Related Posts:
- My Second Posting During Housemanship – Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- A special thanks to the people who were with me in the Orthopaedics Posting – Goodbye Ortho!
- 8 Best Advices I Will Remember For The Longest Time – The Orthopaedic Posting
- Pulling Through My First Tagging Experience As An Orthopaedic House Officer – Housemanship Diaries
- My Daily Morning Routine As A House Officer In The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- My Support System During My First Posting In Orthopaedics As A Junior Doctor In Malaysia – Housemanship Diaries
26 days, without a day off. Well, almost.
The tagging schedule in O&G is such whereby we will tag from 7am till 7pm for AM shift and 7pm till 7am for PM shift.
The hours are great as compared to other postings whereby we only work for the designated 12 hours of shift. However, it comes with a cost.
There is no specific day off. Well, at least until we “off-tag”.
I tagged for 26 days. Technically, off-tagged on Day 20 but still adhered to the tagging schedule till Day 26.
How did I survive it? Well, I sort of “cheated”, whereby I took 2 days of sick leaves / MC for two days. It was unplanned, of course, as I did not plan to fall sick and I’m not the type of person who simply take sick leaves as I wish.
Luckily or rather, unluckily, I suffered an attack of acute gastroenteritis and was pretty much useless for the following two days.
I ended up heading to the emergency department of the hospital I was practicing in, all weak and exhausted from hyperemesis.
Thankfully, I was given two days off to recover. However, I was beyond weak to even properly enjoy my sick leave.
I was mostly resting and recovering.
So, yup, otherwise, how did I pull through the remaining days without a day off?
As I mentioned earlier, the tagging schedule in O&G is rather sweet. Although we had to work the following day, there were a few things I did religiously everyday till I offtag.
1. Going Back On Time
This is important. Yes, on certain days I do stay back to learn and scrubbed into more OT procedures or to simply be with a friend.
However, on most days, I made sure to return home on time.
This is followed by…
2. Eating Home-cooked Food
Yes, somehow it’s just better.
No. I do not cook every day.
I merely cook soup in the crockpot for the week. Set it aside in a few containers and reheat it upon returning home.
It is always accompanied by chicken, 2 boiled eggs, some random vegetable and sausages.
Why soup?
Because I consume it with rolled oats. I rarely consume rice. Usually when I do, I happen to dine with my friends after work.
However, most of the time I eat in.
In fact, after my last attack of acute gastroenteritis, I was even more reluctant to consume outside food.
3. Sleep
Yes, sleep. Sleep is essential.
Did I get enough, though?
Most definitely not. This is due to the fact that I get up early just to fit in some time for studying.
I’m a person who takes time to digest information and I require a lot of revision and teachings before they actually sink into my brain. On top of that, I had to offtag. This means that I had to at least have some form of theory knowledge.
Nevertheless, when I do sleep, I try my best to ensure that my sleep is as “clean” as possible. Thus, I’d keep my phone as far as possible and fall asleep to the sound of rain which I definitely enjoy doing.
4. Just showing up everyday and taking it as an opportunity to learn something new
Sadly or maybe not, this is me.
At the end of the day, being a House Officer is probably the “most protected” position to be in, in terms of being a clinical doctor. You are protected and are merely carrying out the plans or tasks given. It is hard because we are new but the burden and responsibilities given are much less.
At least that’s what I think.
Hence, although tagging may be a hard and tiring period, thankfully, I managed to pull through. Of course, the hours as I mentioned were sweet as well, which is an added benefit.
Thankfully, I entered as a second poster. Meaning, it took me less time to adapt to the system as compared to my previous posting, Ortho which took me almost 2 months.
Thus, my lovely readers, if you are currently going through housemanship / internship, or the tagging period, do take this opportunity to learn as much as you possibly can because it is during this time that your mistakes are somewhat “forgiven”.
It is a learning journey whereby I am still in the early phase of. Thus, I wish you all the very best. I know for a fact that we can pull through it!
Till then, remember to love yourself and take care of yourself too for you are all and every bit special and precious with a purpose.
Related Posts:
- My Second Posting During Housemanship – Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- A special thanks to the people who were with me in the Orthopaedics Posting – Goodbye Ortho!
- 8 Best Advices I Will Remember For The Longest Time – The Orthopaedic Posting
- Pulling Through My First Tagging Experience As An Orthopaedic House Officer – Housemanship Diaries
- My Daily Morning Routine As A House Officer In The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- My Support System During My First Posting In Orthopaedics As A Junior Doctor In Malaysia – Housemanship Diaries
The Theoretical Doctor 