2 Weeks

I've been sitting here for about half an hour trying to figure out what to write. I came home an hour ago from the hospital after a night-shift and a few hours of studying and being on-call for the Labour Ward after a few short hours of sleep. I am so tired.

Ramazan has knocked me around with sleep and life in general. I haven't been able to study, study or eat properly for two weeks now. I'm not complaining - I'm very happy to have maintained it for this long. It's the first time I'm taking it seriously and it's my own personal challenge to complete the month out of respect to those without the basic necessities.

My weekend was good - I got a chance to see the Med Revue, which is held every year by the Stage 1 students. This year's Revue was fantastic, but I must say it was on par with my year's efforts. It was a great night of laughs and entertainment - I haven't had so much fun since going to Cairns. One of the most important functions of the Revue is to mock the system, make it clear how ridiculous it can be and also shoot some people along the way such as the Dean or some of the academics, particularly one of the Professors of Anatomy.

A part of one scene in the Revue was dedicated to the lecture I gave the first year students! The scene was a patient being seen by one of the doctors, who paged the superhero team to work out what's wrong. The first superhero being Superwoman decided to have a look at the patient with her x-ray goggles and then said Hang on! One view is one view too few!

That was the principle I taught them in my first lecture and I obviously emphasised it enough for them to mention it in the Revue. I thought of it as a friendly message.

But the high tide is approaching. Our exams, assessments are but a few months away and I am far from ready. My lack of sleep and motivation have made preparation quite difficult coupled with a few busy days at work. I haven't had much to do with critical thinking because being paired with a Midwife in the Labour Ward doesn't evoke much conversation about clinical medicine. They are more interested in the women and of course their outcome, which is appropriate and fair. It however gives me the perfect opportunity not to study and just observe and that is something the Professor of Obstetrics emphasised Grasp what's going on around you. It'll make a whole lot more sense to you.

My issue is that I have been leaving the Hospital everyday with this emptiness. I am not as useful as I was back in the Medical and Surgical wards. Those days feel so far away. Add the feeling of not learning anything on a daily basis... I'm putting out my flames with gasoline.

It's time for bedrest after a very long 48 hours.