To some egoistic medical officers

"What makes a difference between a medical officer and a house officer?? not knowledge, not the age, but TIME..." quoted from my paediatric consultant Dr. Irene.

Recently just shifted from paediatric posting to Obstetric and Gynaecology (O&G) posting. Whenever there is a change of posting, we will be treated as "freshie" in the new posting although we were used to be a quite senior and trusted one in the previous posting, and that's why "tagging".

For all new housemen in O&G HKL, we will have to carry a tagging log book with us so that we know how to perform some essential procedures and recognize emergencies in O&G. Thankfully to the training i had during medical school time by my beloved University of Malaya, I can finish my job quite easily. Then before off tagging, we have to go through another viva test from either medical officers or specialists. After a week of tagging, I came across this Dr. S (a MO) in my ward, so I asked her for the off tagging viva. She asked me regarding a "uterine rupture" case, this is a case i never met during student time or during this 1 week of tagging period, with logical thinking and basic knowledge that I have, I was able to answer some although it's been almost a year ago when I revised my O&G stuffs for my final MBBS examination, and tagging is just too tiring for revision. Later when I could not answer some other questions, she started became frustrated and did not pass me in this viva in the end, saying things like "stop giving me stupid answers..."

If she can put herself in my position, I would like to know how does she will feel when being humiliated like this. We are all still learning, from HO to MO even to the specialist, why these so called "seniors" like to humiliate their juniors like this?? They were HO before this, were they not as stupid as us when they first joined O&G? Even if they are so "experienced", they still give stupid answer to the consultant "post-operative patient who have paralytic ileus is due to electrolyte imbalance caused by anaesthetic agents..." what a joke seriously. If I do not know something after I learned about O&G in the 4 months period of O&G posting in medical school and 1 week period of tagging, so what have you learned, my MO, in your years of practising O&G?

Even if the MO are bosses to us, we are still working together, we are colleagues, why they have to act so bossy and say something directive to us??

I respect the seniority of MO and their knowledge or experience (only if they have), and I accept constructive criticism from the bosses, but please prove yourself that you are knowledgeable to scold people. And before you do so, please put yourself in others position, are you actually doing a right thing? Is it beneficial? To you? Or to the one you are going to hurt?

"I bother to teach just because when I am old, I am might be be treated by you, or my children or my grandchildren are going to be taught by you, so I must make sure the knowledge is passed on, there must be continuation!!" This is the last talk I got from her, my ex-specialist in paediatric, Dr. Farah during my last few days in paediatric, whom I thought she always made my life miserable. Thanks for telling me this, it makes me even more faithful in this route of becoming a medical academician.

"Please be humble to everything in this world, as we are human, human do make mistakes, and is learning from time to time..." a scenery from one of the window of Maternity Hospital KL building, taken during my paediatric posting when I was oncall for SCN (Special Care Nursery).