Wow....I think I only wrote...3? entries for the entire year of med 3!
Some would say, med 3's the critical year, the most intense year, the most challenging year for a med student...
For me, it just passed by in a blur...exams, ward, lectures, exams, sleep, ward, canteen food, exams, ward, case report, library, take out, exams etc. etc. etc.

The Bad
-Health...something I completed lacked throughout med 3...extremely deranged sleeping cycle, 0-maybe...1/2 hr of exercise a week? hahaha, pretty much junk food every day, high levels of stress constantly, topping it all up with regular doses of caffeine lol...there you go, Doctors, or should i say med students, prob lead the most unhealthy lifestyles possible...well ok, at least I do :P
-Sleep...arghhhh I cannot believe that something I used to list as one of my 'hobbies' previously has now come back to haunt me...insomnia had never been in my dictionary until med school and has really reached new levels in med 3...my hypothalamus somehow fails to work the night before exams???!!
-Isolation...exams when other ppl are having holidays and holidays when it's exam period for everyone else...not the best combination for social gatherings! It felt so weird going back to CU one day in the midst of MB preparation, seeing all the carefree faces of students just hanging around and preparing for an event was really a huge contrast compared to all the stress at PW lib/study room...and a breath of fresh air too! I really miss CU's beautiful campus!!!!
-Stress...had wayyyyy wayyyyy too much of this! Enough said.

The Good
-Rotations...going to wards has made the whole year more bearable~ despite getting the onco x team 4 rotation (lol, i'm used to getting the look of pity from seniors when they heard about my rotation combination) it's really been a whole new experience seeing and talking to actual patients. The doctors we met (well...if we could actually find a dr around in ndh :P) were all (well...mostly :P) really really nice and I remember constantly being in awe at how knowledgeable and capable they are...cannot even imagine myself being like them one day!!
-Groupmates...thank you guys so much!!!! :) It's been so much fun going through my rotations with you guys~ not sure if any of you will be reading this~ but I've learned a lot from each of you! Hahahaha and I still remember all the hilarious stuff that happened during our rotations XD
-Class of 2012...haha I really love this class!!! Wouldn't have passed med 3 without all you amazing people! Enough said. :)

Came across this quote by  Benjamin Franklin: "Beware of young doctors and old barbers" lol which actually triggered some thoughts...

Taking history/doing exams/simply talking to patients at ward has made me realise that without a certain degree of maturity or life experience it's quite hard to be a good doctor and provide holistic care to a patient...as a person barely out of their teens growing up in an average middle class family, it's hard to relate to some of the things that a lot of patients have to face whilst dealing with their illness, it's even harder to provide convincing advice/comfort to a patient when they talk about how much their illness has affected their whole family...all we can do to assure our patients is try our best to act mature and give off a (false) sense of confidence... thinking back, I've seen all sides of human nature within the few months of ward exposure, and I guess what I've seen and heard has really pushed me to mature faster than I should.... this suddenly reminds me of 區樂民's quote about female med students and how they end up as 黃臉婆 after graduation hahaha~ the job nature really does require you to act and be much more mature than your age! Makes me appreciate the benefits of medicine as a graduate degree even more! (at least you get 3-4 years to actually experience university life!)

Speaking of old barbers... I need to get a hair cut sometime soon!

Ahhhhhhh!!! I hate packing!!! Especially for trips longer than a week!
The more I think about what I might have left out the more things I end up throwing into my already bursting bag and the more bags I have full of stuff I probably won't use in the end anyways!!!

Back from Sichuan on 29/6! (...just in time for school?? x_x)