Blog
Here we pen our stories about our latest activities and our weekly feature on Humans of Medicine. Our team is forever expanding, if you’re interest in contributing to our blog, feel free to contact us.
“My HO Supervisor Still Never Acknowledged My Mental Illness.”
Medical school was a bliss. I enjoyed learning medicine and hanging out with my friends. I was very cheerful. Once I started as a house officer (HO), everything became so different. Suddenly, I was the front liner of all front liners, the first person to see patients before all the other doctors, the one handling the unimaginable and daunting shifts. Yet I continued to push through each day……
“It Was My Duty as a Rakyat To Serve My Beloved Country.”
Let’s start off with a bit of my background. I was a medical officer in the psychiatric department before the pandemic began. When the second Covid-19 wave settled down, just as I was to return to the psychiatric department after my deployment to the frontlines, there was an exponential increase in the number of cases in Sabah. A new epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak was in the making, and there was the growing possibility of assistance needed in Sabah……
“Is It Because I Have the Term ‘Contract’ in Front of My Title Instead of ‘Permanent’?”
When I first settled down in a new area, I had to make necessary adjustments just like any other Medical Officer (MO) placed outside their territory. Yet despite being placed 1500km away from home, I was not entitled to “Elaun Gangguan” - an allowance given only to permanent MOs from Peninsular Malaysia who are placed in East Malaysia and vice versa. Why am I not granted the allowance? Is it because I have the word “Contract” in front of my title instead of “Permanent”? I’ve worked as hard as the permanent MOs to graduate from medical school, to complete my housemanship and now to continue my job as a doctor, only to be met with these discouraging hurdles……
“Why Are We Paid Less but Asked to Do So Much More?”
When I was a final year medical student, I gave in to peer pressure and applied for an internship in Australia. I did it half-heartedly, thinking that I wanted to stay in Malaysia and serve the people here. I continued with housemanship, which was relatively bearable, but my commencement as a contract medical officer (MO) made me realise that I had to do something to safeguard my job security……
“Only for a While, Until I’m a Little Skinnier”
When I was eight, I stood behind the changing curtains in ballet school and overheard a group of girls in the advanced class. They were saying one of the girls shouldn’t be dancing since she was so ‘fat’ and ‘chubby’. The small thought that it could be me in her place, with my friends speaking about me that way, nagged at the back of my head. It suddenly became glaringly obvious that my ballet teachers were unusually thin. Ballet wasn’t so fun anymore after that……
“These Children Come in Needing Help – And Yet I Feel Like the One Walking Away With More to Gain”
Picture this.
You’re feeling sad. You describe it the best way you can, only for nobody to understand you. You attempt to explain yourself over and over. It’s as clear as day for you, but why doesn’t anyone else get it? You begin to get frustrated, and angry. Maybe you start shouting. Or crying – large, heaving sobs that make it harder for you to speak. At this point, people start backing away. Maybe they get mad too and yell back at you. They give up on listening. They leave. You’re alone, and feeling worse than before…
“It Didn’t Occur to Me the Need to Tell People About My Sexuality Until…”
Self-acceptance has always been an issue I grappled with, and I believe it is of good reason. Hailing from a Chinese primary school, academics is one of — if not the most glorified — aspect in the Asian context. I was the antithesis of the ideal Asian student: the boy in the last class with a weak grasp of the Chinese language. I’ve always thought I was too stupid to even have friends. Who would want to be associated with me? I was the kid who sat alone in class, too afraid to even ask the teacher for permission to go to the bathroom. I just couldn’t help feeling invisible…
“We Are the Ones Who Must Break the Cycle”
CrazySocks4Docs is a day to raise awareness on mental health issues amongst the medical community in Australia. This movement shows just how seriously we should take this issue as a community. This is my reflection on this burgeoning issue……
“Why Is Your Hair Like That?”
I am a Beta Thalassaemia Major patient.
I used to miss school once a month to receive blood transfusions. The resultant elevated iron levels from the transfusions meant that I had to sleep with a needle inside of me for twelve hours every night as part of treatment to bring down iron levels to prevent heart and liver complications…