Medical School Saga
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On Missing
Day 17: Something you miss. I’d like to talk about how I miss simpler days, my childhood and allathat, but I’ll always have that to rant about. Instead, I’ll talk about what I miss due to the present apocalyptic situation we find ourselves in. I miss going out at night, as going out during the day is for the birds. I am all about that night life. One time my girlfriends and I went to see Hustlers late at night and when we were done and ready to leave, we couldn’t because… the mall was locked. It was raining heavily and we had to search around in the rain for…
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SEPTEMBER BLUES
Or Summertime Sadness. But summer isn’t really a season here so we’ll just stick with September Blues. For a good part of this month, I didn’t feel quite like myself. I felt very unmotivated and disconnected from myself. At first I thought it was the usual, me being dramatic and in my feelings over absolutely nothing. But this was a wave that refused to pass. It was ironic as I had started the month so ambitious and motivated. August had been a good month and I was going to take things to the next level in September. I had even written out a to-do list for the month so you know…
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Razzmatazz: Of Air Conditioners and Mother Tongues
I will take you to three places. First, to an office reception, some years ago, where I sat with my aunt, shivering. I did not have a fever. I was shivering because the air conditioner was set to a temperature of 16 degrees. Please note that the average outdoor temperature is 27 degrees. When asked if the temperature could be adjusted, the receptionist gave us a cold ‘no’, that it was just fine. I was in utter confusion because she was visibly uncomfortable as well, as I could see her trying to keep warm, rubbing her palms together. Later, my aunt would explain to me it was so she wouldn’t…
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A TALE OF 2 WINTERS
My MB 2 story begins with panic. The weekend before my exams started, I got a couple of calls from my lecturers, asking if I had written some tests because my results could not be found. I was pretty shaken up as that was the last thing I needed to hear days to my exam. And how do results even go missing? At long last, on a cloudy Monday morning, my winter finally arrived. MONDAY The first paper was Pharmacology, and we wrote all the papers: the Essay and Best Option Type(BOT), in one sitting. The BOTs went well as a lot of the questions looked familiar, save a few…
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On Missing
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MY VILLAGE PEOPLE ARE FINALLY HERE
Ladies and gentlemen. My Part 2 Medical Board examinations are in 12 days, and research has shown that I have covered about 40 percent of what I should know. There are moments now, when I just sit and stare into space, thinking about my life and having conversations with myself. How did I end up in this situation again? You mean after the terror that my Part 1 exams showed me I didn’t turn over a new leaf? Disappointed but not surprised. On the bright side, my panic monster is now awake and all of a sudden I recognize the textbooks that are concise and easy to read. The fog…
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On Missing
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TO MY DEAREST PEDIATRICS
I have just concluded my first Pediatrics rotation and I am very glad that it is over. It lasted for eight weeks, and was filled with numerous highs and lows. I resumed the rotation with a huge sense of foreboding. The glimpse of sick children I had gotten during my Surgery rotation had terrified me enough; and now I was about to spend weeks seeing children managed for all kinds of illness. I had also heard scary stories from friends, about how the doctors were super strict, never-smiling and always on the edge. My first week was in the Neonatalogy unit, where premature babies were managed. I saw babies the…
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On Missing
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SO YOU WANT TO STUDY MEDICINE
Happy new month people! Sometime last month, I was invited to an elementary school to speak at their Career Day. The children were asked to come dressed as their future selves, and it was so heartwarming to see lots of beautiful children dressed as footballers, bankers, teachers and firefighters. It was extremely cute and I might have been in my feelings. The highlight for me, after the food and money, was this girl dressed as a ‘police-girl’, saying she planned to transform the very corrupt police force. Then there were those dressed as doctors and as I saw how many they were, I was filled with great anguish. For a…
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This Story Has No End
I admit that this time I may have outdone myself. It has been over 365 days since I lined the walls of this blog with a post. You must be tired of me by now. I am too. What did I not try? I wrote a couple of drafts here and there, gave myself deadlines and even resorted to self deprecation and calling myself names. I had finally given in to the forces that be, wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing, until some days ago, when a brown eyed boy asked me when I planned to write a blog post. I told him I didn’t know, and he proceeded to rain…
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On Missing
