Hospital Turf Wars

There’s really no war in hospitals. As colleagues, generally (and it’s best) all work together in a mutually beneficial relationship. You win, I win. Win-win.
All patients in hospital are admitted under a consultant, under a discipline. Sometimes it’s not a suitable discipline (e.g. diabetic ketoacidosis admitted under General Surgery because of abdominal pain), but usually [...]

The SGH Lift ‘Close Door’ Button

We Singaporeans are an impatient lot. Look in any lift in Singapore for the most worn button. J. guarantees it’s ‘Close Door’.
In SGH, this is no exception. Despite 5 visitor lifts and 3 patient lifts, most of which move at a decent pace, people are never satisfied. Until these become instant gratification teleportation devices, people [...]

The Mentality of Unhealthy Lifestyles

It might not be politically correct, but there’s speculation that the obesity of some people is a reflection of their mentality. Perhaps their characters, but more so the mentality.
This excludes, of course, people suffering from medical conditions like hypothyroidism.
Take, for example, two siblings A & B. A was a medical school classmate of J.’s, and [...]

Read: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down and actually reading a book, and thus it was over the weekend that I read not one, but two books.
The second of the two is Fingersmith, written by Sarah Waters, which I borrowed at Ang Mo Kio Community Library (being in the [...]

Nepal Day 19, 20: Pokhara – Kathmandu – Singapore

Woke at 0500, 1hr earlier than the alarm. We had largely packed our stuff the day before so the morning was easy. Breakfast @ 0645 (hurray for curd), taxi arrived @ 0715, the bus left @ 0735. We took Swiss Travel, which at Rs400 a person, is cheaper and nicer than Grey Hound (pui!) at [...]

Nepal Day 18 (Rafting Day 3) – Back to Pokhara

Beautiful morning yet again. Woke at 0500hrs and was amused by the figure of the singing Iranian sleeping on the beach. We had a breakfast of pancake/prata, bread, porridge and a hot coffee, then packed up and went down to the water.
A few minor rapids later we were in still water. There would be no [...]

Nepal Day 17 (Rafting Day 2)

Early day again, as I woke at 5.30am. Previously woke up at midnight to take a leak and observed that clear skies plus an almost full moon allow enough ambient lighting withou the need for a headlight. Had a most satisfying um… never mind… in the morning, interrupted by a fat Iranian man (pet phrase: [...]

Irresponsible

Recently, J. came home from work and thought, “well damn, this cough seems to be recovering. Maybe I’ll head out for a bit, eh?”
Out he went, and the combination of the night weather, air conditioning, ?polluted air and company (no, not really… heh) took its toll on his airways, leaving him coughing like a 50-pack [...]

Nepal Trip Day 16 (Nepal Rafting Day 1)

Alright, alright, alright, get a load of this joke.
5 Iranian men get into a raft with 2 Dutch ladies… who are lesbians. They fight to the death in a rope knife death match.
Well, that’s only partially true. Let’s start from the beginning!
We woke up, packed our stuff into storage once again and brought our daypacks [...]

On Call

What does it mean to be on call?
“Call” runs on the principle that people fall sick at all times, not just during the 5 day work week, and that things need to be done for patients at all times, not just during office hours but it’s difficult to have the full hospital running as per [...]