Internal Medicine (Feb-Mar)

I am finally done. We just had to end the year with a bang!

This has got to be the hardest and most trying rotation out of all the rest but I did learn a lot here. IM covers everything - cardio, neuro, pulmo, infectious, rheuma, endo, gastro, hema, onco, nephro and many many more!

My duty starts with paperwork, interviewing patients, monitoring them every four hours (if "toxic" monitoring becomes every hour) then studying my patients for endorsements the following day.

Let me tell you all about the endorsements... Its basically just writing your admissions (your patients) on the board. Then the residents choose which one they want to have endorsed - usually depends on the case - at the start they choose the more common cases, then at the end, they deal with the exotic ones. Its like a lottery and the chosen case will be endorsed by the one incharge. You step infront of your groupmates, the residents and the consultant of the week... This is where the fun begins - you tell everything about your patient and basically just defend your diagnosis. The residents and consultants throw random questions at you and if you did read then good for you but if not or maybe you did read but since you're from-duty - which happens more often than not - you get crucified on the stage. Hehe! It may sound horrible but I did learn a lot from this experience.

So, anyway, let me present to you for the last time, my group, the people I've been thru thick and thin, thru shouting matches, thru trying time and laughing times. Clerkship is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.


Its where I grew up, where I learned for the first time, what I will be doing for the rest of my life. And hey, it aint so bad! In fact, its actually great! So for everyone out there who isnt sure about what they want to do in life, give it another try, Im glad I did.

If you read this blog from the start, you will realize that I stopped med school since I wasnt sure it was what I wanted... But I gave it another try and Im glad I did.

ENT, Psych, Ortho, Optha (Dec-Jan)

Now Im here in the minors... Each department was super fun with kalog residents. Pictures still to come since Im still looking for them!

In ENT, I was grossed out with all the impacted cerumen and little kids with ear infections...

In Psych, I actually went on duty at CCMH, Cavite Center for Mental Health. If you want to know, drug addicts to become crazy and they tend to lash out at anyone around them... Its creepy hearing all the wailing and moaning. You here them acting out, having hallucinations, and just basically doing weird stuff. Of course we have admissions in the hospital too. I had 1 patient telling me he doesnt here voices anymore and that he's fine and wants to go home. So, I ask him when the last time he heard the voices was... he tells me an hour ago... Wow!

In Ortho, I saw bones, bones and more bones! And a billion diabetic foots... (is that gramatically correct? Hehe!) And they end up loosing that foot! It stinks and it looks like its dying right infront of you.


In Optha, I saw the light! Hehe! SO many cataracts... Awesome surgeries! Very very tiny everything since we are talking about eye surgery here.

Commed (Oct-Nov)

I’m done with my community medicine rotation, we were only immersed for 2 and a half weeks because of the elections… so we’re stuck in the hospital and we had the opportunity to do OPD unlike the other clerks. Ang dami ng patients! You get all kinds of diseases!

During our very short stay in the community, we had to check out kiti-kiti in the huge water containers of each household and we also still had to monitor the sick patients in the community. Its really sad because they belong to the a low socioeconomic group and they don’t have money for maintenance medication… one of my patient is a hypertensive since four years ago and her BP would go as high as 260/110! Grabe! The human body can really adapt! Anyway, it’s a good thing that my foster mother is really great! She’s kind and accommodating and her hose isn’t bad! We had the only house with a tiled bathroom! I’m grateful for that! Hehehe!

The only thing I like about commed is that I don’t have to go on 34 hour duty! Haha! And of course, meeting the people in the community and bonding with my groupmates!

Anyway, after this rotation, my next is rehabilitation medicine followed by radiology then by anesthesia… after that, all minors na! gosh! Back to duty life.

Here I am looking at the kiti kiti in the huge drums… I’m such a faker! Hahaha!

Here’s the house where we lived…

Here I am with the Anes residents! Very very cool people!
Makes me want to be an anesthesiologist! hehe!

I think that's the spleen... Yup! Spleen yan!

OB-Gyn (Aug-Sept)

I'm done with my pediatrics rotation which was june-july, 2 months has already passed and I’m now in my Ob-gyne rotation. I love the schedule… When I'm from duty, I get off at 12 noon and on Sundays I get off at 8am! Anyway, I just love the schedule because there’s weekends off - its hard to explain the technical details concerning it, basta the schedule is great but when you’re duty, its really really tiring… I have more time to drink and I can go out on weekends! How great is that?

I’ve already delivered a couple of babies… lucky them! I’m the first person who gets to hold them when they get out. This is a nice field, theres a surgical and a clinical aspect but the schedule sucks… it kills your love life - that's what they said. One of the consultants went as far as saying that it will definitely kill your sex life…

Of course, you cannot predict when your patient will give birth but you can tell them to undergo a scheduled CS… I wish they could just all have CS! But this field is kinda boring… all de-kahon diagnosis. Maybe I’ll eat my words and take my residency in OB-Gyne. Haha!

Here’s a couple of pictures from my pediatrics and Ob-gyne rotation.

Here are the cutie babies in the neonatal ICU
(Dont you just wanna squeeze them? You can... Nobody will know! Mwehehehehe!)



Here’s one of my patients in the pediatric wards - she has Tetralogy of Fallot. (you medical students and doctors out there know what I’m talking about. For those who dont, check it out on the net. hehe!) She passed away but damn was she a fighter!

With grace in the OB wards… during one of the more benign duties!

At the OR with ob residents! (Chief res, girl on the right!)