Virtual Surgery

hey guys! my sister somehow came across this game which i thought was pretty interesting. not sure if it’s 100% medically accurate though. enjoy!

Virtual Surgery

Welcome to Singapore, Nadine!

if you guys still didn’t know, our fellow Aussie meddie Nadine was in town for a few hours last night. Josh, Kel and i took her on a mini tour to Orchard Road; and then to Newton Circus where we were joined by Jeff. had a sumptous food fare of local delights, and it seemed like the uncles and aunties were pretty impressed with Nadine’s command of the Chinese language.

after which we took her on a drive around the island, to places like Little India, Geylang, Esplanade and the Merlion, Raffles Place, Chinatown. i would safely say that she learnt a bit more about our hometown, as well as enjoyed herself, save for trying the durian pancake at the taka basement

we hope that we’ve been good hosts, and we apologise for anywhere we’ve been inadequate. do enjoy your 7 weeks in Shanghai! =)

Should doctors be made to pay for their mistakes?

A doctor who carried out a failed contraceptive operation has been ordered by a German court to pay financial support for the child that was born as a result.

The Karlsruhe-based federal appeals court ruled that the doctor must pay his former patient, now a mother of a three-year-old boy, 600 euros ($769) a month until he is 18. The father will also be compensated for the maintenance he is paying for the child.

German gynaecologists fear a flood of lawsuits will follow the decision.

This ensued a discussion in their forum.

Screw the lawyers, save a patient. (a medical mnemonic, guess what?)

“The Journey Itself Is Home”

Our Minister of Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, spoke on 14 Nov 2006 at Parliament. He opened with a reflection of his trip to Japan with his wife. However, being a dedicated minister, couldn’t help but think about work even while on holiday. Apart from his philosophical inputs in the speech and what our current 3M system is and will do, he did not spare from criticising our own health system, and suggesting improvement.

Focusing on the Unglamorous

These enhancements are largely for the acute care sector, where patients receive treatment in hospitals and specialist clinics. The enhancements will ensure that Singaporeans continue to have access to high-quality care, without causing severe financial strain to themselves or to society.

But with the continuing ageing of the population, I will now focus greater attention on primary healthcare and step-down care. Unlike tertiary care, this is an unglamorous cousin. But for the elderly, this is an important sector. The better a sick elderly patient is cared for by his Family Physician or in the step-down care sector, the better off the patient will be. We will study how best to strengthen and grow this sector. This sector ranges from care at home, to care at day centres, to GPs, to nursing homes, hospices and community hospitals.

We do not yet have all the solutions, but some of the problems are known. First, the care is not well-integrated. When patients move from one care provider to another, they often encounter obstacles. Patient flow across facilities and institutions is certainly not seamless. To make proper chronic disease management happen, our doctors, nurses and other professionals need to work together, in a different, improved manner across inpatient, outpatient and step-down care. We need to have public sector specialists collaborate with private sector GPs. We need VWOs running community hospitals and nursing homes to work with acute care institutions and Family Physicians, to deliver better patient care. Ideally, all care providers should regularly share information and consult each other, but the reality is not quite there yet.

Second, the care quality varies over the range of providers. While some providers do provide good care and service within their facilities, there are places which do not do as well.

Third, information on this sector is incomplete and hazy. Patients do not know the full range of step-down care choices that are available to them. Some feel that they are stuck with no option other than their current provider. Last month, we published the key data on nursing homes and community hospitals. It is a first step and we will refine the publication further.

Fourth, we do not know if our range of step-down care services is comprehensive enough. Are there gaps? Are there niche services which are absent today but can usefully meet a real need? Some of these services go beyond my Ministry’s portfolio, and we will work with other Ministries to ensure that genuine needs are adequately met.

Mr Speaker, Sir.

Our population will continue to age. We will try to slow it down by raising births and stepping up immigration, but we cannot avoid it. The better prepared we are for this inevitable demographic change, the better we can ensure that elderly Singaporeans face old age with confidence, calm and peace of mind. My Ministry will do its part to anticipate rising demand for healthcare services, both at the acute and step-down sectors, and marshal resources to ensure that there will be sufficient beds, manpower and expertise.

Today, we spend about 4% of our GDP on healthcare services. Considering the high standard of our care and Singaporeans’ health status, this is quite an achievement. But to meet the future needs of our population, it is not possible to keep healthcare expenditure in this region of 4% indefinitely. It is bound to increase. This increase will have to come from all stakeholders: Government, employers, insurers, patients and their families. This is part of the reason why GST has to go up. But I will recommend to the MOF to fully offset any GST increase on medical costs incurred by subsidised patients, as we did in the previous GST offset package.

On my site visit this second semester to Kingston Centre, a sub-acute hospital in Melbourne, the geriatric medicine registrar was explaining to us the concept of acute & sub-acute hospitals, nursing homes and rehab centres. It was intriguing. I couldn’t help but to wonder if we had such comprehensive care in Singapore, given our aging society. I knew we have top-notch acute hospitals, like Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Changi General Hospital, etc, belonging to the 2 big public healthcare groups, National Healthcare Group and
SingHealth, and a lot of nursing homes.

But sub-acute hospitals? The place where we dedicate geriatric medicine specialists to these elderly patients, aid their route to recovery, throwing in physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other allied health professional services on a CONSISTENT rehab program that ensures they can be discharged with full independence SAFELY? OR is it just my lack of understanding of our public healthcare system, perhaps, that we already are doing that in Singapore, somehow? Are our acute hospitals not really acute in that sense? Or do we really lack that aspect of wholistic healthcare?

On the topic of wholistic healthcare, Josh was mentioning its marketability in Singapore. Consumers love it. They will embrace it like a new branch of medicine, a new technology that is complementary, alternative or even wholistic. If the Chinese like Traditional Chinese Medicine, we should embrace it. We western doctors should take a step to understand what the TCM practitioners are doing, and keep them in check, or even integrate them in our practice. I know of a clinic in Camden Medical Centre that does just that. The TCM community has their specialties as well – this clinic is an excellent example. And hey, there are more and more private practices all over – Paragon, Camden, Shaw Centre, etc, that offers a variety of specialties to patients, making themselves each a one-stop clinic for all health issues. Examples are Excellence Health Care and Asia Medic.

This probably seems a little off topic. But wait for me, my point is coming, what about the middle and lower class people in Singapore? Are we going to tell them “Get out of my elitist face” or “Let the government worry about this societal problem”. Is there a solution? Will the public healthcare system suffice with the 3M framework? How else can we improve it? Will the Minister of Health’s recommendations above suffice? Or are they just sweet talk with no action? Time will tell.

Brings me back to my personal blog’s entry on “Singapore – Are you a stayer or quitter?”

Will we want to be the people, who, being grateful for the safe and conducive physical and non-physical environment we have been brought up in, want to give something back to the nation? Or will we just immigrate to some other country, for conveniences, for career opportunities, for lifestyle choices?

I can’t profess to be any group for now. How about you all? (‘click comments below and say your piece/peace’)

But i do know, someday, somehow, i’ll be back. For there is a longing in my heart.

Cheesy line alert: “This is home, truly, where i know i must be, where my dreams wait for me.”

Long distance relationships

Well, here it is. Inevitably,there will be some of you buggers out there, who will be involved in long-distance relationships.

Fret not, because, contrary to what many people think, it is indeed possible.

Exhibit A. pointing to myself

Now if ure merely thinking of LDR involving yourself and your boyfriend and girlfriend, you ought to broaden your scope dude! I’m talking about long-distance RELATIONSHIPS. That includes those with your friends, classmates, army mates, family members, church mates, mah-jong kakis, whatever.

1. Get a calling card.

It is cheaper for you to call back. DO NOT, i repeat, DO NOT, be conned by SINGTEL to get that IDD calling card crap. They will say they have superior reception and stuff, but hey, the calling cards here are fine. Use Joy! Its like 2cents per minute or sth. Basically, u call a Melbourne land line, and then type in ur calling card password, then dial 001165-(singapore number). You have to pay for local telephone charges, which may turn out to be pretty expensive if you are talking for say, 30min or longer. I advise then, to get a card called Telstra Phoneaway Calling Card. With this card, you can call ANY land line in Australia, for any unlimited period of time, for a reasonable flat price of 50cents.

2. Get a webcam.

Skype is great. If you live in halls, you will be charged for internet expenses, at 22 AUD per GiB of data. But its worth it.

3. Birthdays.

Never forget their birthday anniversaries. Your friends will probably appreciate your long-distance call ALL THE WAY from Down Under, just to wish them “Happy Birthday!”. Always works. (They just don’t realise how cheap it is, but hey, its the thought that counts)

4. Boy-girl-relationships

a. Trust: Mutual trust is key. Even more so in LDR. You can’t get to see each other regularly, the companionship aspect of your relationship is taken away. It is important, but not EVERYTHING in a relationship. It will be difficult, especially for the girl (well, at least for my case!) But it is pertinent that each party KNOWS what they want in the relationship and realistic EXPECTATIONS.

b. Understanding: Self-explanatory.

c. Close knit of social support: Always helps.

d. True love: I was once disillusioned. I even wanted to go back to S’pore to study, hack the monash programme liao. Just study anything in Spore, like bioeng. But then as i emailed this mentor, he gave me this advice that i leave with u all:

With regard to your personal life I can understand the challenge you are facing,..Where there is strong love and abiding Faith to bind you two together your relationshipwill stand the test of time.of course it will not be easy ,and the path ahead is long and winding with side tracks and road holes.This is the ultimate test..keep the flame and the fire burning,,and rekindle it with sparks now and again…let her know you love her and keep sending flowers even if it means only through the internet..pray hard and God will guide you to the correct path…….

10 tips for staying in halls

1. get to know your neighbours well, you never know when you’ll need their help

2. take part in the orientation activities as much as possible. you’ll get to know lots of people, and have lots of fun =)

3. learn how to cook. you wouldn’t really want to eat at the mess hall.

4. remember to label your food stuff before you put them in the fridge. but then again, you never know which hungry ghost will steal them (depends on how lucky you are i guess, i’ve only got 2 eggs and some juice stolen through the year; some other pple had more stuff stolen from them).

5. hang your keys somewhere you will see on your way out, that way you’ll never lock yourself out (almost maintained my record of that not happening at all, but unfortunately it happened once when i was rushing out).

6. collect your laundry on time. you wouldnt want someone to throw them on the shelves where it’s dirty and have to wash them again.

7. DON’T throw your precious clothes into the dryer. unless you want them to shrink.

8. be prepared for noisy Thursday nights.

9. get a huge external hard disk. there’s lots to download from DC++.

10. be careful of your internet usage, it’s costly. alternatively, bring your laptop to uni to use the wireless. free 1GB per semester which we barely made use of this year. wasted.

My First Propaganda Message

Dear colleagues,

 Our days in university are stressful ones. Rushing from anatomy classes to clinical skills tutes, I would like you remember this important way of life: Manchester United Rules!

For all you freshies, locate the nearest projector screen in your hall. Invade it and insist on watching the United match that week. Do not let the blind Chelsea fans or the misled Arsenal supporters have their way.

Your caring seniors are all Manchester United supporters. Jasmine, Melanie, Jeffrey, Harold, Ethan, John Lee, Kerf and myself spent many nights in one of the various halls watching Manchester United demolish their unworthy opponents.

Those that do not support Manchester United are doomed for heartbreak. With no specific reference to Kelvin, a Magpies worshipper, your team is cursed! You will only see them scraping the relegation zone.

You will sit on your bed lonely, sad, discouraged. You will hear the shouts of ‘GOAL!’, only to know that it was against YOUR team. You will relentlessly knock your head against the wall in a hope of a better afterlife.

Hear me now phlebian advocates of Premiership mediocrity – There is no team but United. Your afterlife will still be wrought with dismay as the red DEVILS trump your insignificant team time after time after time. Hell hath no fury like a RED DEVIL!

Glory glory Man United!

For the new freshies.

Hel- lowww….. people! This here is just to break my wordpress blog post cherry. 1st year’s out and i can’t help feeling rather excited for the next troop of Singapore meddies coming in to Monash. So for a lack of anything else to write about, I thought i’d do some minor advertising for some of the things the new year 1’s can look forward to for the coming year.

• Before even leaving the country, as always, Monash will host a Pre-Departure Briefing in the ballroom of some fancy hotel. Don’t miss it! The Singapore Assocation of Monash (SAM) will be there to greet you, and some busy-body extras like me will likely be there too just to get in on the excitement. Oh don’t get me wrong. When people told you the Pre-Departure Briefing was boring, they really weren’t lying. But thats only the briefing per se — you wanna be there to meet us, your fantastic monash meddie seniors. We’ll have name tags so Look out for us! Cos we won’t know what you look like. Hell, if we did, we’d grab you right at the door, lasso and all. *um. Silence.* Come look for us.

• When you come to Aussie land, one of the first few activities you will have are your Halls / College orientations. My advice — ditch the Uni activities unless it’s really so super important. It’s important to hit it off with the people who will be staying around you. And they are generally nice. Maybe just as shy as you, but Aussies are people too, so don’t hesitate to make friends with them. No seriously they are good people.

• Then just before school starts, you will spend a “Transition Weekend” at Phillip Island. 2nd year meddies will be acting as your “Guidance Councillors” (basically like OGLs), and you priveleged wankers will have not one, not two, but three Singaporean seniors there with you on your weekend. Yessirree. That would be Me (Patricia), Jeffrey, and Nathaniel, who will be 4th year. Don’t ask me what he’s doing there, he’s just there to make a ruckuss really. :p (Kidding Nat! Kidding!)

• When uni does start proper, you will find that there are not too many Singaporean meddies staying in halls with you. That’s because quite a number of them have decided to move into houses around campus. AND SO, you are cordially invited to the housewarming parties. This plan is at the moment still at the conceptualising stage, and consent has not yet been obtained, i will be honest. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about it. If i’m not wrong there will be 4 houses in total. The plan is for one weekend one housewarming. Be there or be square. Don’t make us bring out our lassoes again.

• Much much much later in the year, there is an annual event that EVERYONE goes to. This is in second semester, but i thought i’d just inform you guys all the same. It’s the med ball, and this year almost all of the Singaporeans went, and we had a blast. If you like figurative blasts, come along next year.

Well that’s all i have to say for now. I have to get round to packing up my room and putting things in storage for the Summer. Ta.

Hello world!

Welcome to the blog of Class of 2010, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA!!

After 2 semesters (26 academic weeks) at Monash, we have indeed grown much more closely knitted. The Singaporeans were initially very cliquish, given the all-new experience – living in a foreign environment for an extended period of time. (bad excuse?) We hope that we are able to be much more inclusive in the future, and may the “Class of 2010 Monash Med” be a truly connected bunch of happenin’ future doctors.

Do invite the rest of our classmates into this blog – provided you know they are the kind who don’t post rubbish up like on our “General Discussion” boards on MUSO.

Happy Holidays!