Idealistically Realist

the north coast of Java island, taken during my last week trip to Central Java

"Do you know what's the secret of being a popular doctor?" my father asked, just recently.

"What is it?" I shrugged.

"Give your patient the most potent medicine. Once they know the drugs work well, they'll know that you're doing your job."

Don't Sweat Small Stuff

Overheard the casheer girls' talk in the hospital this afternoon when I was waiting for an appointment with a dentist.

"So what do you think if when the patients want to know which doctor is a reputable one in this hospital, we answer that there is no good doctor here?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Those doctors are nothing without us. Even we look less important for them, it's us who actually play a big role on whether the doctors will have good reputations or not."

"For even if we looks uneducated and less smart than them, they should not underestimate us."


Me, sitting there, so glad to have the chance to heae such honest comments from real people around the doctors. It is so true that we should not underestimate anyone in our life, for every single person have the possibility to affect pur life, either in positive way or in negative one.

I promised myself that very second not to inderesrimate anyone around me, either it is a patient who is not able to pay, a junior coleague, a casheer, even the janitors. Lesson learned. 

"Cadavers; thank them."

Woke up 1 hour late today, as a result I arrived 10 minutes late to the class.
It was neurology. The lecturer turned out to be a silver-haired professor, who -- just like the other neurologist -- is a brilliant person with a "character".

He was a strict person, pointed laser pointer to anyone who talked during the class, especially those who sat on front rows. I guess he is around 70 or so, but still has a good memory about the complicated neurology.

Near before the lecture ended, he gave a short message about how he want us to be. He said that he was a bad student, who usually sat on back rows. He told us to be doctors who have self-confidence but also pay a full respect to the others. We should always call elder patients with "Mr."/Mrs."/"Sir".
He also mentioned that the lecturers, the professors, even the dean are not our teachers. They are just our guide in medical school. The real teachers are our patients who will teach us in the real school: the real life.
"The most honorable teachers are the cadavers. Without them, there would not be any medical students and no medical books would have been written. They are the greatest teachers who still teach us even after they have died. Thank them."

"Roh Terletak di Mana?"

Hari pertama clerkship, kuliah hari ini adalah Farmasi klinik (tentang obat dan resep), Interna (penyakit dalam), Pediatri (Anak), dan Psikiatri (kedokteran jiwa). Some quotes of the day:

-Psikiatri-
"Roh atau soul itu beda dengan jiwa atau mind. Kalau manusia mati, maka jiwanya akan mati karena jiwa itu ada di otak."

Q: "Jadi roh itu ada di mana?"
A guy who sat behind me: "Melayang-layang."
Me: --"

"Selama ini kita menjudge orang-orang psikopat tanpa tahu sebenarnya psikopat itu apa. Padahal dari 10 orang psikotik hanya 1 orang yang benar-benar schizophrenia."

Q:"Apakah kalian masih menstigma penderita psikosa?"
Some students: "Yaa.."
Q: "Kira-kira kenapa?"
A1: "Tidak tahu..."
Q: "Tidak tahu alasan menstigma atau ketidaktahuan akan psikotik itu sendiri?"
A2: "Karena takut..."

"Di sini adakah yang suka melakukan kegiatan yang berulang-ulang? Atau terlalu sering negative thinking dan emosian? Itu bisa salah satu gejala psikopatologis. Hati-hati karena kumpulan gejala-gejala tersebut bisa menjadi gangguan psikologis."


-Pediatri-
"Virus juga punya hak untuk hidup. Jangan saling membunuh antar makhluk hidup. Jadi kalau dibilang infeksi adalah upaya tubuh membunuh mikroba itu kurang tepat, seharusnya adalah upaya tubuh mempertahankan diri."

"Nyamuk itu juga punya hak rekreasi loh."

"Pemeriksaan fisik itu nggak penting punya stetoskop yang ada mickey mouse-nya. Yang penting adalah pemeriksaan dengan menggunakan otak, bukan hanya menggerayangi pasien saja."


-Interna-
"Mau jadi dokter atau pengusaha?"

A Doctor's Prayer

"From inability to let alone; from too much zeal for the new and contempt for what is old; from putting knowledge before wisdom, and science before art and cleverness before common sense; from treating patients as cases; and from making the cure of the disease more grievous than the endurance of the same, Good Lord, deliver us."

--Sir Robert Hutchison