RESPIRATORY

Alhamdulillah, I completed 5 weeks of Respi last Wednesday, plus I got 2 days leave after that. What a beneficial experience, and great knowledge I had obtained. My specialist is my own supervisor, at least she knows me, knows my capability. I feel comfortable working with her, she is a young specialist, perhaps her pathway in her career was smooth. We were oncall together a few times, and we felt comfortable and easy working with each other. My consultant is a Kelantanese modern Malay woman. She is unique, can be nice and can be stunning as well. During oncall, all the MOs and HOs are afraid of her especially during rounds. That day she ignored the new MO (as she was unable to present the case and didn't know how to prescribe the right antibiotics) and asked me to present the case. I heard she is usually okay with house officers.I did learn something important from her : "remember your case well".


My MO...uh,hard to say about her.She had always been on leave, leaving me alone doing her job and my job. People said she is @#$%^ but with me she seems okay, she trusted me and told me her personal feelings. She warned me earlier if specialist was in bad mood. She needed my help in translating to Malay several times, I needed her help in inserting difficult branula several times.Yet, everyone was horrified by the way she poked the patients.The nurses said, even HOs are better aka more humanly...


I learnt about the metered dose inhaler...from salbutamol, to budesonide, seretide, flixotide etc. From simple MDI to easyhaler e.g. giona, buventhol etc...nebulisation - from 0.5:3.5 salbutamol to AVN to budesonide 1 mg BD. I listened to all kind of lungs - crepitations, ronchi, biphasic stridor (prolonged inspiratory sound), wheeze, prolonged expiratory phase etc. Learnt about anti reflux for GERD - omeprazole, ranitidine, domperidone...learnt about sleep study and pH study...learnt about BIPAP - the IPAP/EPAP, rate and oxygen..went to radiology department many times to get barium swallow appointment and HRCT appointment...counting respiratory rate every reviews..


All patient under respi follow up who presented to casualty will be admitted, they are chronic patients, so better be safe than sorry, admit them for at least one day, then discharge the next day if well.My specialist called me lucky as I discharged many chronic patients once I joined the team the week before Raya.But I was the one who suffered to finish the long and complicated discharge summaries...Also the stacked of census in clinic...unsure who will do it next month as there will be no more HO in respi...


My favourite respi patient, Adam currently just re-admitted for aspiration pneumonia...poor that cute little baby.So adorable, I feel like hugging him, of course I can't do that...My second favourite is of course Cingi, who was acutely unwell and pushed into PICU when I was oncall there for the first time. Now she is very well in the ward, so friendly, she likes to touch people's hands and always smiles..


My good friend took over respi for 2 days when I was on leave, and she had been complaining about the workload and environment to my other good friend. I thank her for her presence, but imagine, how I suffered for the past one month, being alone and stress?? Despite all the hardships, I considered lucky for not being sent to oncology or nephrology...because that is even more difficult.


Thank you Allah, tomorrow I'll start general medicine with most of my good friends in the same ward with me :) And tomorrow I am going to be oncall and off the next day. Now we have new rules, whoever oncall, tomorrow will get day off after pass over to the morning persons.So now we work for 24 hours, no longer 36 hours.They can't practice the shift system, so this is the best they can do...