A Room With A View

So I've spent now three weeks in my new rotation at a psychiatric hospital. I have enjoyed it because it has opened my eyes to a lot of fascinating faces of medicine. The place is also unique in that it was one of the first - if not the first- institution for psychiatric patients. Some of the buildings were built by convicts and the patients themselves in the earlier day, so a lot of the architecture has a distinct colonial feel to it. And I love this vintage stuff. Here's a photo to illustrate my love affair with archaic and asbestos-laden buildings.

This used to be the living quarters of the medical superintedent in the old days. The house over looks the river with beautiful greeneries and just.. so AWESOME!

Anyway, in between HIMYM procrastination, placement and the rest of my life, it struck me that i'm on a sliding scale into trivia knowledge oblivion. It started with not knowing what was on TV, then it moved to music and now, I have no idea what movies are in cinemas. Is that scary?
It is a little ,that I'm detaching from the world. At least I still know that there are problems in the Middle East but I guess that's only because I'm cheating and know that there will always be trouble in the Middle East.

Speaking of another part of the world, my clinical buddy (who has lived in multiple countries and have been to all continents except one) and I have been discussing the notion of living and working in other countries and culture. And for the first time, I am entertaining the idea. It's strange where life takes you, but it is stranger when your view on life changes too and your horizons are broaden by ideas that you thought you would never have.

I may just be another young, idealistic twenty-something who wants to change the world because leftist social groups in tertiary education institutions say I can. Or I may really have found my calling.
Or I may morph into this bureaucracy-loathing, part-of-the-system, cynical clone in the profession.

Whatever it is, I am happy to have the possibilities.

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I'm Gonna Be A Supermodel..Not Gonna Eat Today Or Tomorrow..

Things I've learnt from my first day in the new rotation:
- doctors do not eat
- they survive on a wide selection of beverage being coffee, coffee and coffee
- stab harder and faster
- there is a wonderful thai&laos restaurant nearby
- must revise anatomy
- misses my last clinical buddy, that's you sand-pand!

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Saying Goodbye

So my first rotation finished last night, not that there were any tears but I am sad nonetheless. Sometimes, when we meet the many faces of humanity, we are left feeling that the answer to all our problems are so simple. No matter our creed, our beliefs, our race, our capabilities, our disabilities, our knowledge, our potential knowledge, our life, or our potential life, if we only recognise the one humanity that we share, things can be so simple.
It is easy to connect, to become affective, and difficult to say goodbye, a bit like the bittersweet feeling of watching our hero going on alone into the wilderness leaving behind all.

It is particularly peculiar of a feeling to step outside the chain of knowledge and watch the passing of generations. In this field, it is the passing of knowledge, of stories, and essentially, of life. It's overwhelming and the image of a grandfatherly figure teaching us the ropes, reminiscing back into "those days..", I will not forget.
And with all this knowledge gathered through hardwork and sacrifice over the many centuries, sometimes I am curious and wonder what the ones who have gone before would say if they can see where we are today. Would they be proud of our progress and how far we've come? What would they make of the separation of the pursuit of knowledge and the common good?

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