Best day of being a medical student

While writing this, I'm seriously hungry (still waiting for my frozen lasagne to cook in the oven), sleepy, having a headache (which is a rare occasion for me), but extremely satisfied. Started my day at 9 and completed a whole circle back to 9 before I made my way home.

I was posted to the Midwife Led Unit this morning. With the suggestion from my registrar whom I sat in with at the antenatal clinic last time, I mustered up the courage to ask the midwife if I could assist in conducting the labour as well. She was hesitant at first, asking how many normal deliveries have I seen, if I was allowed to etc. etc. In the end, I managed to convince her. I don't know how, but my patient gave implied consent as well.

She was a multip with a history of fast labour therefore we were expecting her to be really fast this time around but no, I ended up staying 2 hours longer than my session, missing lunch, teaching and half of my pbl session. But it was all worth it.

What you read in text books are so different in real practice. It was magical. I think I'll remember the birth of this young human being together with her two really witty parents for my whole life.

My emotions throughout the whole thing was like a roller coaster, there were peaks where I thought everything would start and go smoothly, then the unexpected free fall, when the mother said she doesn't want to push anymore, a minute later, she starts pushing but stops too early and the head went back in again (causing much panic to me), and all this while worrying about missing the teaching and pbl at the back of my mind.

In the end, after putting the baby onto the mother, cutting the umbilical cord, hearing its first cry, it was all worth it. All the pain just for this ugly looking creature to be born into this world. Ugly now but will melt your heart later.

Rushed for pbl after that, I do feel guilty for not staying till the 3rd stage of labour. Finished pbl after half and hour.

No, my day's not done yet. Ran out of the hospital, flagged down a bus, rush to town, caught another bus and made my way to Bootle for a sexual health clinic which was supposed to run from 5 till 8pm but I got there at 5.50pm due to the rush hour. By that time, if you gave me a pillow, I would have dozed off straight away.

How I wished I would have met this doctor earlier. She was so passionate in her job that it drove away all the tiredness in me. Contraceptions was always a dull topic in textbooks but she could make it so interesting just by demonstrating it through her interactions with the patients was just amazing. Even though I didn't get to do much, I truly enjoyed the session.

I was planning to go off at 8pm as that was what my timetable says, but I stayed till her last patient as I was (for the first time) really enjoyed a clinic. By the time she finished, it was already 9pm. It was really nice of her to offer me a lift into town as the buses from Bootle into Liverpool were infrequent at that time. I was of course, thought of my own safety for going home at 9pm from Bootle as well.

I guess when you're passionate about what you're doing, you won't feel or look tired at all. She told me that she started at 8 this morning, which was 1 hour earlier than me and it was abnormal for her to finish this early in the evening. 1 word - superwoman. She does remind me of a few doctors whom I met at Selayang Hospital during my electives as they still looked so energetic and fresh at the end of the day. One of them ever mentioned that you won't feel tired if you are passionate about your work. Another piece of evidence to add to the book after today.

Althought I haven't found my beloved Obs and Gynae handbook yet, it wasn't such a bad price to pay to end this rotation with a bang. My aim now is to find my passion in medicine, and hopefully I can be like them, sharing my passion with others and inspiring them.