On Study Leave

There are things that I need to get used to...  There are things that I am missing...

a. Wake up early or else be late. I have always loved lingering for five minutes more in bed before doing the morning routine in preparation for work. I still continue to enjoy that but I have to be awake  really early (four o'clock in the morning, at least) so as not to feel harassed. I am now taking the  long jeepney commute (45-60 minutes) every day to get me to PGH in Taft Avenue, Ermita, Manila from Pilillia Street, Barangay Valenzuela, Makati City. My cousin's place is a relatively peaceful area as compared to the residences I have been to during the home visitations. However, I am missing the five-minute (if I am really in a hurry) or the ten-minute leisure work I used to do on my way to Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City.

             a.1. I need to leave the house at 6AM to attend the 7Am staff conference; or leave at 7AM to attend the 8AM activities.
            a.2 I have to shell out ten pesos for the fare when I used to pay 7 pesos and 50 cents for a pedicab ride; or just walk and I do not have to pay anything at all.
            a.3 The smog is in my nose every morning after spending time in the jeepney driven by a frustrated/pseudo-race car driver.
            a.4 I am missing the comforts of my room in Villariza Compound; even the loud neighbors.


b. I have always been strict with how nurses fill up the patient's medication sheet. I cannot do that here, as much as I want to. Why?  Because I am still confused about how the charts are arranged, the forms, monitoring, et al. What I have now is renewed gratefulness for SMC - for the orderly charts; for the diligence of the wardclerks in entering all the diagnostics I need, for the nurse who has carefully monitored the patient's medication and painstakingly filled up the pre-signed prescription forms; for the ECG machine at hand, the laboratory examinations and images that can be accessed with just a password and a click of the mouse and so much more.

c. I used to complain about the elevators of SMC but after spending six days here, I will no longer complain. While in the OPD or in the Central Block, there is always a line to direct the traffic of patients, nurses, consultants, wardmen, and visitors coming in and out of the elevators. I can always use the stairs but my feet is starting to complain from the long walks from the OPD building to the CI to the wards; and from standing in line.

d. I miss the friendly and the usual faces of SMC. Sir Walter of the new elevator; Igpit, the security guard; Allan of the Lab, Cathy in the Info, Neneng and GengGeng of the ER,.....
            d.1 I used to feel like a queen while in SMC but here, I feel so alone and so unsure of myself. I am so scared of what 2011 will bring - running around the halls of this huge government hospital trying to find my way to the right wards; formulating how I am going to take care of this referral; while wondering if I am doing it right, the way the new consultants would want me to do.

            d.2 I am trying to constantly remind myself that there is always a room for change; change for the better. That is why I am in this one-year fellowship training.


Philippians 4:13