it's done it's done! i'm suffering from aches and pains and lethargy right now, but ohhhh, it feels good having crossed the finish line after the half-marathon!

it was so hard to keep going at some points though, when your spirit is telling to give up because really, it seems as though the end's no where in sight.

but along the way, there were great motivating factors :) seeing the sunrise (well, a part of it!) was really inspiring, and needless to say, crossing the finish line was the most inspiring of all!

what really struck me were the supporters though, they were so tireless in yelling and cheering and waving balloons. briliant, really. must have been tiring to keep shouting like that! and their unflagging cheer was contagious, i found myself breaking into a smile when running past them.

ahhh. life is good.

now, if only i could walk properly, then life would be perfect.

note to self: must not overdo this aging body next time!

after 6 months of on-off training and several runs in between them, tomorrow is THE big-day!

the half-marathon beckons.

i don't expect to be able to run all the way to the finish, but running most of it would be ideal. sadly, my fitness is still not up to par!

but oh well, nothing left that i can do between today and tomorrow except sleep early!

hopefully i'll still be alive when i stagger across the finish line. crikey!

i'm still really upset that my paeds elective has "poofed" into thin air. ARGH.

but a kind friend has offered to let me do an ortho elective with him so that's alright now! :D ortho is way more fun than paeds and it's important for exams too so that should be fine.

but what i don't get is:
WHY TELL US SO LATE!!!!

yes, this is a rant against the administration.
they jolly well knew that they were taking year 3s for that period in which we'd applied for electives so they'd be unable to handle us at that time as well.
and i'm sure they had all this planned long ago too.
so why tell us only now???

i'd already planned and settled all my elective slots, only to have it ruined by a cursory late announcement like that. why not tell us right from the start when announcing elective choices?

it irks me that students are taken so lightly. it's as if we don't matter at all, we're an afterthought.

they can't even be bothered to tell us properly, just a short email with 3 lines to it.
not even any apologies. and my elective supervisor didn't even know! good golly.

i know students aren't that important, but for goodness sakes, would it kill you to have released that announcement 3 months earlier or something once you knew?

it's not just me who's affected, it's a whole bunch of us.

it smacks of high-handedness and uppityness. don't look down on us please. we're humans too!

now i've to find something to do in that one week between surgery and ortho. ARGH.

(here's an explanation for jess!)
where i come from, we have an elective period of several months after completing most of our core curriculum at the end of year 4. so we get to do stuff we want to during this period, or we have to do remedial postings if we've done badly in any of our current postings - i'm scheduled for one boooo.
anyway, we have finals at the end of year 5, which is why the elective period is so important because it affords you: 1) the chance to brush on your weak subjects before heading into the "death" year, so to speak; and 2) the chance to do something you really like that you haven't gotten enough of in the core curriculum!

hope that explains it sufficiently! :D

and thanks a million xavi and jess!

my paeds elective just got cancelled! :(

and i have and ENT test tomorrow that i haven't studied for yet. :(

can my life get any worse?

pardon the melodrama but oh, i really did need that paeds elective to have a chance in hope of passing my finals, having done paeds so very very very long ago!

WOE. am most definitely NOT HAPPY.

all the love in the world for ENT isn't really helping right now. arghhh

I PASSED OB/GYN!!!!!

thank the sweet Lord above for merciful grace!

although i didn't quite do as well as i'd hoped (i'm in the bottom half of the class), and this quite puts a rethink to my OB/GYN dreams, i'm happy :)

passing was what i asked for, and passing is what i have received :) shouldn't be greedy!

next time, i will work harder. but then, what's the point in burning out so early?

my mantra has always been:

PASS=M.D.

and i'll keep it that way :)

FOR NOW: OB/GYN is over!!!!! but i'm still applying for a rotation in it no matter what - delivering babies is truly thrilling, and i can't get enough!

I LOVE OTOLARYNGOLOGY !!!!!!

(or ear, nose throat - ENT for the uninitiated)

i have been standing in clinics for the past 2 days, non-stop. ordinarily, i would be complaining about backache and how boring it has gotten. but strangely, i am energetic and well, my back doesn't ache as much as it should!

it might be the lovely doctors who're ever so willing to teach, or the interesting cases i see.

then again, it might entirely be the free drinks machine. coffee anyone? i have been max-ing out on my caffeine. OOPS.

but seriously, although i hate hate hate looking down microscopes, ENT has been fascinating. i actually want to read up on it to know more. i want to peer down the endoscope and see vocal cords and other things.

whoohoo!!!

i actually felt an enlarged lymph node today. amazing. usually i'm the one who'll completely miss it, but today, i actually got to feel it. and a thyroglossal cyst!
but on a more sombre note, thankfully both conditions were benign.

i went up to the wards, and spoke to a patient's mother. it made me greatly upset. but more details another time.

for now, i have to present the case at grand ward rounds to the prof tomorrow. i'm trying not to quake in my shoes about my lack of knowledge about quinsy, so i'm off to read up and try not to get royally owned! ;)