I obtained the following from a blog written by a Malaysian doctor(http://standup.blogspirit.com/). Its scary, the life of a doctor working for the government in Malaysia. To think that someday, I'll hopefully be one... sends shivers down my spine!

Malaysian Govt Doctors Criteria

Criterias for becoming a Malaysian Govt Doctor. Theres no need for an aptitude test. Students should consider these requirements:

1. No life outside medicine; this includes dating, sports, clubbing, chores for your parents and visiting the toilet

2. Not to live with your parents. Move out ASAP as they will never understand the ludicrous working hours that u go through. Furthermore, chores are not suitable for u as to rule No. 1.

3. Not to be married until completion of all 4 years of Govt Compulsory service as u will be transferred left and right to some of the most remote Govt clinics in Malaysia. Having wife and kids to follow you to your new working area may increase high level of stress on all parties. Furthermore, if your spouse is a Govt Doctor, he/she will also be transferred away from u and no matter what appeal is made, KKM will put up a deaf ear (unless u have big cables or of a certain skin color).

4. If married, no to have children until u finish all 4 years of Govt Compulsory service, as to which u and your spouse will not have much time for your child/children or they end up not recognizing u and refer the Indonesian maid as their mother (change in language patterns commonly follow).

5. To obtain life insurance once your govt service begins as there is not many claims for accidents during work. Don't be fooled, Doctoring in Malaysia is hazardous.

6. Able to withstand 36 hours of non stop work and stress without mistakenly labeling Left for Right or uvula for vulva (or Volvo S40)

7. To buy a car with complete safety features (like I'm doing) which includes multiple airbags, ABS, EBD, side-front-rear-top-parallel and diagonal impact bars and seat belts to ensure survivability if u are involved in an accident because your driving resembled a drunkard maniac after working in the hospital for 40 hrs non stop.

8. Constant supply of coffee

9. Nicotine Patch as u will have the urge to start smoking due to overwhelming stress

10. Interest in watching medical sitcoms such as House MD, Scrubs, ER, Grays Anatomy and Chicago Hope to inspire u to continue your life as a doctor as the exciting things u see on TV does not resemble the real life of a Malaysian govt doctor.

11. Not to have any pets or plants (not even cactuses) as u will have no time to feed or care for them and eventually all will end up in your mortuary.

12. Able to endure the stench of your own sweat as to when 36 hours "on call" does not permit u time to bathe or freshen up.

13. Able to carry on working without food or water over 15 hours. ( I was in OT for 16 hrs without food, water or bathroom breaks). If during fasting month, able to break your fast with “water for injection” as u had no time to buy food.

14. Able to come to work with fever/cough/illness or physical disability (sprained ankle etc) as to which doctors do not deserve MCs. (My MO was on crutches during rounds)

15. Able to stand scolding, destructive criticism, kiss ass behaviors, racial bias, finger pointing, scape goating, and in competency from your superiors.

16. Able to withstand the jealousy when your friends call u up for some fun and ur stuck in the hospital during on call.

The list goes on. These requirements should be sent out to all doctor wannabes and for them to determine if their life coincides with the Malaysian Medical Health service of doctors under KKM. I LOVE THIS JOB!

PDA?

Thinking about getting a Palm PDA. My dad’s got a Palm Zire 72, he’s had it since I first left in late 2004. At the moment, the PDA I’m interested in is the Palm Tungsten E2. It has a few advantages over the Zire 72, however it does lack a few of the extra features that the Zire 72 boasts.

Now, lets have a look at the advantages of the T|E2 (I’ll be naming the Tungsten E2 as this from now on). First off, is the new version of Documents on the Go professional edition that comes packed with it. It has the ability to read and edit Word, Excel and Powepoint files. Also, it has the ability to read Adobe pdf files. The Zire 72 has the deluxe edition of the software, hence without the ability to produce and read Powerpoint files. Second is the fact that the T|E2 has a longer battery life. That is self explanatory. Third is it runs the latest OS version of Palm, 5.4 Garnet as compared to 5.2.8 on the Zire 72. Fourth is the slick look of the T|E2 as compared to the blueish Zire 72. Also the price is somewhat cheaper, although here in the UK it will be quite difficult to find the Zire 72 in online stores anymore: it has been discontinued.

Now the drawbacks. First of all, the T|E2 does not have a camera and a voice recorder. The camera, though only 1.3 megapixels could be used to take pictures and videos. Secondly is the slower processor on the T|E2. The Zire 72 comes with a 312mhz processor as compared to only 200mhz of the T|E2. This would mean that multitasking would be better on the Zire 72 than the Tungsten E2.

Other than that, both are great products. I already have a Canon Ixus 50 to take pictures and videos.

I have a camera phone the Sony Ericsson W550i as well, that can record videos and capture pictures.

I have a Creative Muvo V200 mp3 player, with 1gb memory, which can also be used to record sound. So, there are redundancies in accessories here.

Therefore, putting all the disadvantages aside, I think that it would be reasonable for me to buy the Tungsten E2. Just for the added feature of Docs on the Go Pro, which can read and edit Powerpoint files. That alone should be enough for me. Plus the idea of being able to scribble my heart out without having to waste paper. Graffiti on the PDA, it is quite an addictive act... Oooh, and I can even play games on it…

I’ll be on the lookout for deals on eBay now. Trying to get the Palm Tungsten E2 for cheap. And it has to be new and packaged in a box. I don’t like second hand stuff…

Neuroanatomy is hardcore stuff!

This is the last module for the year. Neuroanatomy. A lot of people have said that it would be difficult, and it comes as no surprise to me that it is. Its actually not too bad considering the brain is just one organ, but its really, really, really complex. No wonder they left it to be the last module of our basic clinical sciences teaching. All the names, the terms, the functions, the mechanisms, they get all mixed together in the a small confined area, the brain. Its amazing. Its the work of God Almighty.

Pity those poor doctors who have no belief in a higher being: they can't explain it scientifically, so all they do is say how amazing and how fascinating it is, but they fail to consider that this is simply the Lords will. No amount of time, nor evolution of species could have made us become the brain-centred human beings we are now...

Anyway, exams are not too far now. I think I have to start motivating myself to work for the exams. May 8th, I hear, is the date of the 1st paper. Its February already, and this exam is gonna cover 1st year and 2nd year. Bummer!!!