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national cancer centre Just completed a week with NCC- National Cancer Centre. According to a.chu it’s a work attachment, according to NCC it’s a career familiarisation programme. This is really long. A.chu made it out to be some exclusive thing during the briefing, the way he mentioned having to ask for extra spaces. And when zhiying and I got there on Monday morning, there were 30 of us, around 30 RJ, and roughly 40 RI. I’d think that by now I should have gotten used to the big R gatherings. In any case, RJ took the top seats in the centre block, RI the rest of it. So RG had the side. We started off with talks. A day in the life of a smth oncologist, and an oncology smth. 6 talks of that kind, followed by a tour around NCC. We had lunch in a café within the hospital, a lunch that was super expensive and not super delicious. Not worth it, so to speak. We never went back there the next 4 days. The doctors kept emphasizing on the fact that you cannot go into medicine just because of the social status. And that you have to really ask yourself if you can be committed to that lifestyle, especially if you want to specialise. GPs don’t have it that bad, since they’re their own boss. Dr Poon left quite a deep impression, and he really reminds me of my maths tutor. Day 2 started with talks again, this time from a medical social worker, a cancer society volunteer, and a cancer survivor. He’s not even 25, but he’s gotten it, beaten it. Lunch was 2 hours because we were very ahead of time, and when we got back we broke into groups; either the research or social aspect of helping out at NCC. The research side had the respective doctors talking to each group, and Dr Poon talked to the social side, cause he wasn’t sure what we wanted/could do. In the end he proposed helping out with the planning of the enrichment retreat for the patients. And then, if we like, going one step further by doing more, like giving tuition to the patients’ kids. First meeting in December. (: Day 3, our group was scheduled to go to the DMO- department of medical oncology. By the time all of us were gather at 815 the doctors had already gone on their ward rounds. Rather early, so we just sat there waiting for Dr Poon to come to our rescue. He did, and sent most of the group off with a few doctors he located. Then he brought 8 of us round with him and met another doctor. I vaguely remember him saying smth like those who aren’t scared of blood can follow this doctor, and then he turned around and looked right at me. I actually acknowledged that so weizhen zhiying and I found ourselves with Dr Ong. At the start we felt out of place, because Dr Ong had about 5 more adults around him, one a doctor and the rest probably medical officers. And that doctor had another 2 rg girls with her, and all of us stared at each patient the doctors went to. Sweet. Halfway through an MO answered his question and he actually told the MO straight in the face he wasn’t crystallizing the problem. Right in front of like, all 10 of us. Freaky, I’m telling you. His rounds ended, so he asked whom he was adopting. I raised my hand like I was in a freaking classroom, and wz and zy followed. We trotted off with him to see a few others, his personal patients, as he later explained. He brought us to a room, and explained a particular case to us, from there branching out into each patient’s needs, emotionally, spiritually, besides the basic physical ones. The ‘why me’ question, the stage of denial, then gradual acceptance. We moved out of the room, and were less than 10m away when he stopped us again, explaining yet another case to us. And well, just talking to us. This time it was long, and by the time we started walking again we had realized what kind of doctor, or rather person, he was. Weizhen turned and waved her thumb in front of me, when he suddenly stopped again to talk. At the end of that all I wanted to do was digest what he had said, and all that eye contact was killing. After his last patient we followed him back to the café outside NCC, where he made it compulsory for us to either eat or drink smth. He treated us, and the 3 of us sat facing him, while he began talking again. Halfway through green sweater ri guy, his friend and their doctor came to the café. The doctor bought noodles fruit and a drink and the guys just watched him eat. Compared to our situation, it was really quite amusing. So we listened to Dr Ong, the doctor we first were apprehensive of. Until now I believe he’s the first person I met who forms such intense eye contact. I felt weird not returning his eye contact, because whatever he was saying really and truly deserved all attention and well, respect on my part. A lot of things were said during lunch, but I shall write elsewhere. Because I don’t know who’s reading, and this entry is just an attempt to preserve the memory of what was done physically. He didn’t have clinic that day, but he brought us to other doctors so we could at least see. We went to Dr Quek’s clinic first, but wz who up till then was in front of me moved a step back, so I was first to be dropped off. I sat behind Dr Quek watching the other 2, then walked out because I had no idea what was going on. Right. I ended up retracing my steps because Dr Ong was still there, but the other 2 were already laughing. -.- he walked up to the door and asked Dr Quek what he was doing to me, because I was trying to escape. Righttt. To which Dr Quek responded that he hadn’t even started. Anyway Dr Quek.. nice. I don’t know if he was speaking purely in the scientific view or what because he used weird adjectives hahaha. I wanted to cringe and laugh at the same time when he mentioned certain things, but otherwise he was very friendly. And very young. He explained each case to me before asking for the patient, and called me in while he was doing a physical examination for an uncle. Halfway through he gave me reports of CT scans and asked me to have a look. -.- I hardly understood anything, only how much the tumour had shrunk. Right. Dr Quek sees lymphoma patients. I shall remember to ‘get myself sorted out if my lymph nodes are swollen because at my age it’ll be lymphoma’. And to get myself checked if my tonsils give me problems because that’s how a patient discovered he had cancer. Ah. Met Dr Ong back in block 4, and he took us to a room where again, he talked to us. Then we watched the new house officers being briefed, and left to go to the tumour board. That’s what they called it when a lot of them gather to discuss more challenging cases. Basically we found ourselves staring at CT scans from top to bottom the whole time the doctors were raising points and discussing. Dr Ong sat us down after the board meeting to round things up. Originally he wanted to take us along for a family conference, but he decided it was too personal. Besides, we might not have been able to take the bad news ourselves. So he rounded up, and we left. Day 4 started in the TRD. I think it’s the therapeutic radiology department. Dr Lee brought us around to look at the equipment. And he likened brachytherapy to thaipusam. -.- Yanjin and I were left with Dr Fong. He’s nice too, but maybe slightly uncomfortable with us due to the age gap. During that period at his clinic we saw the use of direct nasopharynoscopy- having a tube inserted through your nose. And so we saw the epiglottis and vocal chords. If I’m not wrong. We went to B2 where patients receive treatment and he explained to us a lot of technical stuff that happens before radiology, how the machine works, and they ensure you don’t get radiated at the wrong parts. Saw other machines again, including the external beam RT machine. It takes up a whole room because it rotates round the patient, and the room has ultra thick walls to protect the staff from the radiation. Later on Dr Fong dumped us back to Dr Lee because he had a meeting. When Dr Lee actually realized we don’t take the o’s he smiled and said lucky bastards. Like, help. Not that we’re innocent, but still. We were quite frozen after listening to him, the guys with him didn’t seem to be, neither did the patients. We were really, seriously turning blue. Earlier on Dr Fong offered us a drink-cold water. -.- We went back and I finished the present. Met up with zhiying and weizhen and we walked back to NCC to look for Dr Ong. It was so, so qiao. Zy and I decided to do smth, so did weizhen. Anyway we waited really long for him to get off the phone, and another doctor happily announced that we were waiting. since I was nearest and everyone was looking I just stuck my head in and waved retardedly. (: hemed and hawed, until Dr Ong himself said yes, you’ve a card for me? -.- So erm he launched into another talk, and thanked us. After that we all stared at each other until I asked if we could take a photo. Actually our photographers were already outside laughing at us. =| we left listening to cherie and yiling talk about how ummm emotional he looked. I didn’t realise it was that obvious. Day 5, we snuck into the consultants’ office to look for wz’s mentor. His table is a glorified mess; you can’t see an inch of space. Snuck back out and waited in the lobby. Dr Ong was there and we started talking, then he helped wz contact Dr Ang. Help is not the right word, because he actually told Dr Ang his admirers were looking for him to take a photo. Anyway we left for dover park hospice, and the guys miraculously didn’t show their faces, except one poor poor guy. The first thing he asked was whether he was in the right place. And my group ended up singing a song for those in day care, and the patients and volunteers were really enthu about it. Other than that I don’t have much to say, because I think the ‘like home’ quality is kind of.. overstated, so to speak. It was a tiring week. Corrected misconceptions, answered questions, new perspectives. I don’t know who said it but I agree that we’re lucky because not everyone has a chance to know what medicine really is like. Not that glam really, and not if you want to earn a lot. Those in the financial line get monetary returns if they put in more than is required. Doctors don’t, but what they get is satisfaction. Oncologists, in particular. As Dr Ong said, you can be a gynae and what you say most will be congratulations, but turning away won’t solve the problem. There will still be people dying, and these people also need doctors. You need commitment, empathy, and you need to be strong. Because when their world crashes you have to be there. I know smth was said that those who cannot take it will just burn out in 3 months. To all the doctors whom I’ve shadowed, and who have taught me what I’ve taken in the past week, thank you. I was uncertain, and probably still am a little. But I’ve had the chance to look at it from a doctor’s perspective; I’ve heard stories, learnt lessons. The programme was a chance by luck, and I’m glad of this chance. Especially to Dr Ong, who really bothered and really let me understand all of it. Thank you. Well I don’t suppose any of them will find their way here. (: Treating the illness is the easiest thing to do. |
