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

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Upon entering the Medical Posting, I was stationed into the “Peri-Medical Pool”. My “birthplace”, so-called.

Prior to entering the Medical Posting, many of my colleagues commented that the Peri-Medical pool is probably one of the worst place to enter considering that it is rather hectic, busy and messy, not to mention the joblist is never ending.

The working shift for a Medical House Officer is as such:

Short Day (SD): 7am till 6pm
Long Day (LD): 7am till 10pm
Night Shift (ON): 8pm till 9am

The Emergency Department in Hospital Umum Sarawak is rather huge and consists of:

Green Zone
EDAU
CSSD
Yellow Zone
Yellow Respi Zone
Green Yellow Zone
Red Zone I
Res Zone II
Decon

Usually a House Officer is allocated to take care of more than one zones.

For example:

Green Zone / EDAY / CSSD
Yellow Zone / Green Yellow Zone
Red Zone I / Red Zone II / Yellow Respi Zone

When the amount of manpower is high, the job gets done quickly and keeping track of the patients is easier.

However, in days where we are stretched thin it is rather difficult.

The Day Shift

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Since I entered the Peri Medical Pool on my Day 1 of tagging in the Medical Posting, my working hours were from 7am till 10pm every day till I offtagged.

I begin my day by first tracing the casenotes of the patients in the zone I am allocated to, snap pictures of the chest x-rays, any relevant radiological reports as well as to trace their bloods.

If bloods were not taken or not in the system, we would then proceed to “summon” the post-night team for help with their bloods.

After all the patients have been traced and the Google Lists have been updated (this is to aid us during our rounds as well as following up on their location later, to ensure that they are not being missed), then I would proceed with my morning reviews.

The morning reviews are just as usual as any morning ward reviews, rounds with the Medical Officer and Specialists and finally carrying out any active joblists.

Since we are in the emergency department, there is usually no afternoon reviews. It depends on the medical officer. Most of the time, rounds are just once daily.

After we are done with our morning joblists, we have to actively screen through the patients in our allocated zones as there is constant movement of the patients in both in and out of the emergency department.

Thus, this means assisting the current on-call team for the day with any STAT bloods or STAT radiological requests as well as updating their progress.

On most days, it is manageable despite the chaos. However, on days where we are lacking in manpower, the difficulty sets in.

The Night Shift

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The night shift begins at 8pm till 9am the following day or until we are done with our “summons”.

I was blessed enough to have gone through perimedical with a partner. Thus, there were two House Officers allocated for the night shift.

As night House Officers in Peri-Medical. We are expected to continue screening through all the casenotes for any new joblist or patients in all the zones in the Emergency Department as well as to assist in any procedures, take STAT bloods or request STAT radiological procedures.

In addition to that, we also have to cover the main building and the side building. This means, if there are any medical patients lodging in non-medical wards, we are in charge of them as well. Most of the time, it is just new transfer ins, sometimes, it is attending to any acute issues.

This is then followed by taking the “coming mornings” or bloods of the stranded patients in the Emergency Department of the lodging patients.

The amount of patients in the Medical Department is extremely high and thus, the medical patients can be stranded up to days in the Emergency Department which can even last till they are being discharged.

Thus, this ensures that the patients are being continued on their treatment irregardless of their location within the hospital.

The night shift as a perimedical house officer can get rather hectic if there are back-to-back influx of new patients in the Emergency Department, tons of coming mornings as well as acute issues in the ward.

In the morning, the “summoned” list can get rather extensive and chaotic as well and can be rather endless.

Hence, on top of the constant walking about the whole hospital, it can get rather tiring. But like I said, it is doable and manageable.

In fact, I enjoyed life as a perimedical house officer a lot.

If you are due to join Peri-Medical, fret not. Keep yourselves equipped with necessary forms and just work quick and as fast as you can.

On some days, one might get lost in the sea of chaos. However, stay strong and know that help is always within reach and that you are not alone.

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My Evening Routine In The Medical Posting | Housemanship Diaries

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On most days in the Medical Posting, at least in the hospital that I’m practicing in, we are allocated to work the “Short Day” or “SD” shifts.

“Short Days” last till 6pm. Occasionally, we would have to work the “Long Day” shift or “LD” which lasts till 10pm or “on-night” which is the night shift.

On days where I’m allocated to work the short day shift, I try to leave work by 6pm. Most of the time, it is feasible while on some days, it is not so.

However, my evening routine is pretty much the same upon returning home irregardless of the time I leave work.

1. Preparing My Dinner

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I love to cook. However, considering I live alone, the meals that I prepare are usually many for one person. Thus, I would keep the extra, rendering me an extra meal prepped for a day or two.

Depending on my mood as well, should I be working the morning shift the following morning and I’m just too exhausted after work and there is no food, I would go for my regular comfort food, instant noodles.

My version of instant noodles involves sautéing chopped onions, curry leaves, mushrooms and diced chilli before adding the water and mixing the instant sachet powders into the broth. I usually add additional curry powder as I like the broth of my instant noodles to be extra soupy and not dry. Once it has come to a boil, I would crack two eggs into the gravy and boil it for a minute or two before adding “half” of the instant noodles and finally topping with some leafy vegetables.

Yes, that’s right, I only consume half. My instant noodles are extra soupy and has less noodles.

Partly because I love adding rolled oats into my broth, thus the whole meal would be too heavy for me if I were to eat all the noodles.

What do I do with the other half of the uncooked noodles?

I keep it and usually comes in handy if I were to cook stir fried noodles.

Photo by Amar Preciado on Pexels.com

Then, there are evenings where I’m filled with energy and the following day happened to be an allocated off day or my night shift, allowing me to cook something different.

Nevertheless, irregardless of my dish of choice for the evening, I would always prepare a set of chopped tofu and mushrooms which I would marinade with some oil, salt, crushed black peppers, diced chilli, slides garlic, curry leaves and some curry powder or chilli powder prior to air frying it.

Thus, by the end of 10 minutes, my dinner would usually be ready.

2. Resetting My Room

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I don’t go through a major spring cleaning in the evenings, just simple tiny actions to reset my room back to an “acceptable” state.

This includes folding my clothes and keeping them back in my cupboard and their designated places, taking out the trash and vacuuming.

Considering I wash my hair every morning prior going to work, there would be strands of hairs on the floor after drying my hair and dusts and tiny debris begins to gather. Thus, I would vacuum almost every evening.

Since I live in a studio apartment, this action is merely a 5 minute job.

3. Preparation For The Next Day

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“Your morning begins the night before.”

I’ve forgotten where I’ve heard this but it’s what I’ve been practicing since I was a kid. Usually the night before, I would know of the set of clothes that I would be wearing the following day.

Next, I would prepare my jars of cold coffee. I usually save up spaghetti glass bottles or jam bottles to keep my tea or coffees or sometimes to be even used as drinking glasses.

I usually carry two 1.5L of flasks to work, one of it contains green tea and the other, my special prepped coffee.

After all of that is done, next would be…

4. Unwinding for the Day

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This begins with me pampering myself with a hot long bath to wash myself of the stench and tiredness of the day, followed by donning myself in a soft, flowy night dress and going about my self-care nighttime routine.

Only after that would I have dinner as I usually fall into a state of food coma after eating.

This is then followed by me clearing the dishes for the last time and finally, heading to bed, which on some days, would be as early as 8pm. However, on average, it is usually around 9-10pm.

This is my evening routine in my Fifth Posting, the Department of Medical, as a House Officer thus far.

I often get questioned by my fellow colleagues as to why I would even consider cooking considering that there are a lot of steps or effort that goes into the process.

However, I do not find it tiring at all as it is my version of de-stressing.

Nothing calms my mind more than listening to music or putting a good show on Netflix while going about my dinner preparations with my phone in “Do Not Disturb” or “Sleep” mode.

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Working on New Year’s Day (2025)

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This will be the second year in a row that I’ve chosen to work on New Year’s Day. If you’ve read my previous similar article last year, I’ve mentioned how my father has this tradition of working on New Year’s Day every year, ever since he started working at the age of 18. It is something that I’ve adapted as well.

This year, I began my year in the Department of Medical which is my Fifth Posting in my Housemanship Journey. I entered this department on the 11th of December last year.

Having just off-tagged the week before, I was still allocated in my first pool which is the Perimedical Pool.

Looking back as it is currently April 2025, at the time of writing this article, I do not quite remember where I was allocated to. I think that I was most probably taking care of the stranded Medical patients in the main building.

Thankfully, I remembered it not being a hectic day and I was allocated the “short day” shift, meaning that I had the opportunity to return home at 6pm.

Considering it was New Year’s Day which is a Public Holiday here, things were rather slow and tuned down.

Thus, it was a rather slowed down and uneventful day, ending with me returning home on time and unwinding early.

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My Reflection of 2024

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Albeit it being March 2025, at the time of writing this article, let’s take a walk down memory lane.

2024 started with me being in the Obstetrics & Gynaecology (O&G) Department and ended with me being in the Medical Department.

Each department has its own sweet memory of which I shall cherish when I reflect upon my days as a House Officer.

2024 was also the year I took a 6-week-break from my journey as a House Officer, unintentionally, while I was in the Surgical Posting which was a good break indeed. It felt more like a school holiday and I returned home and was being pampered by my family and loved ones.

Sadly, it was also the time I regained all my weight that I have successfully lost along my journey as a House Officer and have more or less kept it on since then.

The struggle to lose weight has returned and amidst the busyness, I still somehow managed to eat which certainly did not help with my weight management.

2024 was also the year I met my partner and best friend as well as his family. My circle of loved ones have been expanded of which I am truly grateful and blessed. Despite being in a long distance relationship, we both try our best to make time for each other everyday which was not at all hard and leaned onto each other for moral support. It made my journey even easier and lovelier.

In short, 2024 flew by rather quickly just like every year. But, it was a beautiful year, one that’s filled with love and multiple odd and funny experiences as well as important ones.

There were challenges as well. The year would not be complete or interesting without it. However, I pulled through or else I would not be writing this reflection today.

As for 2025?

I’m hopeful and I know , it’s going to be another interesting and beautiful year.

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My Morning Routine Being A House Officer Leader In The Surgical Posting | Housemanship Diaries

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There are three main leaders in the Surgical Posting. One is in charge of curating the weekly schedule, the other, in charge of ward and cubicle / bed allocations as well as to reallocate if there are any people who took emergency leaves or medical leaves and the third one, in charge of our attendance at work.

I was the daily allocator. Being the “allocator”, I would be in charge of designating the house officers to the selected cubicles of both the male and female surgical wards (MSW and FSW), the Peri, EMOT and ETD as well as to look for substitutes if there are any last minute changes or leaves.

Usually, I will prep my allocation in advance after the schedule leader has done the schedule and make necessary changes along the way. The leader in charge of the schedule usually determines which person works the night shift and when as well as to approve any leaves. Usually, the house officers will be divided into their respective wards.

The night before, I usually run through the suggested allocation in the “Leaders Group” with the medical officers in charge of the House Officers to screen through.

After receiving the green light from them or making necessary adjustments, I would then upload the list in the House Officer’s group. Thus, they would then know where they would be covering.

The list is usually sent in the “MOHO” group, meaning the group containing the House Officers and Medical Officers at 6:30 a.m.

Thus, I would wake up and be on standby at 5am everyday, even on my off days as I would wait for any messages should anybody take medical leaves or emergency leaves and make the necessary adjustments needed.

At 6:30 a.m sharp, I forward the daily allocation into the “MOHO” group.

If I happened to be working on that day, I would pause in between work just to send and then go about my work.

However, if I happened to be on leave or having my off days, I would then return to sleep or go about my other activities after 6:30 a.m.

It was an interesting experience having had the privilege to hold the position as one of the posting leaders.

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My Experience as A Plastics House Officer | Housemanship Diaries

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When I entered the Surgical Posting, we initially did not have the privilege of experiencing subspecialities like other batches.

This was due to the fact that there were lack of house officers.

However, mid-Nov, there was redirection of House Officer allocation and suddenly, the posting was overflowed with House Officers.

Hence, subspecialities were reintroduced. The subspecialities reintroduced are neurosurgical, plastics and urology.

Ever since my first posting in Orthopeaedics, I’ve always wanted to experience being in Plastics after assisting my medical officer at that time with SSG.

Thus, during my final weeks, I was given the priviledge.

The Burn Ward is located at Level 3 of the Main Building, and is able to host at most, 10 patients, with each patient having their own room/cubicle.

Usually the burnt patients are kept at Burn Ward whereas other patients who are admitted for AVF creation or SSG are placed at Surgical Ward.

The timing for us House Officers is from 7am till 6pm, Sunday till Friday with an off day on Saturday.

During my time in Plastics, I would usually arrive on time at 7am and proceed to trace the bloods first. After all the bloods have been traced, I would proceed to help out with morning reviews.

Morning reviews are usually done by the postcall medical officer. This is then followed by rounds with the surgeons, usually starting with the acute or rather, the intubated patients followed by the rest.

Rounds at Burn Ward is only once daily. After morning rounds, we would gather at the “Handover Room” whereby the patients who are not in the Burn Ward but is being seen by Plastics as another team or as a primary team are being handed over in terms of case and progress as well as the newly admitted ones.

Next, we will proceed to follow the “Peri rounds” and change dressings if needed. Usually after the Peri rounds is when us House Officers go about our joblists in terms of posting case, referrals or bloodtakings or imaging request.

The rest of the day could be pretty chill if there is nothing going on but usually, there would be new patients to be transferred in, take blood or any post-op patients to be reviewed.

Sometimes there are cases being called and we are more than welcome to join the operation. In between, there are arterial blood gases (ABGs) to be take in between or bloods to be sent.

Finally, in the evening, prior to leaving at the end of our shift, we would prep the coming mornings and leave them nearby before informing in our Surgical House Officer’s group in regards to the “coming mornings”.

My time in Plastics was rather short-lived and I felt that there was so much more to be learnt. But my time spent there was extremely wonderful and the medical officers and surgeons were more than helpful and welcoming towards the new people into their team.

Definitely, a department that I would want to return to.

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Did This Widow Get Scammed Tina’s Story of Online Romance and Suspicious Gold Investment

In an era where digital connections can lead to meaningful relationships, they can also open doors to sophisticated deception. Tina, a 62-year-old widow, found herself entangled in what appears to be a classic romance scam, complete with an online boyfriend named Darren who claims to be transporting gold internationally and requires her financial assistance. This case highlights the growing concern of romance scams targeting older adults, particularly those seeking companionship after […]

https://mrkarthikkn.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/did-this-widow-get-scammed-tinas-story-of-online-romance-and-suspicious-gold-investment/

Everyone’s Full of Shit

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://evenyc.com/everyones-full-of-shit/

Everyone’s Full of Shit

What advice would you give to your teenage self? The advice I'd give my teenage self is that most people really don't know what they're talking about. They just want to hear themselves talk, just relying on your naivety that you won't find out, or taking you for granted, so just do what you feel is right for you. Only align yourself with those who want to move your goals forward, ignore the doomers and let the cards fall as they lay.

https://evenyc.com/everyones-full-of-shit/

Mensaje a mi yo adolescente

Sugerencia de escritura del día ¿Qué consejo le darías a tu yo adolescente? Ver todas las respuestas

Querido Oscar:

Te escribe tu yo del futuro desde el 2025, quisiera decir que dentro de lo cabe no me fue tan mal en la vida, pero podría irme mejor, quiero dirigirme a ti ¿Por qué estas así?, me gustaría que hicieras algo por ti, o sea por mi, busca ayuda para tus complejos, lucha por lo que quieres, no te sientas por debajo de la gente, sal de ese letargo, tienes derecho a vivir buenas experiencias, crear recuerdos que en mi quedarán, estudia mucho, no pierdas tu tiempo, escribe, creo que podías escribir poemas o relatos ahora, tal vez a la chica que te guste o historias de la vida, no lo sé, tienes que espabilar, Oscar, porque luego lo vas a tener muy dificil, no hagas caso de lo que te dicen que eres tonto o inútil, pasa de esa gente que te deja mal y de lado.

Ahora empiezas a escribir la historia de tu vida, no lo desaproveches, se que te cuesta, pero tu puedes hacerlo, ponte en tu lugar, se la persona que yo quiero ser en el futuro, sé que lo estás pasando muy mal, que te cuesta hacer amigos, que no sabes mucho de la vida, aprende, se curioso, no te rindas nunca, no te hagas jamás de menos.

Un abrazo de tu yo futuro.

#cartaAMiYoDelPasado #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1857 #Mensaje

Daily writing prompt What advice would you give to your teenage self? View all responses

This is a repeat question, isn’t it? It feels familiar. Was it maybe something I saw on Threads? I’ll answer it without bitching about it. I just wonder if my answer will be different than before.

Advice to my teenage self… there are a lot of things, most of which I know my teenage self would ignore.

First, stop being afraid of everyone. No one gives a shit about whatever it is you are worried about. There are worse things than being embarrassed about stupid things. Get over it.

Second, you’re in high school. There is going to be a magical moment, that you won’t even be aware of, when all of the things you stress about and think are immensely important stop mattering to you at all. You will realize that all of your fears and worries are totally meaningless. Strangely, this magical unobservable moment coincides precisely with your high school graduation. Years down the line you will realize it happened, but before it happens just relax. None of it matters.

Third, I know you love music. I know you love playing the guitar and playing the saxophone and playing with the band and writing music and recording demoes and all of that wonderful stuff. I know you want to be a music major. I know you’re not going to take my advice here, but majoring in music is the waste of time and energy that you already know it will be. It’s okay. You will continue to play as much as you can well into middle age (and counting). There are other things you can focus on as a career path. You know that Basic programming class you took in high school? Hint hint, dude. If you aren’t ready for that yet (you will be, in about eight years) then might I suggest a field that has always fascinated the shit out of you while also intimidating you to no end. Astronomy.

You need to do something in school before you jump on that bandwagon though. Your math skills are crap. You have the ability to do it all, you just need to improve your foundation. Talk to your academic advisor and tell them you need to start from Algebra and work your way through every level of math courses. You can and you will do it and you will learn a ton and you will have excellent grades. You just need to start over. Once you rebuild the math foundation you’ll eat the science courses for breakfast. I promise. Physics, Astronomy, it’s all there for the taking. Computer science too. On that one I know from personal experience. You can do it, even though I know for a fact you don’t believe me.

Forth, stop drinking Coca~Cola by the gross. Drink water instead. Coke is the ground floor of a weight problem that is going to spiral out of control and will require scary surgery to straighten out. I promise. If you can get off of that road then you should do everything you can to do it. Your health will thank you.

Fifth, be patient. Her name is Jennifer. You’ll see a photo of her wearing a fun hat that will be utterly adorable. She’s out there and you’ll meet her. Just be patient. She’s totally worth the wait.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/23/bad-advice/

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