Thanks to all of you who continue to visit my blog, despite my last post being 3 days ago. :D What can I say -- I spent Saturday in the hospital, with little sleep during a busy call, and moved house on Sunday ( with nothing but adrenaline keeping me awake during my multiple trips to and from both houses ). Yesterday, I was officially on a day's leave, and yes, packing and unpacking. The new place is very very nice, and so much quieter than my old home, which bodes well for my upcoming exams. :)

But speaking of exams, I just found out this morning that the preparatory A&E course in July, as well as the local MRCS (A&E) Part 2 exams have both been cancelled! Nooooooo! Concerns about the SARS situation were given as the reason, so the only option is for me to travel to Edinburgh in November to take the Part 2 there. I admit I was crestfallen initially -- I was hoping to save on the flight expenses, plus avoid the below-zero temperatures that Scotland is so famous for. But after speaking to a fellow trainee, we've made arrangements to contact any other A&E MOs who are also taking the exam, and perhaps block-book the airline tickets and, best of all, stay near or with each other. The only major worry I have is the weather, which I'm told can go below zero in winter. The last time I was in Edinburgh was in June 1994. It was summer, but I still froze my fingers and toes off. The wind made things a lot worse. And the rain... I can only imagine what it's like in November!

But like one senior MO once told me, it's a great experience taking the clinicals in Edinburgh, and she greatly enjoyed herself when she went there a year ago. I've got a good friend who's a gastroenterologist at the university, so here's a chance to catch up with him. And thereafter, I hope to have some extra time off to go down to London and Wales, where I've got a few other people I'd like to visit -- Laura, Vanessa and Tom, if you read this, don't leave the country till December, ok? :)
Well, guess New Zealand's gonna have to wait till next year. Hey, hope I get to see real snow during my trip. That'll be a real treat for me.

We had another panhospital SARS update this morning, this time stressing the need for continued vigilance, and good compliance with the wearing of protective gear. Some interesting trends were noted, the most glaring being the fact that doctors have the lowest compliance rate, and nurses the highest. This was worse in non-medical wards, where figures were even lower. But based on personal experience, I can tell you that donning masks that make breathing extremely difficult, and gloves/gowns that suffocate and drench you in a thick film of sweat ( considering the heat wave that's currently ongoing in Singapore ), it's no wonder that some doctors can't comply 100% of the time. Try wearing a shirt, tie and long pants, then the whole set of gear, doing rounds for up to 3 hours at a time, day in, day out, sorting out 50 or more patients' multiple complicated problems while perspiration is trickling down your face and your clothes are so wet they're practically glued to your skin. I've gone through this before, and it is very very unpleasant. Some of the gowns we're given are made of impervious material, so there's absolutely no ventilation whatsoever. So even though we try our best to adhere to the guidelines, the administration also should take note of these limitations, and try to minimize them. Just a suggestion.

I recall mentioning "frivolous complaints" in a recent post, and lo and behold, there was one today. I run full-day clinics now, and most patients and their relatives are very understanding of the time constraints and patient load. But this morning, I saw a sweet elderly lady with complicated medical problems, and who was accompanied by her daughter, a woman in her 30s. Now this patient needed some major sorting out, but her daughter had made another appointment at the eye clinic at the same time, in a bid to finish everything before lunch so she can go to work, I believe. So while I was trying to solve her mother's medical issues, she kept harrassing me to hurry up 'cos they had to rush to the other clinic ASAP. I had no choice but to let them go over first, as I didn't want to be blamed for her "missing" her appointment there. But when her mother was delayed on the other side, the daughter came back here and started bugging me about it incessantly, asking if her mother will still be seen before 1pm, what she should do if there's further delay. And all this while I was trying to clear an overbooked clinic. I asked her as nicely as I could to wait outside so we can sort things out for her, but for some strange reason she got upset, and subsequently refused to come back in to see me.
My stand is always this: if you want everyone to bend over backwards for you, go to a private hospital and pay for this service. The government hospitals are already extremely busy, and the doctors and nurses are working really hard to maintain a reasonable standard of patient care. And with the recent SARS problem, our resources are becoming even more stretched. We don't need prima donna antics that compromise the welfare of other patients. I foresee a possible complaint letter, but I doubt she has a valid case. All right, venting session over. :)

As a side point, the chat room at Clay Aiken's website is getting really crowded nowadays. The discussions are also quite exciting, with regular updates on Clay's appearances and tour schedule, as well as some hilarious examples of mass hysteria -- like when someone signs on as "Clayton Aiken" or heck, "visitor", which prompts others to wonder if it is Clay himself. Or how about the other day, when a fellow user circulated what is supposedly Clay's home number ( in Raleigh ). That caused a major scramble for the phones, which yielded only an answering machine or an announcement that it's a wrong number. Claymania has never been this interesting! But let me also say that the people on the chat are also a wonderful bunch, so don't be surprised if you forge some good friendships through this experience. I predict only more traffic in the future, especially after Clay's CDs are released.