Appreciation

This week has been an emotional train-wreck for me. My neck has not fully healed. Although it is not that disturbing since I can lie down and get up like normal again (i.e. I can return to enjoy my hobby of sleeping), I can still a bit of the 'pulling'. It makes me realise that perhaps the neck pain is referred from my lower back. This brings into mind if this is due to ergonomics from my deskbound job. I have done all I can to minimise ergonomics issue by using back support and getting up for a walk every 45-60 minutes at work so I don't know what else I should do. With eyes issue, back issue, skin issue, and teeth issue, seriously what is the point of living anymore?

To top up all these negative vibes, I finally lost my rosary ring for definite on Wednesday. Sigh.. This rosary ring is very special (given by an aunt who went to Lourdes) because it has been lost and found many times. Previously it was misplacement or I forgot where I put it so there was still hope of finding it. This time I lost it for sure because in the morning I was still using it to pray but it was not with me anymore when I was finding my Ezlink card in my pocket in the evening. I tried to scavenge my desk area, the toilets, and the staircases but it was gone for good.

Thank you and goodbye. I hope it can bring Jesus and Mother Mary closer to whoever who finds it.

Perhaps there is a blessing in disguise behind my lost rosary ring. While the sentimental value plays a part in my emoness, my biggest concern is its functionality and I will simply lose something that aids me in daily prayers. Previously I was never able to find rosary rings online but this time: surprise surprise. Somehow there are so many rosary rings online. In the end I bought from Amazon and they are USD 15 (including shipping) for 6 rings. Wow.. I hope the quality will be as good as the one I lost.

Today is the last day of this batch of student's attachment. That reminds me that I have never hao lian any of letters of appreciation since I changed to my current job. I guess now I will typing all three.

This is from the first student last year. One memorable thing about this student was that he noticed that I am crazy about green so he made sure his farewell gifts were green: a packet of candies to keep me awake and the candy bag was green and it was placed in a green carrier bag.

Thank you for being my preceptor at ---------! I am immensely grateful for the weekly meet-ups where you would spend time reviewing the assignments I did, correcting the misconceptions I had and pointing out room for me to improve on. The questions you asked were sure tough but really interesting indeed hahaha and helped me gain a better perspective on what to expect for my subsequent rotations.

I feel privileged to have you as my preceptor as you would dedicate time every week to share your clinical experience and knowledge with me despite being busy with your own work. Your selflessness and dedication to impart your wisdom has certainly inspired me to adopt an enthusiastic learning midset and push myself further. I hope our paths will cross again in the future and I wish you all the very best in your career! :)

This is from the next student who gave me Lugia nanoblock. Wow! I am not a fan of nanoblock, Pokemon, and Lugia but I am pretty sure this is quite pricey. I still have not built it now but it was memorable when she gave me because at that time Lugia was the only Legendary birds that I did not have yet in Pokemon Go.

Thank you for being a kind & patient preceptor over the past few weeks. You have taught me more in the few sessions together than my previous preceptor had & I am immensely grateful for that :) I will work hard on being a more open person!

Hope that you do not hate my tiny gift. Building it can be therapeutic in times of stress. Hope that this new job h as been treating you well!

Although I only took one student for this round, he combined the farewell gift with his attachment partner so there are 2 messages.   

It was a joy to have learned from you in my first rotation. The weekly discussion on various case scenario has really taught me to always practise clinical judgement - that there is no one-size-fit-all kind of role. Thank you for being my preceptor!

Thank you for teaching me to be more meticulous with my work. & to hone better clinical judgement through the DSM modules. I have benefited greatly from your sharings. I hope you'll continue to have a fruitful time at ------- & continue to inspire all other interns.

There is something heartening with this latest experience because I was involved in the interview and selection for this batch. My partner did not want to take him in because he did not do very well in the interview. He was nervous, sweating, and all that. I am glad that I saw beyond that as it will be normal for people to get the nerves. So I said that he was not that bad and I was okay to give him a chance. With that I also took the responsibility to be in-charge of him and I am glad that he did not waste this chance. He was my best student so far in this new company. I never passed anyone for the drug information part but he was able to pass because he put in the effort to understand the papers instead of just skimming through and to zoom in to the parts to be summarised. I was hesitating to give a pass in this since he was not 100% proficient yet (come on! after all it is still the first 3 months). However, I decided to give it a pass considering from the skills perspective, he had shown the correct things to do: to fully understand something first before giving recommendations and avoiding assumptions and guesswork.

I shall take a break from taking student for at least the next 3 months so I hope to have less busy days at work hehe