A Day in the Hospital

A day in the Emergency Department.

I have always wanted to see the actual situation in hospital, it would be good if I could have the chance to do so. Definitely not the reason that I was sick, I have been to hospital several times in these recent years while the ones in Hong Kong particularly left me with good impressions. I really wondered if this was part of God's plan, everything happened in such a sudden that I was offered the chance to do one-day attachment at a hospital. I didn't even actively seek opportunity and it just appeared right in front of me - I was in the passive position. I stayed surprised that night and kept questioning myself if that was real. Yes, that was real indeed. I believe that God made this happen, or else I wouldn't have the chance, to figure out what I actually like and also to affirm the aspiration that I have been holding for a long time. Besides the smooth progress of my internship and my safe stay in Taiwan, I could roughly recall that I did make the prayer request for a hospital attachment as well before I left Malaysia for Taiwan last month. Looking back to see, I knew God gave me the chance.

I was given the real surgical mask to wear during the attachment. I did imagine myself being a surgeon, opps :P 

This hospital attachment took place at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, one of the most prestigious hospitals in Taiwan. This is far beyond what I have requested, more than what I'm qualified for. This rare opportunity has allowed me to do job shadowing attachment in the Emergency Department (or called the Accident and Emergency Department in Hong Kong) and by coincidence, Emergency Medicine is one of my preferred specialties. I followed my dad's friend who is one of the department heads in the Emergency Department. 

I was leaded to tour around the Emergency Department after arriving at the hospital. The Emergency Departments in Taiwan adopt the American classification system such that patients are being categorized into different level of severity before the consultation and they will be treated according to their classified priorities. The hospital is really competent which is very different from the image that Taiwan has been portraying in my mind. Everything is well managed and the interconnection between one department and another is highly efficient. Procrastination is less likely to happen there. No wonder it possesses such a good reputation among the hospitals in Taiwan, it is comparable to the hospitals in Hong Kong.

The doctors brought me to the Intensive Care Unit (or ICU in short) in the morning. An unforgettable experience I would say, I didn't expect to have the chance to enter those prohibited areas. I went into ICU without any psychological preparation. I was basically in a slight shock and the real situations that were projected onto my Retina were just like those I saw in dramas and documentaries. Complicated feelings immediately emerged and it was hard to put them into the words. I know the path that I have chosen isn't gonna be that easy. For the rest of the day, I stayed beside Uncle Lim and observed how he did his job. He took me along while seeing his patients, at the same time enlightening me on many things that are related to the job of a physician. Even though he was on duty only for moderately urgent cases that day, I couldn't remember how many patients he had seen but certainly a lot.

All cases were different and some of the them were very new to me. I saw patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for the first time, knowing how he has to struggle with the disease for the rest of his life; I saw patient with geriatric illnesses and severe diabetes mellitus, seeing how threatening his unhealed wounds could be that have brought him a lot of pain and despairs; I saw patient with suspected post-natal glaucoma, understanding her trepidation as the suspected disorder could permanently damage her vision; I saw patient with chronic bronchitis, hearing her complaints about the discomforts that she has been experiencing and also questions for the reason why her illness has yet to be fully cured; I saw patient who just had an accident with a quite serious bleeding, seeing him being very cooperative and staying quiet despite having wounds and cuts (ouch, they looked painful indeed). Being a doctor is much tougher than what we used to think of, I have to ask myself if I really want to devote myself to this job field. 

This hospital attachment gave me noble insights into the industry of health professions. It takes tenacious perseverance and endeavors to become a doctor. Yet, it requires more than that to be a good doctor, a lot of selfless dedications and sacrifices have to be made. Being caring, considerate, compassionate, respectful, responsible, honest, so on and so forth, they are very important codes of conduct for good medical practices. Through this job shadowing experience, I got to see the importance of having these characters while practicing healthcare professions. It is way tougher than what I have imagined but my determination to study Medicine is getting firmer after spending a day in the hospital. The encouragements from the doctors are very invigorating, some of them even gave me their contacts telling me not to hesitate to approach them if I have any questions. Indeed, God has put a lot of great mentors around me during my stay in Taiwan, whom I have learned a lot from.

"When the call is getting clearer and clearer, you would eventually know what you have to do. Such call, people will call it a vision - sometimes." The whole picture is getting clearer now, I am still not sure if this is the path that God wants me to pursue.

Thanks God, for this precious experience and also the whole journey that You have been leading me.