Post CSFC

Well sort of. I'm not sure if the exam is counted as part of CSFC...

That being said, exams start in 30 hours time and I have totally no idea how stressed I'm supposed to be. I came out with this theory that, based on the marking scheme, the minimum mark I need to get in order to pass is 25% of the maximum possible mark.

Sounds really easy, but I suppose human nature gets the better of us: we tend to think of the worst case scenario, how we would have to take a re if we fail, and how if we fail the re, we re the whole year and how if we fail the re-year we get kicked out. Yes it just seems to happen all the time for some reason. But practically speaking, that aside, I suppose I STILL want to do well for the exam, not so much because it's a judge of how well I've been studying, but rather because it serves as a marker as to how well I'm getting the hang of my future career ahead.

Anyway, exams aside (they tend to be depressing all the time... somehow...), it's only been a month in the wards and I've seen.. just so much. There are many extremes of the kinds of patients I've seen. There are patients who are cheerful regardless of their (severe) condition; patients who tend to think the worst of their (insignificant) condition; patients who are depressed; patients who bring joy to others; patients who are paralysed; patients who are healthy at the age of 80+ years; the list goes on and on and on...

I've come to realise that, one day, however good I become at taking a history or doing a physical examination, it takes so much more skill and experience to learn and know how to communicate effectively with the various kinds of patients, those with different outlooks of life, those with entirely different personalities. How do you educate a person who thinks smoking is beneficial for him? How do you solve problems within a family, beyond a patient's medical problem? How do you encourage a person who is terminally depressed? How do you continue asking for details from a person who knows he has cancer which gives him only a few more months to live? How do you communicate with a patient who has had a stroke affecting his speech, but is evidently gesturing for... something? How do you deal with.. death?

At first glance, while all these may seem so melancholic, it still brings so much anticipation of the future at the same time. We weren't (at least I wasn't) born knowing how to deal with all these situations but, God being my Guide, I'll pick these skills up slowly. Of course, in life there's always this thing that sets you back no matter how hard you try. For me... well, I guess Chinese always gets the better of me. But THAT aside, I pray that God will continue to enlighten me and nurture me into the person He has called me to be.

~Over every thought, Over every word, May my life reflect the beauty of my LORD~