On Being Warded

Prof One wants us to cover the wards for ward rounds. So every patients in the ward must be clerked and seen. And this is what we have been practicing since the last 2 rotations.

1. Every admission into the ward will be assigned to each students according to the name list.
2. That particular student will have to follow the patients until he/she is discharged.
3. If any student wants to clerk other patients who are not assigned to him/her, that patient should be clerked by the student assigned first.
4. Every patients MUST be clerked.
5. Stay in the ward.

Okay maybe the last rule was made up. But literally, the professors and lecturers are expecting us to live in the hospital. Not like we're not already. We're literally living in a hospital compound now.

Anyways, ObGyn was pretty messy considering the turnover rate was so damn fast. But when it comes to paediatrics, the admissions and discharges leave us with quite an adequate number of patients in hand everyday. The mean number would be 3. And that means, we will have to know everything about that patient assigned to us. Plentiful of time for us to get our histories correct before the ward rounds you may say. I wouldn't doubt a thing.

But when it comes to ward rounds on Monday, that's when things start to turn blue.

Really blue.

Dr. Andrew the houseman was writing the follow up on one of the patients under his care when I was flipping through some other files on the same table. When he finished, he closed the file and slams it down with a heavy sigh.

"Enjoy your life as a medical student."

And he walked away. I was only able to say a "hmph" with a smiling face.

Yea right. It's a Sunday damnit! What butt-fuck! It's supposed to be an off day!

Okay, maybe not for the housemans, considering it's what everyone will be going through. Being the dirt in the lower-most rank of the medical career. That's why the odd working hours that stretches up to 48 hours non-stop, no weekends, no public holidays, no social life, no trips, no shopping, no online, no sleeps, no life.

But if I were to enjoy my life as a medical student (which is very much true since we don't have the responsibility of making sure all the patients we treat are alive and be discharged alive), I wouldn't be 'warded' on a Sunday right?

I have plans. I have my plans. Plans that I have been looking forward to the whole week. There's Alan. There's Starbucks. There's Bernard. There's hot showers. And being babish. Oh, not to forget sleeping on the bed at 10 in the morning.

But instead, I was in the ward at 10 in the morning. Bummer.

Having said that... I have no rights to complain. It's a path I chose.

Oh God... Save me! Save me from becoming a grumbler...

credits of photos: D dash, Greg the Bunny and Adam Cathro