This week should mark the end of our busy surgery posting, at least for those at ttsh. I just had my end of posting test on wednesday. After all the bad luck with medicine eopt, surgery eopt seems a lot more friendlier to me.
I got the simplest of all and to the extent I think it didn't allow me to perform well enough case, appendicitis, pre-op somehow. Nothing much to show off, cos everybody knows about appendicitis and It is hard for me to show anything more. Anyway my two examiners were quite well known, one is known to be super nice, one is known to have been kicked out of the curriculum board because he loves to pick exotic case for students during exams. The latter almost killed me.
When I was clerking the patient, my mind was thinking how come he would give me such an insipid case, very unlike him. I think I present well and fine, got most of the points, no error, everything nice. Physical examination nothing much, just go through motion. Then when it comes to guarding he starts to show his fangs and claws.
"What do you observe when you press there?"
"erm.. the patient twitched a little, because he felt pain?"
"What else. What do you see in the abdomen?"
"There is guarding."
"Why is there guarding?" Then he gave me that darn evil smile.
"When I pressed on the abdomen, I am pressing the peritoneal against the inflamed appendix which irritates the peritoneal resulting in pain and hence contraction of the muscle. This is guarding"
"No... what else?"
I stun. What else? I looked at him, lost. "Sorry sir, I only know this much"
He smiled at me again and asked me to continue, didn't even tell me the answer....
I went back to ttsh next day and asked mr huey and hepatobiliary team's con and both of them gave me my answers. When I asked what else, they looked at me and smiled. The examiner is super anal la. I can accept if you probably know more than me and most of my tutors but you dun ask a question and dun answer it. Joyce had warned me about him, already, always asking darn weird questions which student dunno how to answer and worse still he never answers them... Sorry for sounding offensive but good thing he is out of the curriculum board, but please, get him out of the examiner board as well ba.
Busy tidying up my room, doing a lot of things while I am free now. Still need to go visit my cofm patient and do a report. But for now, need to prepare someone's present.. busy... And yes, I didn't fail medicine eopt. I kept saying I had failed and even told my mum, turned out I actually passed. Though not very high but comparable sia. I am super shocked and surprised.
Alright, got to go sleep first, need to go school tomorrow..
whispers..11:31 PM
