clerks! We were absolutely clueless at first but as our interview went on, it became more comfortable for us to talk to the patient about his life story.

Unlike the other medical specialties, I’ve never imagined myself as  Psychiatrist. Perhaps because I know it takes a lot of patience and determination to be one. Although I can be a very patient person, I don’t believe I possess even a quarter of determination which our esteemed Psychiatrists/preceptors have. And perhaps because I know I am a chronic patient myself. Hehe.

Three days gone. Twelve more days to go. I wonder what’s in store for us in the next few days. Not cardboard displays I hope! =)