Tuli Mission 3.0

Third Tuli Mission today. Was able to operate on three kids. Spent some time as well on the triage station, where I learned how to take history and take a physical examination of the kid. Learned and practiced how to speak Filipino effectively -- and also learned how to be creative with asking so that I could turn the technical medical words into words or phrases that my patients can understand. As usual, high yield!!

Also got a needlestick injury. Accidentally pricked myself with a syringe after using it to administer anesthesia. Praying that I'm not affected by any blood-borne diseases... huhuhu. I will need to get tested.

Art of Med

I'm a bit apprehensive about watching MedChoir's concert. I went AWOL this year because of problems with biology. I hope that I will be accepted back with open arms...

LQ cancelled + Ripped off my grades by ma'am Co

Cancelled LQ because my classmate got injured in PE. Ma'am Co was nice to give her consideration. She wasn't able to study kasi.

In other news, I sang for Ma'am Co, danced for ma'am Co, pretended to be the grumpy old troll for ma'am Co, played games with the class for ma'am Co, read, individually summarized, and collated three books for ma'am Co = low grade pala in our presentation :) :)
some1 fucking tell me our group doesn't deserve better?

wait, I'm actually enjoying studying for bio now?

LQ tomorrow for the 10mm pig. I'm genuinely enjoying studying. Iba talaga pag mammal na yung inaaral.

Woke up at the dead of night

Great, my circadian rhythm's messed up because of yesterday. Better get to work cramming STS and Psych module. Not to mention the impending bio lab LQ on thursday. Ugh

I'm so freaking sleepy

I SHOULD BE CRAMMING MY ACADS BUT IM SO SLEEPY UGH
Bye

Time to cram

Bioweek just ended, and another one is coming up... and there are so many things I need to memorize for the 10mm pig.......................

Past bio exams at least I had 2-3 weeks to get my shit together but this time... ma'am Co's rushing it... ugh

Today is cheat day + BIochem exam

I've had exams every 3 days for the past 2 weeks. TODAY IS CHEAT DAY. NO ACADS.
Ate with my dad in Four Seasons buffet too!! Killed myself with shrimp even though I'm allergic hahaha. That's how I walwal kasi.

Earlier this morning, I had my biochem exam. It was okay naman. Much easier than I expected.

Studying for Chem + Cutting is Justified

I'm super super worried about the chem exam tomorrow, because the lectures given by the profs were so shallow compared to what I find in the book. I don't know if I should trust our substitute prof, that what qwill come out in the exam, is just what he mentioned in class-- previous exams had extra info taken from the books. Except in this case, LITERALLY EVERY DETAIL WAS LEFT TO THE BOOKS?? THE LECTURES WERE SUPER SUPER SUPER SHALLOW. I am so confused...

In other news, I cut my physics class today, and had a classmate get my score. I got 95%. Cutting is justified.

Bio Lec Exam 3

I think my new studying style worked!! Just accepting what ma'am Co says as law without studying anything else (like books, old transes, etc) really worked. Sobrang hirap lang talagang intindihin si ma'am Co, but at the same time, the load is much much lighter because I don't study the superfluous shit.

Studying for bio lec is so benign now

Studying for bio lec is so benign now, because I chose to restrict myself to ONLY WHAT MA'AM CO LECTURED. Getting rid of the other details which are super trivial really made it feel much much lighter. I'm so happy that I was finally able to free myself from the trap of annotating previous LU transes -- which are most of the time full of mistakes and contain too much redundant info. Proud at myself for taking stellar notes: recording + picture-taking of ppt + handwriting all in one super useful ipad app. Good job migs.

I was also able to study for chem because of the extra time. Amazing.

Sense of urgency only came today...

The moment I woke up, I felt a sense of urgency. Finally... hahahaha now I have the drive to study SO I SURVIVE HAHAHA

Decided kasi to take a break after the bio lab exam yesterday. Now I gotta prepare for my bio lec exam on thursday, and my biochem exam on Saturday. ggwp

BIO LAB EXAM 3 + quizzes returned

OMG I GOT PERFECT IN THE LAB LQ?!??!?!?!? IMPOSSIBLE!!!
And for lec, I got 21/25!!!

THE EXAM TODAY WAS ALSO SURPRISINGLY BENIGN

OMG THANK GOD FOR DAYS LIKE THESE!!!

On speaking out

I should really learn to be more assertive... especially when I see other people doing things which are wrong. Wala lang. Just got triggered again when I was thinking about the tuli mission. with me being afraid to call out my higher-LU partners. Tsk.

EASY p6 exam

11/10 would do again, learning physics from scratch two nights before the test See you again next month, physics!!

[taken from twitter]

Fuck physics

Fuck this piece of shit subject I don't even know why the hell I need to take this shit. I love math; it's my best subject. But physics is a different monster altogether... what the hell.. plus the profs are really shit. I swear DPSM has a lot of problems with regards to their physics profs no fucking joke

Aced that bio lec + lab quiz

my new studying style for bio worked :) Aced that bio lec + lab quiz definitely. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS JUST ACCEPT WHATEVER COMES OUT OF MA'AM CO'S MOUTH AND I'LL GET HIGH GRADES!!!

No more "extra" shit from the 2021 transes hahahaha

Studying for the DUAL bio lec + lab quiz

The topics for this coming exam aren't as difficult as before, because they are rooted in chemistry, something I have grown to love in my time in imed. What I'm actually scared about is whether or not my new study strategy will work. For previous tests, I had always referred to the transes of the upper LU buddies. But they ALWAYS. ALWAYS. CONTAINED MISTAKES/SUPERFLUOUS STUFF. I think enough is enough. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, after all. I'm taking my own notes FROM SCRATCH now (and not merely annotating their transes) while simultaneously recording ma'am CO's sermons 24/7. Tomorrow, I will know if it worked, because I have DUAL BIO LONG QUIZZES HUHUHUHU

On making mistakes

We are only human. We too make mistakes. Reflecting on the mistakes I have done in the past tuli missions, I am convinced that it is my duty to use them to improve myself -- I should not repress them as some others do. Yes, they are mistakes, but why repress the one good thing which may come out of it, self-improvement? They are unavoidable and we must take great care to not make mistakes, but inevitably, we do... When the time comes, it is only right that we keep these mistakes burned into our minds so that we never commit them again. It is the least we can do for our patients who have been put into risk because of our carelessness.

Mistakes last tuli mission:
1. Noticed a mistake a partner made and failed to call him out for it.

In my defense, the damage was done and nothing could have been done. But I should have had the courage to tell him right then and there that what he was doing was wrong so that in the future he would not commit the same mistake. Next time, I will be more assertive even though I am very young compared to these people I am working with.

2. Failed to aspirate before injecting anesthesia

Carelessly I forgot to aspirate. So there was a tiny chance that what I had injected had been injected intravenously which could have potentially caused side effects. Looking back now, luckily I dont think my patient experienced anything out of the ordinary, so I consider myself lucky. Although, the anesthesia wasn't as effective for him.... could this have been a side effect of my carelessness?

3. Accidentally dropped a suture packet

This isnt a major error, because we just had to reopen another pack, pero sayang! I am still a noob, and I dont have the skills to maximize concentration on my patient AND efficiently manage costs.

For the record, I also made mistakes during my first tuli mission. But I also got over them and saw them as opportunities to improve. Specifically, I made mistakes in stitching and in identifying anatomical structures. I made sure that I did not commit the same mistake this time around. And I didn't. My stitches were on point. But yet I got wrong this time what I got correct last time. So that is a lesson in itself, that I should keep on reviewing. Medicine is a lifetime of learning and relearning, after all.

I once felt bad about my mistakes after the first tuli mission, thinking that I was a failure for doing them, and that I should quit going to tuli missions altogether. Nope nope nope. That is the worst thing I could possibly do. The one good thing about making mistakes is that it gives you wisdom and experience. To quit after having made these mistakes is to bury them away as if they have never happened - never to be used to improve oneself or help improve the quality of health for others. In that case, it would be a total waste, because not only did you commit a mistake, but it also didn't bear fruit. At the very least, I should use it to improve myself and others when I courageously tell them about my flaws, in the hopes that they too will learn the lessons I have in my practice.

THE PRODUCTIVITY IS REAL

I've been working since 7pm yesterday to 2am today. Non-stop bio!! GOAL WAS TO LEARN 48HR CHICK. AND I THINK I LEARNED NAMAN!!!

this counts as my post for april 16