My Grocery List As A Junior Doctor – While I Was In My Vegetarian Phase

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Being a Junior Doctor or a House Officer, we are located the lowest in the hierarchy of medical personnels. That is because we have just started practicing which means there is still a lot for us to learn on top of learning how to be a safe doctor as well as the simple management of the patients’ condition down to their tailored management. Thus, this automatically translates into long hours at work, a mentally and physically tiring journey as well as a reduction in our total night’s sleep.

Are we married to our work? In a way yes and also no.

Not that we want to or that we are workaholics but being in this field, it is an unspoken expectation which seems to have befallen us.

Thus, our so-called “work-life balance” is almost always in disequilibrium and we try our best to destress in whatever way suits us best.

For me, it is cooking and recently, I have embarked on a vegetarian journey for the Lenten season (at the time of writing this article, it was during Lent), as well as a way of trying to be a pinch healthier to my already unhealthy lifestyle.

Since I enjoy making my own meals, I rarely eat outside. Thus, the idea that vegetarian food is a little bit difficult to be obtained or ordered online, does not really bother me.

A bright side to this is that, I’m lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning I consume egg amidst being vegetarian as well as dairy products and throughout my vegetarian season, I did not reduce my food portion (which may be bad). Rather, I simply changed my food choices from non-vegetarian to vegetarian and from ordering take-outs to consuming more home prepared meals.

Thus, what are the grocery items that I ensure I stock up on a regular basis?

1. Tofu

I absolutely CANNOT live without tofu. It is extremely versatile as I could make any kind of dish with it. Most of the time, I would simply dice it and marinade with some spices and air fry it.

At times, when I’m feeling fancy, I would use it as a burger patty as well.

2. Mushrooms

This is another versatile ingredient. From enoki mushrooms to crab mushrooms, oyster mushrooms or button mushrooms, you name it. I’m a big fan.

I try my best to stock up on fresh mushrooms. However, since I go through it pretty fast, I would usually fall back to dried mushrooms since it is readily available in the mart of my residential area.

3. Eggs

Luckily, I chose to be lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning if I ran out of ingredients, I could pretty much add egg, be it just cracking them into my broth or frying them.

4. Bird’s Eye Chilli

Bird’s eye chilli or “cili padi” as we call it in Malaysia.

I am a big fan of spicy food and since I go through chilli powder pretty fast, I started incorporating them into my dishes.

Be warned though, if you’re not a fan of spicy dishes, adding one too many may render the dish unconsumable.

5. Rolled Oats

This usually takes some time before it finishes.

Since I am a “heavy eater”, I started substituting my rice with rolled oats instead, which is something I started doing 2 years ago.

I’m not a big fan of having my oats with milk as I find it rather sweet or sometimes just bland for my palate. Instead, I prefer savoury dishes and the oats complements most of the dishes well.

6. Curry Leaves

This does not really serve any purpose except I merely enjoy the aroma emitting when I sizzle it with oil, adding a nice aroma to my dishes.

7. Random Vegetables – Cabbage, Leafy Vegetables, Potatoes, Cabbage

I started eating greens again.

I have always loved eating vegetables. However, it is not easily obtained since I do not have a car, I rarely go out and the nearby residential mart does not sell them.

Thus, I order online, I usually have a few fallback vegetables which I would add to my cart which are cabbages, any leafy vegetables, potatoes and aubergines.

Cabbage is another versatile vegetable as I could add it to my curry dishes and it does not wilt immediately, as an extra ingredient in my stir fried noodles as well as when I cook “okonomiyaki”.

These are my food grocery list by default. I’m not exactly a health conscious person despite being a doctor myself nor do I reduce my food portion. It is merely a step for me to try and be a little bit healthier which is sustainable for me and hopefully in time, it deems fruitful.

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Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?

I am half-Filipino. My mother is from the Philippines and my father, a Malaysian, like me.

Growing up, I was neither close to my mother’s or father’s side. However, between these two, I am somewhat culturally inclined towards my mother’s side through some of her simple heartwarming dishes that she cooked growing up as well as some of the Filipino songs she would play or the Tagalog words she would incorporate in her daily conversations.

Two of the simple dish my mother would prepare would be pasta or bolognese spaghetti and Buko salad.

1. Spaghetti

Originally, spaghetti is a form of pasta and a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine.

However, it also serves as one of the staple Filipino dishes.

My mother would usually make a batch of bolognese spaghetti occasionally and on New Year’s Eve, as that is what my maternal grandmother used to do while she was growing up.

It is rather simple and easy as well and she would go crazy with the cheddar cheese topping. Over the years, as she started to dwell into vegetarianism and eventually become one for a lifetime, she created her own variation of a vegetarian version.

2. Buko Salad

“Buko” salad is a form of Filipino fruit salad.

“Buko” refers to a young coconut fruit and “Buko” salad consists of the young coconut itself.

It is a simple dish which has many variations.

My mother would usually mix with nata de coco of various colours, avoiding the colourless ones, corn, a huge can of mix fruits and other canned fruits before finally mixing it with evaporated milk, cheddar cheese and “buko”.

She will the separate it into containers and freeze it and have it on New Year’s Eve.

Growing up, my family would be seated at the dining table with other dishes prepared on New Year’s Eve for us to dine in together at midnight and every year, these two dishes remains a staple.

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Utterly boring.

As far as I could recall, I have always associated studying with music.

Perhaps it is because while growing up, my mom had always filled the house with music and made me sit at a corner to study whether I liked it or not, I had to study.

Eventually, I’ve grown used to, to studying with music or reading with music.

In high school, I discovered the kind of music that I like as well as the suitable time for me to study.

Thus, music and studying goes hand-in-hand or I will not be able to focus.

Eventually, I shift to Podcasts and Audiobooks while I am going about doing my chores or cooking, I am either listening to these or music.

Even my daily morning writing has jazz or lo-fi playing in the background.

There are days of course when I do not feel like listening to my music or is simply not in the mood for other musics.

Thus, “lo-fi” or “jazz” are my go-to. Still musical nevertheless.

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• Working In The Nursery Ward – Housemanship Diaries
• My Downfall In Surgery Which Led To My Extension – Housemanship Diaries
• 1 Year Of Housemanship Update – Housemanship Diaries
• Another Good Advice I Will Remember For The Longest Time – Housemanship Diaries
• The Time I Turned A Baby’s Hand Blue – Housemanship Diaries
• My First On Night Experience In General Paediatrics – Housemanship Diaries
• My First On-Night Experience In Nursery Ward
• My Experience In General Paediatrics (Paeds 2B) – Housemanship Diaries
• Enjoying The Journey – Housemanship Diaries
• Housemanship Diaries: Surviving the Tagging Period in Paediatrics
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• The Benefits Of Working During The Weekend / Weekdays As A House Officer | Housemanship Diaries

“You Guys Are Angels”

This may be a biased statement and it differs according to the individual’s experience. Thus, although I do know of the controversies I may ignite. I am merely saying this out of my own firsthand experiences and as mentioned before, each person’s experience differs greatly.

MOs, short for Medical Officers.

First of all, I don’t know how do you guys (medical officers) do it, pulling through an oncall shift, just to return for another oncall duty the following day after postcall. Perhaps it is because during my current batch, we have shifted fully to the “shift system”. Thus, we have yet to experience the “oncall” system which was experienced by the older house officer batches. 

I am in awe and I appreciate the determination and discipline that goes with it. Most of the time when an oncall medical officer is on duty, they solely handle the referrals from emergency or ward and sometimes both. This goes on from the start of that day till the following morning and after which they would have to help out in clinics during their postcall, wards or even in operating theatres (OT).

Most of the time, they are alone unless they are lucky enough to have a “tagger”. Thus it is them, the house officer, the registrar and the specialist that forms the oncall team.

That is if they are oncall. In the wards, they rely on the house officers to carry out the active joblists, to take the bloods, request necessary scans, to resuscitate the patient first and inform if there are any acute issues and to carry out the morning, evening and oncall reviews while they are in the clinics or operating theatres or helping out in other places.

I used to think that once we have completed housemanship, life will be better. However, after observing my medical officers and registrars, it does not actually get better, the stress is on another level, the responsibilities increases yet they pull through it with jokes and smiles. I used to think that, perhaps they have gotten used to it. On the other hand, I’m still struggling. 

Medical Officers are in charge of the House Officers as well. Thus, if any pitfalls were to occur, of course we do get scolded but they are the ones who get reprimanded as well. I’ve lost count of the times when the medical officers have backed me up. Although I do know that, that is their duty but albeit the responsibilities and the stress, I’ve experienced it first hand multiple times when they would take the fall instead when it comes to answering the specialists.

There are times when I do feel their anger were uncalled for. However, most of the time I understand that it mainly stems from tiredness. The patience really wears thin and snaps easily when there is lack of proper rest. 

A lot is expected of them from the specialists and on top of that, taking care of us, House Officers too and teaching us what we do not know while trusting the patient’s care into our hands while they are off to help out in a different place. They are always a call away even if we are placed in the night shift. Thus, should there be any issues, they are always nearby and there.

Yet, after work, after the tiring day and issues that occur in ward, they return home to their families and loved ones and try to go about their life, only to return and repeat it again the following day.

Some might say, well, it is their duty isn’t it? I’ve heard it before.

It is true and personally I feel that we as House Officers, although we are tired, and on top of that being tested emotionally, they are even more tired. 

Thus, if there is anything at all that stems from this article, it is my deep and heartfelt gratitude and appreciation towards the Medical Officers, which are rarely said.

My dear readers, if you are beginning your journey as a House Officer or is currently going through your housemanship or internship journey, have faith, patience and to always remember to be kind. Remember that as House Officers, we serve to ease the burdens of the Medical Officers on top of learning on the job, for we will one day take their place. 

A fellow colleague always mentions this sentence while I’m in my Surgical Posting, “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do unto you”.

This wise line by Confucius has a special place in my heart and I hope it does for you as well. As you become more senior and familiar with the work at hand as well as build good relationships with your superiors, always remember to be humble and kind.

Do not let cockiness overcome you nor be easily angered when a fellow junior makes a mistake or asks for guidance. 

We were all once in their shoes as well.

Always remember to take care of yourselves first, so you can serve others best.

Related Posts:

• My Last Day In Paediatrics As A House Officer
• Working In The Nursery Ward – Housemanship Diaries
• My Downfall In Surgery Which Led To My Extension – Housemanship Diaries
• 1 Year Of Housemanship Update – Housemanship Diaries
• Another Good Advice I Will Remember For The Longest Time – Housemanship Diaries
• The Time I Turned A Baby’s Hand Blue – Housemanship Diaries
• My First On Night Experience In General Paediatrics – Housemanship Diaries
• My First On-Night Experience In Nursery Ward
• My Experience In General Paediatrics (Paeds 2B) – Housemanship Diaries
• Enjoying The Journey – Housemanship Diaries
• Housemanship Diaries: Surviving the Tagging Period in Paediatrics
• Tagging Day 1 In My Third Posting – Day 498 | Housemanship Diaries
• The Benefits Of Working During The Weekend / Weekdays As A House Officer | Housemanship Diaries

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Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

I’m grateful that this prompt graced my dashboard, because it’s giving me the chance to write about someone who … I think vastly changed my life without even knowing it. And even though he passed away in 2018, his influence remains in my life, even if his extended family has no idea who I am. That’s okay. They don’t have to.

His name was Edward Shaffer, or Ed, for short. We met when I was working for a retail giant in the area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and through being coworkers we became friends. At the time, he was in his fifties, and he lived in Steelton, PA. If I remember correctly, he also had a cat or two that he spoke of fondly on a daily basis.

This is starting to sound like mourning, or a personal eulogy I’ve never done. But it’s true for me, I don’t really mourn. I just keep thinking of people who’ve passed as though they’re still around. Just not close by.

Ed was writing a book when he and I were still in-touch, and although I can’t remember the name, I do remember it being something along the lines of themes that sound a lot like The Blob. He never published it, not to my knowledge, and as far as I know, he also never finished it.

That’s also okay, because I remember it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to write it for him, but whatever he imagined, it still lives right here (imagine that my index finger is pointing at my head).

But all of this is more or less, a descriptor of who Ed was to me, and not exactly how he changed my life.

You see, when I was younger, and I mean like, in my early twenties, I wasn’t a creator. I didn’t really have a twinkle in my eye of an idea of anything I wanted to do. Except for a book. A book loosely based on some fantasy of a zombie apocalypse, because that’s what I was obsessed with at the time. And, although it is published today through self-made means, and although if I were writing it today, it’d be a lot different–it exists because of him.

“It’s pumpin’ and thumpin’ time.”

Ed, PaxCorpus, 2013

I was struggling a lot with the creative process. I didn’t know what to do! How do you even write a book? How do you feel creative.

Ed introduced me to the concept of “flow,” and how to get it going, and how to only “make” things, or write, when that happens. And he was right.

He coached me, and he was my idea-bouncer for years. And for a while, and although we never had the chance to hang out much outside of the job, he was almost like family to me. I remember the last time we sat down, though, at a pizza shop, and we talked about all manner of things for well over and hour. I think at the time he was trying to understand me, and what I was going through.

The last time we spoke it wasn’t exactly on the best terms, as I was in a lot of turmoil in my life, and in a way I kind of forsake him for things I don’t even think I fully understood at the time. And for that, I’m sorry, Ed. I truly am. I know I can never say those words to you, and you can never tell me that I’m forgiven, but I apologize for making our last interaction a negative one.

I wish I could have been around a few more years, at least so that I could have said goodbye.

Because it was you who taught me how to be a person who MAKES things. A writer, a musician, a designer, an ARTIST. That’s all because of YOU.

You’re gone now, and you’ve been that way for some time, and hell, I don’t even know how to access your obituary, or where your grave site is. But you’re alive in my head, and you never went anywhere. Not really.

Thanks for all that you did for me, and all that you continue to do. Until we meet again.

https://cmdr-nova.online/2024/05/13/prompt-an-ode-to-ed/

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Come on, guys. You’ve given us this question already. I answered with the “I gotta take a walk” story from when I was a young, impressional guitar playing high school student. I think I might have mentioned my third grade teacher too.

Man, I don’t want to write the same thing again. I know it’s difficult to come up with original questions, but can’t you do better than this? Ugh. These daily prompts are supposed to help me get my brain ramped up to speed in the morning and instead today it’s just making the grumpy old man feel grumpier. Ugh, again.

Okay. We were either still in high school or it was shortly after high school and I was in the Music School at the University of Lowell, shortly before it became UMass Lowell. Mike the Bass Player, who was my band’s bass player in high school and is still my band’s bass player today, had a house party and we played. One of his friends, that I didn’t really know, had had too much to drink and came up to me and, in a very slurry voice, said, “you’re the best guitar player in the world.” That might not be the exact quote. It was 100 years ago and he was a little hard to understand. There may have been an F-Bomb or two that I left off the quote. Also, it was objectively, demonstrably, untrue. I suck. I am not the worst guitar player ever (back then or today) but I am so far removed from good. If he had said, “you’re the most adequate guitar player in the world” I wouldn’t have laughed at him the way I did. I would have thanked him. As it were, it was just a silly ego boost that stuck with me for a while. I had forgotten about it over the decades until just now. It’s a stupid story that is meaningless, but I’m grumpy so that’s what you’re getting.

QED, or some shit.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/12/we-did-this-already/

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