So, yeah. One and a half year of being a co-ass. How does that feel? One of the best sayings is;
"Koas itu manis untuk dikenang, pahit untuk diulang"
Sums it all in one sentence. Means basically that reminiscing is good, repeating is bad.
So, a recap:
1. Radiology, RS Harapan Depok
My first posting. Obvious statement does not fail to be exceedingly obvious. A pretty decent posting. We had fun reading photos everyday. I remember spending nights looking at various x-rays pictures on my laptop and practicing writing reports. Give me a break, it was my first posting and I wanted it to be great. Incidently, it was.
2. Psychiatry, RSJ Soeharto Herdjan
My exam stands out. I had a very difficult patient and I am nuts at rapport building. Botched the first meeting, then kept at it until he trusted me enough to finally talk to me. I remember being really stubborn about having this patient as an exam patient. Last I heard he was released from treatment and was okay.
Psychiatry posting was also a bit of a paradigm changing bit. I remember thinking that, while a sense of caution was always healthy, there was no need to be really scared. All these people are sick, and need all the help that they can get. And social stigma really needs to change as well. Because some of them are really nice people.
3. Internal Medicine, RS Simpangan Depok
Easily my best posting ever. There were six of us, all girls, but the best team I have had the chance to lead. Also, where that praise/insult originated. Because I had standards. One of the worst postings in regards to on call timetables. As there were only six of us, and we had to have at least 2 people on call every night, we would have to be on call every two nights. But because we also work until 3 every day (until Saturday), and you have to stay there at the hospital if you are on call, that makes it around 30 hours work, a day and a half of rest, then another 30 hours.
What I remember most was the time when 3 people of my team were unavailable. One was sick and hospitalized and two I had to send to visit our consultant's wife and they were only due back in Depok Monday morning. So there were 5 of us on Saturday when we came in to work and our consultant said he was giving us the day of except those who are on call. I sent Mira and Atikah home because they had to visit our consultant's wife. And Nadia and Vinda took the morning until 3 o'clock shift while I took the morning to visit Atul who was hospitalized and bring her home because she was to be discharged that day. I came back to work, and exchanged with Vinda. The plan was Vinda would come back on Sunday morning and take the Sunday shift with me, taking Nadia's place because by then, she would have worked 24 hours. But Sunday came and Vinda called in sick. So I sent Nadia home to take the morning until afternoon shift of, leaving me at the hospital. I remember that I had to accompany a patient being referred to a different hospital. My first time in an Ambulance and I had to monitor his BP manually every 15 minutes.
Nadia came back in the afternoon, and I had a break, where I didn't really do any strenuous stuff until around 11 at night, where I exchanged with Nadia. But that day, we had six patients under observation. So no sleep lah. And that night as well, we had a call from Atul saying that she was feeling really bad. Nadia went back to our kost with a nurse and they brought Atul to the hospital where she rested in our break room because she's stubborn like that.
So she and Nadia rested in the break room and I took the midnight to morning shift. The bad thing was, I had six patients under observation and a really bad case of diarrhea, which I kept quiet. So by morning, I was tired and dehydrated but kept soldiering on. (the wrong thing to do). By that time I had worked for 48 plus hours and sick. That morning, a patient who was doing better, suddenly went down again. Because he was my patient, so he was my responsibility, so I couldn't leave him until the doctors came for rounds. When my patients' primary doctor came for rounds, I was already feeling really out of it. After running to get some medic supplies I was feeling light headed, I dumped the supplies in Mira's arms, walked out, sat in a chair in front of the patient's ward and fainted. Dramatic that. People outside the ward were screaming that I had fainted and even though I could hear them all, I couldn't move. In the end, I was sent to rest in our break room with Atul who was still there. But I when I got up, a stayed at the hospital and by my patient's bed side until he was referred to a different hospital, for an endoscopy, which I also accompanied. By that time it was already 8 o'clock in the evening. So I had worked for something close to 72 hours.
I still think this as my most valuable experience as a koas on teamwork and patient care. Though I never learnt to take better care of myself because 5 weeks later I was sick again, and vehemently stayed on for my call shift. Though I didn't faint the second time.
4. Ophthalmology, RS Mata Yap
First posting that was really far away. In Jogjakarta. It was already ramadhan by then. One of the more relaxed postings because there really was nothing much we had to do. We had Hari Raya Aidilfitri there. At least I did. Mira had gone back to Jakarta but I didn't because I had no money. I was the only muslim and the night before raya, my fellow mates took a ride around Jogja on motorcycles. We went to Alun-alun and watched the takbir contest there. On Raya day, we took pictures in front of the hospital and went for breakfast at the nearest KFC.
5. Pediatrics, RS Simpangan Depok
Back at Simpangan again, but different team, bar Mira who had been with me from the start. I was comfortable and the workload was, while different and not less busy, was lighter than when I was in Internal Medicine. Still, there was one occasion where I was down with a bad case of vomiting and stayed on for my call shift because I felt fine, but deteriorated through the night. I was vomiting almost every hour and I was vomiting pretty much only bile. I couldn't keep anything down. Oddly, nobody realized that I was not good. We had an emergency cesarean that night and while it was my turn in the OT, I didn't think I was up to it and kinda wanted my friend to take my turn, but she said she hadn't brought along her scrubs and there was nothing for it, I went in. I remember vomiting once before going in, keeping my mouth shut all through the procedure, and spoke only when I was spoken to, and vomiting again after. I was sick for the next three days but kept going to work as normal, though they let me take naps in the break room. I keep wondering what would have happened if I had dragged myself to the A&E and checked myself in because, seriously, I was bad. I was really bad, I can't even believe I got through it the way I did.
Another thing I remember from my peads posting was that time I had to resuscitate a baby during after a cesarean alone because the doctor was late in coming into the OT. She was there but, the OnG doctor was really fast and the baby was born while she was still changing. You try to do all that one handed.
6. Surgery, RS Husada
Back to Jakarta. I remember my surgery posting as being one of the postings where I really applied myself to learning. Whatever theory I knew was mostly self taught because they really just let you go loose. The first person I sutured was already dead when he was rolled in. Then I had a drunk guy in a car accident, a girl in an accident, a girl who fell of the roof, and a guy who had a firecracker explode in his hand. And a head injury but I forget for what. Not really all that much when you put it like this, but every patient had multiple lacerations. So even though I had one drunk guy, I had to sew like 5 different lacerations on him. I assisted a lot in the A&E but didn't get a chance in the OT due to hospital policy.
Every on call was at the A&E and I really loved it. So much so that once, I had four call shifts in one week. You do the math. Once, another koas from a different post asked my partner why was I the only one who was consistently on call. I had a lot of different cases. Made a fool of myself once by accidentally ripping a patients IV line out (OUCH) but wasn't yelled at for it. However I was grilled relentlessly on his condition after that, one which thankfully, I had read on the previous day so the consultant couldn't really yell at me for it. I really loved working at the A&E there.
7. Dermatology and Venereal diseases, RS Husada
Pretty normal posting in that nothing really stands out. Except, during this posting we had compulsory dance lessons every Friday. We learnt mainly the Chacha and I was told that I had a dancer's built and that I could dance really well. I loved that even if everyone else says it was a waste of time.
8. Forensic, RS Hasan Sadikin
Also one of the best postings experience wise. Met with a lot of good people and learnt a new perspective on death. I was also pick-pocketed here while out shopping with friends. My group mates said that they were surprised at my reaction after I realized the fact I was pick-pocketed in that I was really calm and level headed and only broke down after my mum called. Also grave-digging. Epic experience.
9. Neurology RS Bakti Yudha
Most tiring posting in which we usually had to work from 7.30 morning till 11.00 at night the latest. We had on calls but the awesome thing was we only had to be there until 11.00 and were of until morning. I learnt a lot here, theory and practical wise. Became the unofficial leader in that I kept tabs of the patients and divided the them among my team mates. So every morning I would be one of the first to arrive to update my info on any patients that had come in during the night and divide them up among us. If you have been assigned to a patient, you were responsible for that patient until discharge, was the main method. One of the best things was that I knew every patient on ward and what they were in for. I remember doing terrible at the exams. Haha. I have no idea why, but I sucked. Really bad.
10. ENT, RS Bakti Yudha
After the terror of Neurology, this posting was a godsend. Though I maintain that I am the only koas who has ever had to go on rounds alone on a Sunday and discharge a patient according to orders from my consultant.
11. Obstetric and Gyneacology, RS Ciawi
I didn't like OnG and going through it didn't make me like it any more than I already did. I remember the first time assisting during a Cesarean Section and had impressed one of our consultants (we had four) when he asked me about abdomen anatomy. Basically he pointed something at me and I answered. I didn't think that it was anything much but apparently he was impressed that first time. But because I really didn't like OnG, I only deteriorated after that. I was too lazy and already too tired. My best case was when we had a cephatlothoracophagus. Also one of the worst team I have ever had the honor to lead. Though I think that was basically my fault. Bad moment was when I was changing a patient's IV. She was having a blood transfusion and the IV was jammed (it wasn't a blood set and I was tasked into changing it), when I pulled the line out of the blood bag I didn't know that it wasn't like a normal RL bag in which it didn't drip, so basically, I pulled the line and all the blood flowed out of the bag. Err. Yeah. I managed to save it so I had a quarter left? But really, experience wise, I was stupid, and now, I know better.
12. Community Medicine, UKRIDA and PKM Tirtamulya
Worst posting ever and is never ending. Like right now, I don't even know whether I passed or I failed. And we are graduating soon. So yeah, this has done nothing to assure me of my campus's organizational skills. In fact, has made me a bitter and skeptical person. I also had the honor of having the worst team in study writing. I don't want to think of it, because of residual anger. haha. Just, not good. At all. Being in Tirtamulya however was fun. I really liked the close contact with patients and I had really good practice at talking being the one most frequently pushed up front by my other team mates (also, not a very good team). But I am half way confident in my talking (or least, bullshitting) skills now.
So, hmm, yeah. A very long and not really informative trip down koas memory lane. A lot of crap, but stuff I really can't replace for the world. Though, right now, I think that I may have gone about studying the wrong way because hind sight is a bitch.
I had fun.
akunona
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