Mastodawn

Surviving 10 Days Of Tagging | Emergency & Trauma Department

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My tagging days in my sixth and final rotation, Emergency and Trauma Department, lasted for a total of 10 days which was from the 11th of April till the 23rd of April 2025. This is excluding our one “off day” for the week.

Did I manage to last throughout the tagging days?

Not quite.

I did take a sick leave during my second week of tagging. The reason was that I was just extremely tired.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The tagging hours in the Emergency and Trauma Department is from 7 am till 10pm, just in other postings.

The good thing about this department is that we do not need to do morning reviews. Thus, coming way early prior to our shift is unheard of. We merely come and leave on time.

However, considering that it is the Emergency Department, things are unpredictable whereby things could be quiet one moment and hectic the next.

Hence, on days which burn, it can be extremely tiring. But, completing these tagging days are a must and so on slow days where the hours seem to pass by really slowly, I make it a point to have an “hourly toilet break“. On busy days, it may be the only time that I am given a chance to sit and breathe.

On top of that, I made sure I took my lunch and dinner break. Not because I was hungry as I was used to having my meal for the day after work. It was merely my way of spending my time during my tagging days.

At 10pm, the shift is over and I leave, even if the floor is busy because the following day my shift begins at 7am again.

Finally after 10 days of “tagging“, I have finally off-tagged and shifted to “shift hours“.

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels.com

There are no assessments in order to off-tag. as there were in other postings, which is a good thing. However, tagging in this posting felt long and seem to went on forever for me. Perhaps, this was because I was mainly tagging alone as I entered a month later than my fellow peers.

Nonetheless, I was glad to be done with this schedule and shift back to a regular 12-hours shift.

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The Theoretical Doctor Aug 2

Surviving The Night Shift As A House Officer In Medical 3 | Housemanship Diaries

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The Medical 3 Ward of Hospital Umum Sarawak or “Sarawak General Hospital” is located on the 9th floor of the main building.

Thankfully, being allocated as the Night House Officer, we only had to take care of one ward, unlike being allocated in Medical 4 / Medical 5 / Infectious Disease Ward or being in the Perimedical Team whereby we were always on the go.

The Medical 3 Ward consists of three teams, which are General Medicine, Respiratory and Neuromedical.

During the daytime, we have allocated House Officers for each team. However, during the night shift, we are in charge of the whole ward.

The jobscope of the night shift House Officer in this ward is the same as in other wards and postings which are transferring in of new patients, attending to acute issues and most importantly, coming mornings.

If you have read my previous article on Surviving The Night Shift In The Medical Posting In General, I mentioned that in this posting, upon my arrival to the ward for my night shift, I would begin taking my coming mornings.

The same goes for Medical 3. However, unlike the night shift in Perimedical, I do not take my arterial blood gases with my coming mornings.

I begin from the Respiratory cubicles which is located at the back of the ward and then move to the front cubicles before finally continuing at subacute and acute cubicles which are the beds located in the middle of the ward, in front of the nursing counter.

If I were late for my coming mornings, then I would proceed with taking the arterial blood gases together. But if I finished early, I would take the blood gases much later.

By 5:30am – 6am, I would start running my blood gases and paste them in the casenotes of the patients. Around 6am – 7am is when the morning team starts arriving to trace the bloods as well as begin their morning reviews.

Thus, I wait to be summoned for my bloodtaking or certests.

Finally, at 9am, I return home from my shift.

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The Theoretical Doctor Jul 29

Surviving The Night Shift In The Medical Posting In General | Housemanship Diaries

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The shift that I have always dreaded but enjoyed the most were the night shifts. I dreaded it because I knew that I would be alone most of the time and afraid that I would not be able to cope with the adrenaline rush or anxiety or the craziness that might ensue. However, I enjoyed it because that meant that I will be able to sleep in prior to going for my shift and the following day at 7am, the morning team will start arriving and I am not alone anymore.

The Medical posting in general is a “heavy” posting because of the patient load. Almost all of the patients are so-called “Medical” patients once Surgical, Orthopaedic, Psychiatric or other causes have been ruled out, and it could stem from something as simple as electrolyte imbalance to myocardial infarction or stroke.

Thus, imagine the amount of coming mornings.

Prior to entering this posting, I’ve always enquired and listened to my fellow colleagues’ input and experiences. Most of them would say that “In the Medical posting, the rule of thumb for surviving the night shift is to start taking the bloods as soon as you arrive for the night shift”.

True enough. That is something I have practiced since and even in other postings as you do not know just when something may happen and next thing you know, the sun is rising and your coming mornings are late and the morning team have arrived and the bloods are still pending or not in the system or yet to be taken and the medical officers and specialists have arrived.

Sadly, when there is a delay in the blood investigations, there is a delay in management.

Thus, it is a tachycardic moment for me. Prior to entering my shift, I would screen through the coming morning list and upon arriving, I would usually prep my trolley, ensure my coming mornings are divided and arranged according to their cubicles, ensure enough syringes and needles are set aside as well as the alcohol swabs and cotton swabs.

Then, I will begin taking my coming mornings, usually working my way from the back of the ward then towards the front cubicle, subacute cubicle and finally, ending with the acute cubicle.

Usually in between, something will occur, maybe a patient newly admitted into ward or a patient will suddenly be hypotensive or hypertensive or hypoglycaemic or starts throwing up or wants to have a small talk.

Normally, I would not mind entertaining them. However, if I’m still due to complete my coming mornings, I would proceed to complete it and I usually will not rest until I do. At least I’ll be rest assured that should anything occur in between, I would not have to worry about the completion of my coming mornings.

The night shifts can be rather unpredictable as one minute it can seem rather quiet and calm at first and hectic the next. At times, it can get overwhelming as well.

However, have faith and know that help is always nearby and start taking your bloods as early as possible.

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The Theoretical Doctor Jul 28

My First Night Shift Covering Medical 4 / Medical 5 / Infectious Disease Ward In Sarawak General Hospital – Housemanship Diaries

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Around my third month in the Department of Medical at Sarawak General Hospital, I was reallocated to Medical 4 which is the “Nephrology Ward” meaning patients who are admitted with newly diagnosed chronic kidney disease or have underlying kidney pathology requiring biopsy or haemodialysis (HD support) but clinically stable as in not requiring oxygen support, not in sepsis or not requiring medications for blood pressure support are admitted here.

I will explain more about that ward in another article.

Anyway, back to the reason for this article, being allocated in this ward meant that I had to cover not just this ward, Medical 4 but also Medical 5 as well as the Infectious Disease Ward during my night shift.

In the Department of Medical, the night shift is from 8pm till 10am the following day.

While I was allocated here, I was blessed enough to have a few taggers in the ward and tagging is from 7am till 10pm.

Thus, upon heading down at 8pm, there are usually a few people in Medical 4 till 10pm. Thus, upon entering my shift, I would first head over to Level 9 to place my bags, pop into Medical 4, for a while and then head over to Medical 5 to take the coming morning bloods.

Upon completion, I would then head over to Medical 4 and begin my coming mornings there. Usually while I’m taking my coming mornings, new patients will come in and thus I would transfer in at the same time.

Upon completion of my coming mornings in Medical 4, I would usually send my bloods at around 2am and then head over to the Infectious Disease Ward to take the coming mornings.

In between I would be free but sometimes I would receive call for new transfer ins at Medical 4 and Medical 5.

At 5-6am, I start running the blood gases. Usually when I take the coming mornings bloods, I would take the blood gases as well and keep it in a separate syringe in the cooler.

Surviving the night shift initially was intimidating as I have yet to experience it and Medical 4 and Medical 5 were located far apart from each other.

My main concern was if something were to occur at both wards at the same time.

Thankfully, my experiences were mostly good and I enjoyed every night shift I’ve experienced thus far in this ward.

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The Theoretical Doctor Jul 10

The Most Enjoyable and Tiring Day In Medical 3

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I can’t remember which day it was but it was probably during the weekend or a public holiday as I remembered that I was allocated on call who was in charge of this ward.

I was allocated to “General” on that day and was I was alone at that time. I remembered sitting at the other end of the ward at around 11am when one of my colleagues who was allocated to be covering the “Neuro” patients went to have lunch.

The medical officer on call at that time, a rather “happy-go-lucky” and rather jovial person struts into the respiratory cubicle and asked if there were any house officers available?

To which I responded, we’re right here and he came over. He asked for the person who was in charge of the front cubicles which happened to be my colleague who went for lunch. I asked what’s wrong, is there anything I can help with?

He casually replied, nothing much, just walked in and saw a patient’s pulse oximeter reading 70% under room air. Then he laughed.

Me and my friend who happened to be there at that time were shocked and rushed to the patient. True enough, the pulse oximeter reading was 70%, well, 68%. Oddly enough, the patient seemed rather comfortable and not tachypnoeic. In fact, he was surprised as we crowded around his bed, looking concerned.

I asked him if he was having any difficulty breathing which he was not. Thus, our first instinct was probably the machine was faulty and proceeded to check with another vital signs machine.

This time, it was 65%.

I proceeded to take full set of bloods while my medical officer was writing his review and my friend attempted to call my colleague.

I ran his arterial blood gas and it showed Type 1 Respiratory Failure. Considering he did not have a baseline during this admission, we do not know if this was near his baseline or a sudden deterioration.

We called the Peri ICU team and referred the patient for non-invasive ventilatory support (NIV). Imagine, not knowing why this long stay patient was ever here in the first place to summarising the reason for admission down to his current progress. It turns out, he was due to be stepped down to a district hospital for continuation of antibiotics.

Well now, he can’t.

We transferred hum to the acute cubicle for closer monitoring while awaiting the Peri ICU team.

While awaiting, my medical officer decided to check on a patient who was handover to him for afternoon reviews.

This lady was in her 60’s and was admitted for left pleural abscess, meaning there’s pus in her lungs and for this patient, the whole left lung was completely filled. Clinically, she seemed well, speaking in full sentences and laughing to her family members as well in the morning.

In fact. I was even taking her bloods that morning only to have it splashed all over me after attempting to fill the blood culture and sensitivity bottle.

I recalled walking past her as I made my way to the front of the ward and she seemed alright. However, the moment me and my medical officer oncall stood in front of her. She desaturated an started being tachypnoeic.

Well, here’s another one.

There goes the next referral to the Peri ICU team for intubation and also Urology for emergency suprapubic catheter insertion as we attempted to insert a urinary catheter multiple times but failed.

Now, all these events happened very fast but at the same time, time flew by fast. The second patient was intubated and we inserted a femoral venous catheter. My medical officer then wanted to excuse himself to settle the pending discharges in his other ward. However, the first patient wasn’t saturating well under NIV and needed to be intubated.

There goes another intubation as well as another femoral venous catheter insertion. Finally, after all the chaos, things began to finally settle down.

I proceeded to trace my coming mornings, considering that I was the only one in charge of “General” that day and nobody would be helping me. Finally, I proceeded to begin my oncall reviews. This was around 8pm by that time.

After completing my in all reviews with intermittent disturbance in between. I proceeded to aid my friend in preparation of her coming mornings.

It was close to 11pm, I was just clearing my stuffs and getting ready to go when a nurse informed me that a patient seemed rather tachypnoeic.

Annoyed and tired, I attended STAT to find a patient sitting at the side of the bed with his BiPAP machine unlatched and hanging at the side of the bed. The patient beside him then told me, he removed it himself an hour ago.

Boy… Why am I not surprised?

This is another impending intubation.

At this rate, I might as well not leave anymore.

The day was busy enough. I sometimes wonder why is it that we feel guilty to even desire to return home on time? To walk out with the family members watching us finally ecstatic to return home for the day while their family members are stuck in the hospital?

Back to that patient, I didn’t left him gasping on his own of course, I fixed back the BiPAP machine, took an arterial blood gas and alerted my night colleague and medical officer oncall to which they attended STAT.

Thankfully, the following day, I was allocated as night shift. Thus, despite returning home late, I was able to sleep in and recuperate a little before returning back to work that night.

It was a busy day but considerably a rather fun one considering that I happened to work with a rather jovial medical officer oncall and my colleague stayed back to accompany me despite her shift being till 6pm.

Working with certain people definitely helps alleviate some of the pressure of the day.

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The Theoretical Doctor May 16

My First Hour Of The Day

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What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

By default I rise around 4-5am. Perhaps out of habit as I usually take my time in the morning. Sadly, this also happens during my off days even when my alarms are off. My body clock is somehow tuned to waking up at such.

As mentioned, I take my time upon waking up. Thus, upon waking up, the rain sounds which I fall asleep to would be playing in the background and I would sit by the side of my bed and slowly make my way to my kitchen which is just across my bed, since I live in a studio unit and put my kettle to boil.

The kettle is usually filled the night before and hence, one thing less for me to think in the morning. This is then followed by my morning bathroom rituals and brushing my teeth.

Usually by then, I would have been much more awake and proceed to consume my iron tablet, vitamin C and making my morning coffee which is a mixture of 3-in-1 sachet and a teaspoon of black coffee since I prefer an even stronger coffee.

If I were working that morning, I would prepare both of my 1.5L of flasks by filling them with cold coffee which I have brewed a day prior for me to bring to work.

Why 2 flasks? Well, one is not enough.

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There are days when I’m feeling hungry or in the mood, I would prepare myself breakfast. My go-to-regular is frying egg mixed with mushrooms, chopped chilli and curry leaves and adding them to my breakfast sandwich. During my time being vegetarian, I would usually grill or air-fry my premixed tofu which I have marinated with spices, acting as a burger patty and my breakfast sandwich is prepared.

There are days, despite waking up earlier, I would still miss breakfast, thus instead I would pack it for work.

After that is followed by showering and getting ready for work. I usually wash my hair in the mornings daily. Thus, prior leaving for work, I would dry my hair with a hair dryer and style it up in a bun and I’m good to go.

How about if I’m not working on that day or if I’m night shift for that day?

Usually I proceed with my usual cup of coffee or I would go the extra mile by brewing myself a pot of masala or ginger tea with the tv playing in the background of some random YouTube video on productivity, to which I’m usually not listening to and merely keeping it on in the background for some background noise.

Then, I would proceed to prepare my breakfast and start my day with some writing or studying.

Well, that’s my first hour for the day, or perhaps a little more than that.

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The Theoretical Doctor May 10

My Teenage Years

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Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.

Upon reading this prompt, I was reminded of my high school days. The first year of high school was very tough for me in terms of adjusting to a new school, cultures and subjects.

I went from a comfortable place to a different one without any guidance nor advice and I went from being a senior to a freshie all over again, which I did not like.

In addition to that, I had a very bad temper and used to talk back to my seniors which did not aid in my reputation. Well, that was the first year, things started getting better the following year onwards and my grades picked up. I have accustomed myself to the flow.

It was during my teenage years that I met my good friends whom I still keep contact to this day albeit not meeting much.

Looking back, I enjoyed my routine and studying very much. Waking up early was the hardest part of the day, which surprisingly isn’t one for me now, I have transitioned into an early riser.

This is followed by shower, preparing my breakfast and lunch for school, which mostly just includes me grabbing bread or biscuits and stuffing it in my bag and wait for my parents to send me off to school, which is usually my dad. He would send me off prior going to work.

I was truly blessed to have experience that.

In school, it was about attending classes, completing homework or assignments, gossiping with my friends or attending extra-curricular activities. However, the place I truly enjoyed spending my time was in the library. Thus, if I were to bunk class, I would lock myself inside the library and just study or read. The perks of being a librarian. Thankfully, my teacher-in-charge of the library always had my back if I were to be questioned regarding my whereabouts.

After school, my mother would be the one who usually picks me up from school and most of the time, we would eat outside. Occasionally, she does cook at home and as I am writing this reflection, I truly miss these simple heartwarming dishes.

This is then followed by me showering, completing my homework, studying, chilling, going out with my mom and getting ready for tuition or extra classes which are usually in the evenings or on alternate days.

Life was simple and predictable. I remembered attending multiple tuition classes during the week, mainly because I was bored being at home as I was not allowed to simply go out with my friends as I pleased. Thus, I looked forward to those evenings.

Holidays and weekends were the things I looked forward to as well and I enjoyed recuperating or simply helping my parents out with their chores, watching movies or TV shows, studying with music, writing and playing video games.

Surprisingly, what aid me in studying back in high school was due to video games. Perhaps it was the way I “destress” and it drives my mind.

I was not allowed to work during the holidays as my parents feared that once I get the taste of my own earnings, studying will no longer be a priority. However, my pocket money wasn’t great either. But I still got by and occasionally, my dad would slip in some money without my mom knowing just so I could enjoy a nice meal across the road with my friend.

The stress back then were focused on exams and completing homework. Occasionally, life dramas do get in the way, all part and parcel of being a “teenager”, having crushes, jealousy and bullying.

However, for the most part, I enjoyed my teenage years and looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing except to be more disciplined in my studying and to learn more.

Those years flew by rather quickly. Before I knew it, I was a senior and the stress of choosing a major or course and the university applications kicked in. Over the years, I’ve accumulated multiple fond memories with my friends as well which were a mixed of beautiful ones, silly and extremely foolish ones, which we do look back and laugh about during our meet-ups.

If you are reading this, I hope that you did enjoy your teenage years as much as I did too. If you are a teenager, do not fill your time with just studying, immerse yourself in extracurricular activities as well and discover new habits. It is the season of discovering yourself, and hopefully in years to come when you do look back and ponder, it will be filled with sweet memories as well.

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The Theoretical Doctor

The Theoretical Doctor May 8

Part 2 – Life As A Peri Medical House Officer In Hospital Umum Sarawak | Main Building, Side Building, Infectious Disease Ward

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The Peri Medical House Officer Team takes care of:

The Emergency Department

Green zone
Yellow zone
Yellow respiratory zone
Green-Yellow zone
Asthma Bay
Red Zone I
Red Zone II
Decon
CSSD
EDOU

Main Building

Side Building

Infectious Disease Ward

SDC (Surgical Daycare)

In this article, I will be sharing my experiences as a Perimedical House Officer covering main building, side building, SDC as well as the Infectious Disease (ID) ward.

As I previously mentioned in my previous article, the work begins from 7am till 6pm (short days), 7am till 10pm (long days) and 8am till 9am (night shifts).

Covering this part of the hospital meant taking care of “stranded patients” which are medical patients who are lodging in other department wards as there are no space or beds available in the main medical wards. Usually, patients like these are somewhat stable enough to be left on their own without constant supervision. Those that do require, are usually left in the Emergency Department or transferred straight to medical wards.

The Main Building

Taking care of the Main Building meant that one would have to cover:

2nd floor: Urology Ward
3rd floor: Male and Female RTU Wards
4th floor: Labour Ward
5th floor: Maternity 2 (Antenatal Ward), Maternity 3 (Postnatal Ward)
6th floor: Female and Male Orthopaedic Ward
7th Floor: Male and Female Surgical Wards

On some days, there would not be any perimedical patients in certain wards. Thus, there are days that we do not have to go to these wards. On bad days, there are perimedical patients on every floor and the patient count will be extremely high.

During my time serving in the main building, I was blessed enough to have a partner. Thus, despite the high volume of patients, it felt manageable.

Upon my arrival, I usually begin from the highest floor and work my way down. Thus, I begin from the 7th floor by checking with the TL or Team Leader to identify new cases and update the list followed by tracing the blood investigations.

This is to ensure that the patients are not missed during rounds.

I proceed with doing this in the wards of every floor till I am done prior to beginning my morning reviews.

Usually by then, the Medical Officers have arrived and are proceeding with their morning reviews.

Sometimes, we join in and sometimes, we are asked to review the other patients and on our own until the specialist arrives.

Upon the specialist’s arrival, we would all meet up at one place to begin out rounds.

Rounds in perimedical is similar to that in the ward. The only difference is that rounds are once daily and the patients are all around the place.

In between, there would be new transfer ins, attending to acute issues of which the nurses from other wards would call or inform the House Officers from other departments.

After that, it is followed by preparation of the coming morning bloods. The wards and bed numbers are labelled on top of the forms and kept in the ETD for the night House Officers to take.

The Side Building

The Side Building is less hectic than main building and that meant we had to cover:

3rd floor: Neurosurgical ward / Neurosurgical HDU, ICU extension
4th floor: Paediatrics Orthopaedic Ward
5th floor: Gynaecology Ward, Ophthalmology Ward

As usual, upon my arrival, I would begin at the topmost floor and check for any new patients as well as to trace the bloods.

After all of it is done, I begin my review in the ICU Extension 2 Ward. The ICU Extension 2 ward consists of unstable, intubated patients of various departments.

Usually by the time I begin my morning review, the specialist would have just arrived and we begin our rounds.

After the ICU Extension 2 is followed by Neurosurgical Ward since they are located at the same place, then Neurosurgical HDU.

Upon completion of morning rounds is followed by carrying out the active joblists, discharges and requesting for radiological scans.

Similar to Main Building, the coming morning bloods are prepped and kept at the Emergency Department for the night house officers to collect.

SDC – Surgical Day Care

SDC is the Surgical Day Care as per the name. Usually patients who are admitted here come in on the day of the procedure itself and is discharged in the evening.

However, when the wards are fully occupied and the Emergency Department is overflowing with stranded patients, the SDC converts temporarily to host the stranded patients.

At max, the patient load is only two cubicles full and the patients being admitted there are usually relatively stable.

Similar to main building and side building, I begin my day with tracing the bloods, x-rays or any relevant radiologist reports before beginning my review and rounds with the medical officer and specialists.

The Infectious Disease Ward

The Infectious Disease Ward or “ID Ward” is located in a building separate from the main or side building.

Previously, it used to be the House Officer’s Accommodation. However, it was subsequently converted into a ward.

The ward consists of two floors with each floor containing 6 isolation rooms for each floor. Upon entering the ward itself, one has to change into the hospital scrubs and prior entering the ward isolation rooms, one has to don apron, shower cap and gloves, the standard PPE.

The casenotes are not allowed to be brought in, thus all reviews are written outside.

What do I do if I were stationed to at the Infectious Disease Ward?

The house officer allocated to the ID ward are those from the Peri Pool, meaning our shift is from 7am till 6pm for short days.

Thus, upon my arrival, I would change into the hospital scrubs. Then, I would proceed to trace the bloods. The bloods sent from the ID ward are usually late. Thus. It would either be pending in the system or yet to be in the system.

Next, I will begin my reviews, first to the newly transferred in patients followed by the rest while awaiting the medical officer.

There is a whiteboard consisting of the names of the patients in the isolation rooms. Usually in the morning prior to entering the isolation rooms, we would have a short round and presentation with the ID consultant with the whiteboard.

Thus, during my time there, I would constantly update and personalise it according to my style which would be easier for me during my presentation with the ward consultant.

After that, we will all proceed to the isolation room. As House Officers, we are the scribe and assistants of the medical officers. Since, we are not allowed to bring the casenotes into the isolation room, thus we will type everything inside our phone and transfer it onto paper after our grand rounds with the patients.

Rounds at the Infectious Disease Ward is only once daily.

After the completion of rounds, just like any ward is the completion of active joblist.

Personally, I enjoyed my time in the Infectious Disease Ward a lot, mainly because I was given the autonomy to customise the board as I liked, present to the consultant myself and was asked multiple questions during rounds and having discussions which I find rather stimulating and enjoyable.

On top of that, I even had time to return home for a quick lunch every time I was stationed at this ward.

In the afternoon, some patients on high oxygen support may need arterial blood gases (ABGs) at certain time. If not, it is the preparation of coming morning bloods and transfer ins of any new patients.

Being in charge of the other places is considerably less hectic than being allocated in the Yellow Zone which can get rather crazy at times as there is massive movement of patients constantly. It actually feels like as if I am at KL Sentral during peak hours.

However, do not fear if you are allocated into the Peri Medical Pool. The workload can get extremely hectic and it can be rather messy. But, always try your best to learn as much as you can during your period serving there and to enjoy your journey.

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Part 1 – Life As A Peri Medical House Officer In Hospital Umum Sarawak | The Emergency Department

An article regarding my life as a Peri-Medical House Officer in my Fifth Posting, The Medical Department (Part 1).

The Theoretical Doctor

The Theoretical Doctor Apr 7

Surviving Tagging And Finally Celebrating Christmas In The Medical Posting – Housemanship Diaries

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In the Medical Posting, seniors were required to tag for a minimum of 10 days prior to off-tag while juniors had to tag for a full 14 days.

I was due to have my off-tag assessment and in the Medical Posting, we were required to off-tag with Physicians, meaning the specialists.

Tagging everyday in the Medical Posting was rather annoying for me since we had to stay until 10pm and being a regular early riser, I would start feeling sleepy around 8pm as that is the time I start to unwind and go to bed.

However, I can’t because I am still tagging. On top of that, since I am tagging, I would be too exhausted by the time I reach home to even consider studying. I had to prioritise my sleep more or I would crash.

Thus, I tagged for a total of 12 days which consisted of two off days. Thus, in reality, I only actually tagged for 10 full days.

In order to officially off-tag, I had to have my logbook signed by the physician who assessed me as well as to have each procedure filled and countersigned by the medical officers.

Long story short, I finally off-tagged on Christmas Eve and did not realised that I have been allocated an off day on the 25th of December.

This was perfect as my parents flew in on the 24th night. Thus, upon having officially off-tagged, I left and started getting ready to travel to the airport to meet my parents.

The following day of course was Christmas which was well spent with my parents.

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My First Day In Medical Posting – Tagging Day 1 | Housemanship Diaries

An article regarding my first day of tagging in my fifth posting, Medical, as a House Officer.

The Theoretical Doctor

The Theoretical Doctor Mar 18

Reflection Of The Surgical Posting | Housemanship Diaries

Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

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As you can see based on the prompt that I would be answering, Surgical Posting is definitely the place where the environment among the superiors felt more like a family to me and I’ve always felt the love and care towards one another and the patients in the whole team.

Prior to entering this department, I’ve always had my doubts and fear considering that I’ve heard numerous negative comments in regard to the department. Mostly, the department was deemed “toxic”.

However, upon entering there during my first day, I was guided and encouraged to follow rounds even when I seemed rather lost. I was not reprimanded or shouted at but instead I was guided and taught.

No doubt it is a tiring posting and after having completed my tagging period in all of the 5 major postings (Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Surgical and Medical), the tagging period in the Surgical Posting is the most tiring for me.

This posting sort of reminds me of Orthopaedics except the amount of patients are full-blown, never ending with random or common surgical-related issues and the patients are even more unstable.

The thing about being in this posting is that usually when an order is given by our superiors, it is expected to be carried out STAT, meaning immediately and they will usually keep checking in to know the progress and status of the patient which is both good and also annoying. Good because it keeps you on our toes and ensure things are being carried out. Bad as the day could be burning with multiple issues and joblists and there is lack of manpower and you barely had time to sit or even had a drink and next, you’re being summoned again.

However, looking back, I definitely enjoyed every bit of my journey over there. Eventually, I was given the responsibility of being one of the leaders in this department, the daily allocator to be exact, by my friend.

This unknowingly deepens my relationship among my superiors as we would constantly reach out to each other.

Along the way, I made friends with the nurses at Male Surgical Ward and I will always be grateful for their help.

The Surgical Posting also made me realise how much I enjoy Surgical-based and that I am one. Despite my initial interest in Medical upon entering my housemanship journey, I realised that I love hands-on more and I need to “see” the issue. For example, if a patient complaints of abdominal pain, assess the patient, send some blood workups which might help and in your direction of care as well as scans.

Most of the time, the issue is identified through the scan with the blood workup being highly suggestive. Thus we move on from there.

I can’t quite explain. Somehow it just make sense to me just like when I was previously in the Orthopaedics Department.

This posting is also where I spent the longest time. I entered the posting on the 4th of July 2024, which is around 5 months as I took a break in between due to my injury.

The Surgical Posting definitely holds a dear place in my heart. Upon bumping into my old superiors, I still greet them with joy and a smile, reminiscing my good times within the department.

If you are due to join the Surgical Posting, please prepare yourself both mentally and physically.

In my opinion, the Surgical Posting is a physically tiring and not as bad as it seems despite the multiple negative remarks. Perhaps, it was a different experience for others but in my humble opinion, it is NOT a toxic department. At least at the place that I am practicing in.

Have faith, hang in there and try your ultimate best everyday in both your work as well as in trying to learn the most you can out of this posting and journey.

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My Experience as A Plastics House Officer | Housemanship Diaries

An article regarding my experience serving as a Plastics House Officer while being in my Fourth Posting of my Housemanship Journey.

The Theoretical Doctor