We are still screening the applicants for the first year of residency training for the next year. Looks like our incoming chief resident (duh, you automatically become chief resident at our institution since there's only one radiology resident accepted every year...) R.J. got his wish... the next resident will be female since the three who are undergoing screening right now are all female... The other three residents (R.J. will be the lone male resident then) will be from hereon dubbed as "R.J.'s Angels".

I've always been a teacher at heart (I remember drawing a teacher way back in second grade when asked about what I wanted to be when I grow up), and both my parents have taught, too. (Mama-grade school English, Papa-college level business management/accountancy math subjects), so I enjoy showing the applicants the day-to-day lives of the radiology resident...Can be boring, not too stressful, but a lot of technology and equipment to master. We also are asked to lecture the third year medical students, which, though an extra job, and the need tio travel to the university, is secretly something I have grown fond of.

Initially, I agreed with R.J. on his choice for a future co-resident, but now that the second applicant is rotating, I'm again weighing things in mind...

Whoever it is, I hope she sticks through the thick and thin of four years so that there won't be anymore rotation problems....

For the past few weeks, we have been in the midst of the ongoing changes a the department's ct-scan with the pull-out of one machine,renovation of the scan room, reception area and control roon, and the upcoming installment of the brand new machine.

We're still open for business though...

Thus all the inconveniences: dust flying left and right, the worker going in and out, the scent of paint, thinner varnish, etc. all over the air, cables, wires, pipes, left and right, the noise of the drillers, hammers, drivers, etc, the construction crew moving in and out of the area the whole time...

What is one to do then?

One can choose to complain the whole day and drive oneself ill... On the other hand, I think the best response is to take in all these inconveniences with a smie and inwardly offer them up to our Lord.

Offering unexpected inconveniences to our Lord makes for a triple win situation: You are not going to be saddled down by the inconveniece, you can gain merits in front of our Lord, and you can also attached an intention to the inconvenience as well.

All it takes is inwardly saying: "Lord, I offer up this noxious chemical smells to You with the intention of my mother getting better from her current illness." You can replace the underlined words with your own inconveniences and your own intentions.

That's the beauty of seeing things in a supernatural manner.

What awaits

Beyond the dawn

Escapes my thoughts

I cannot seem to

Comprehend

The waves as they

Rush

Against the sand

Not much to glance

Yet I adore

These petals strewn

Amidst the grass

Under the shade

Of the forest grand

Stars seem to dance

On the sunbeam's last rays

Admitting that

The night has come

To take its chances

Against the setting sun

Still my heart then

To a silent tune

Beneath the glance

Of things to come

Magical mystery

Woven and wrought

By Time's sure hands

To grieve no more

And rejoice again

-jara-

(c.2009)

The year while doing my senior clerkship, I received a homemade Christmas Card/Joke depicting me as the "Sleeping Intern/Senior Clerk".... My friends knew exactly the reason why I deserved this distinction....

Reason 1: A code was called early in the morning. The medical resident attempted to insert a line. Failing to do so the first time, he handed me the IV cath while he searched for another site. I absentmindedly placed the the IV catheter on the bedside table. He put out his hand to receive the IV cath from me to re-use. Not a few eyes were on me as I was about to hand it back to him. In a split second he pause and asked, "Sterile pa na? (Is it still sterile?)". It took me about a minute to react, withdraw my hand from his reach with the IV cath in hand and say, "Ay, Doc, dili na diay... (Doctor, it's not sterile anymore...)." Later that day, I was the butt of jokes from my male groupmates for the near fiasco.

Reason 2: I was assigned to the 3rd and 4th floors a private hospital, mostly made up of private rooms. Not having many morbid patients, I decided to take a snooze. I was still disoriented upon waking up when the nurse-on-duty casually commented, "Doc, wala diay ka kadungog sa code sa ER? (Doctor, didn't you hear the code called for the ER?)." I quickly tested my on-duty groupmate. She confirmed what the nurse said, but added that I should not worry about being cited for a possible extension since the patient was declared dead on arrival anyway. That morning during endorsements, she shook her head at me and said, "You were the only one who wasn't able to wake up and respond to the code; Everyone else was there."

Reason 3: While on neurosurgery rotation, I was sleeping on the counter at the nurse's station sometime past dawn. The resident had to drum his knuckles on the counter for close to a minute steer me off of dreamland. I raised my head and inquired, "Yes, Doc?" "We have a patient in the ER,"he said. I was still bleary eyed as I followed him down the stairs to see the patient.

Reason 4: I had just stirred from sleeping on the ER reception table while on pediatrics rotation. The resident was attending to a patient at that time, but she turned to me and gave the shocked remark, "Hoy, panudlay intawon! (Hey, comb your hair!)" Talk about bad hair days....

Nowadays, while on duty, I usually get to sleep until the radiologic technologist, senior clerk, post graduate intern, resident or consultant wakes me up to give preliminary readings of plain radiographs, ct-scan or mri images. I guess somethings never change...