A prayer written centuries ago by Dr. Thomas Sydenham about the seriousness of our work as Christian physicians.
A Physician's Prayer
“It becomes every person who purposes to give himself to the
care of others, seriously to consider the four following things: First, that he
must one day give an account to the Supreme Judge of all the lives entrusted to
his care. Second, that all his skill and knowledge and energy, as they have
been given him by God, so they should be exercised for His glory and the good
of mankind, and not for mere gain or ambition. Third, and not more beautifully than truly, let him reflect that
he has undertaken the care of no mean creature; for, in order that he may
estimate the value, the greatness of the human race, the only begotten Son of
God became himself a man and thus ennobled it with His divine dignity, and far
more than this, died to redeem it. And
fourth, that the doctor being himself a mortal human being, should be diligent
and tender in relieving his suffering patients, inasmuch as he himself must one
day be a like sufferer”.
I once heard a sermon where the preacher quoted from a song, written by an inmate in an asylum before he was carried to his grave. It has since been written into a song and translated to different languages. Anyway, I thought stanza 3 was beautifully written.
The Love of God
The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell; The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin.
Refrain: Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure— The saints’ and angels’ song.
When hoary time shall pass away, And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, When men who here refuse to pray, On rocks and hills and mountains call, God’s love so sure, shall still endure, All measureless and strong; Redeeming grace to Adam’s race— The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.
Hmm.. been trying to find something to jumpstart my blog with.. and am still looking for some blockbuster topic to write about here.. guess I can't force anything out w/o a neurolaxative.. but anyways, as always, just another quickie update.
Right now is the residency application season.. and am currently still working on it.. would have to put my applications in soon but procrastination has gotten the better of me (this seems to be the most often used reason :/ ).. so this weekend would be spend specially dedicated to this tedious process. I will be looking to an internal medicine program somewhere in the north east.. and the process entails looking into the different programs, specifically one that suits my profile. By that I mean a good program that is not beyond my competitiveness vs other applicants, one that sponsors the H1B1 visa, one the allows fellowship opportunities, one that is in a relatively safe and good environment, and the satisfaction of current residents in those programs. Would also need to have completed my personal statement, my rather thin CV, and other nitty gritties. I guess not having the best track record, my choices are more limited, but I know that I would need to surrender my future as to where I'll end up, a year from now, 3 years from now, and later on. Meanwhile I need to be faithful in current affairs.
It's been a couple of weeks, but we've held on faithful to meeting once a week for meals, us Malaysians and a couple of other people. Anything from as simple as eating out, to watching a movie around pizzas, to cooking your favorite dish and a game at the end to top it off! Guess it's one thing more to look forward to for the weekends.
Manchester recorded a 3rd straight win.. (it's about time!) currently 3rd on the table with other teams with games to spare..used to be able to watch a game every weekend almost religiously, now with limited access to TV broadcasting EPL games, and a nonexistent mamak culture, I have to rely on good ol' faithful youtube.com for highlights and gamecast from soccernet.com.. kinda like a radio, except it's text updates read off the internet minute by minute. I guess one day I can say to my kids something along the lines of " In the old days.."
On another note, a video on a Christian skit has been circulating around. Located either on Godtube.com (yup.. never heard of it till someone passed me this video) or youtube.com, this video is about the the common struggle on the love of the world, it's pitfalls and the saving grace from Jesus. The background music is by Lifehouse titled Everything. Christian song? Well, depends who you sing it to I guess. The band members are Christians, but they are not a 'Christian band'. Well, one way or the other, this work has been to the glory of God.
Everything- Lifehouse
Find me here, speak to me
I want to feel you, I need to hear you
You are the light that's leading me to the place
Where I find peace again
You are the strength that keeps me walking
You are the hope that keeps me trusting
You are the life to my soul
You are my purpose
You're everything
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
You calm the storms and you give me rest
You hold me in your hands
You won't let me fall
You still my heart and you take my breath away
Would you take me in, take me deeper now
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
Cause you're all I want, you're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
Everything, everything
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better any better than this
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this
Just some quick higlights in no particular order.. till I do a proper blog entry :P
1. Took Step 2 on Friday. Super long exam.. 9 hours long including 1 hour break. Exam was divided into 8 blocks of 46 MCQ each. Was really tired towards the end of the exam. But am glad that that's over. Hoping and praying for favorable results! All in God's hands.
2. End of third year and beginning of fourth year. The first few months will be tough, because we'll need to impress to get good Letters of Recommendation for residency applications. I will be starting Internal Medicine at Jeff for the month of July.
3. The seniors have gone to their respective residency programs. Both doing transitional programs for a year before matching to Urology and Anesthesiology respectively. All the best and will definitely miss their presence and help!
4. Five juniors and six new people have arrived. The Malaysian community is definitely growing!
5. A start of another phase of this unwritten journey together.
6. Visited Washington over the weekend. Awesome to finally be at scenes where many movies were filmed at. Nope, didn't get to shake the president's hands.
7. It's summer and it HOTTTT!
8. Personally..am feeling very grateful for many things and am going through uncertainty and doubt over some issues.
Abraham Lincoln.. remember the scene from Planet of the Apes. The alignment of this monument is such that he overlooks the reflecting pool, all the way to the Capitol Hill. “In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the
Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.” Beneath
these words, the 16th President of the United States—the Great
Emancipator and preserver of the nation during the Civil War—sits
immortalized in marble. As an enduring symbol of Freedom, the Lincoln
Memorial attracts anyone who seeks inspiration and hope.
Martin Luther King's famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial facing the reflecting pool.
The Reflecting Pool. I'm facing the Lincoln Memorial. And behind me is the George Washington Monument. Remember this scene from Forrest Gump when he gave that speech, and his hippie friend ran across the pool to see him.
The George Washington Memorial. Notice the 2 shades in this monument, evidence of it halting of construction due to a war and was finished with stones from a different quarry. It was built in honor of George Washington, who led the country to
independence, and then became its first President. The Monument is
shaped like an Egyptian obelisk, 555’ 5/8” high. It was finished on December 6, 1884.
Us visiting Cindy's family friend in Washington with the White house as the backdrop. If you notice carefully, you might spot snipers on the rooftop.
I
read with interest the Health Minister’s proposal to have common
qualifying examinations for all foreign-qualified doctors. The Health
Minister appears to have discovered that all these frequent visits to
assess and continually evaluate new medical schools are a costly
affair. In fact, in the age of the Internet, it is nothing more then a
scam by our free-loading MMC council members to claim allowances and
fly Business Class to various, sometimes exotic, destinations just to
see if these schools produce bona-fide doctors, all courtesy of the
taxpayer when much of the information can be gathered via the Net.
More
importantly though, now that Chua Soi Lek has proposed a qualifying
examination in line and possibly similar to Britain’s PLAB
(Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board) exam or the USA’s USMLE
(United States Medical Licensing Examination), it boggles the mind if
our lot of MMC members are really up to conducting examinations of this
complexity.
Needless to say, the current Unscheduled
Universities Examination under Section 12(1) (aa) of the Medical Act
1971 is so hopelessly biased, especially in the clinical sections,
that, like the legal profession’s CLP where there is an incredibly high
failure rate, it gives rise to suspicions that the examination is yet
another tool to discriminate and meet political agendas to right racial
imbalances in the profession. More alarming is its selective
application on foreign graduates, but not on local graduates who today
are mainly responsible for our notorious healthcare delivery systems.
Chua’s
frustration could be real. The Malaysian Medical Council is a
discredited body. Among others, it currently consists of a member who
graduated after 40 years of age, another who is being sued for molest
and yet another who chairs meetings but doesn’t operate anymore because
his surgical mortality rate is high. Many are involved in businesses
such as housing development, private medical schools, nursing schools,
etc bringing to the body into a conflict of interest that will
eventually skew any decision they try to make.
A significant
number of these members are downright academically disinclined
including deans with dubious qualifications. The MMC in its current
form and especially after the CSMU affair cannot be relied upon to
effect the changes needed to maintain and elevate the quality of
health- care in this country. Despite its ‘independence’, it has not
only demonstrated its lack of political impartiality but may have also
outlived its usefulness. Like many other institutions in this country,
it is hopelessly corrupted in its methods.
In the local
context, recognition of universities may be best left to a select
committee in the Education Ministry which has shown more
professionalism. There may be a more cost-effective way in ascertaining
if the new apprentice can indeed stand on his own feet. It is the
time-tested system of continuous appraisal. The medical profession is,
after all, an apprenticeship and many new graduates look up to mentors
who, unfortunately in today’s service, are known more for their
bullying ways as a result of their own insecurities rather then lending
a helping hand in teaching.
Every new medical graduate needs
to undergo housemanship. But this period can easily be extended to
three to five years if the candidate - irrespective of which medical
school he or she graduates from - is found to be lacking in certain
areas. Anyone can be taught, but sometimes, some require a longer
period. To exclude doctors and label them as ‘unscheduled’ in a country
that lacks doctors and then using the term ‘standards’ as a shield to
keep the ‘club’ intact is a failure of the mentor system which for
centuries the medical fraternity thrived on.
Continuous
appraisal by the various consultants at work is the way forward.
However, for the system to work, mentors (read specialists) need to be
of respectable calibre and this is where, unfortunately, the country is
lacking.
Ever since Malaysia came up with its local specialist
programmes due to a variety of reasons especially economic, we have had
specialists who can’t even string together a proper sentence in
English. Worse still, there have been reports of cheating in
examinations especially in specialties that are not conducted
conjointly. Examiners, both local and foreign, have noted in horror how
some candidates appearing for these specialist examinations appear to
know what examination questions that are going to appear or which
clinical case is coming up.
To borrow Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s
phrase, if we are going to churn out half-past six specialists, then we
will have half-past six mentors in which case an appraisal system which
formed the hallmark in the advancement of medicine since time
immemorial cannot be applied to the Malaysian scene.
It is
here that the system has failed us. We should be able to take in any
graduate from any university and still turn him into a good doctor if
we have the proper mentors/specialists, obviating the need for any
qualifying examination. The fault does not lie in all those medical
schools scattered in this country and around the far corners of this
world. The fault lies here in Malaysia where we just don’t have enough
of those quality specialists anymore.
Medical teaching is a
hopelessly neglected profession in this country and its ill effects may
come to roost in our healthcare system sooner rather then later. In
this day and age, general hospitals should have been turned over to
medical schools so that teaching and services are upgraded.
But
the unending, politically tiresome adversarial battles between the
health and education ministries have contributed to the attrition of
medical standards and declining patient care. Medicine entails lifelong
learning. It does not matter when you start, but never forget that the
learning can never stop.
rbox for divad end -->