Rumspringa

Medical
In Amish tradition, adolescents go through a rite of passage at aged 16. Before they can be baptized and live contentedly in the Amish way for the rest of their lives, they first need to know the alternatives; premarital sex, drugs, alcohol, unleashing their inner fashionistas, skipping prayer sessions, using modern appliances etc. This period of experimentation is called 'Rumspringa', which literally translates into 'running around'.

Amish or not, we all have rites of passages in our own cultures.

The process of initiating 'med-lings' into the medical fraternity involves another form of Rumspringa - running around the wards with little supervision. This, like the Amish version, surely requires a leap of faith from the fraternity; the conviction that we have been sufficiently well trained such that in spite of having watchful eyes shut for a few moments, we would still turn out alright.

While patients have faith in doctors, doctors have even greater faith in doctors-to-be. I was in surgery the other day. A 'lap chole' (laparoscopic cholecystectomy or removal of the gallbladder via keyhole surgery). Having already witnessed one earlier that day, I was rather confident that I'd mastered the renowned mattress stitch which plastic surgeons use, just by watching once. The surgeon agreed. 2 stictches in and he decided to take over from me. If its any consolation at all, he did say my horizontal mattress stitch was 'beautiful'. What he didn't say was that it was pathetically slow and my handling of the instruments was spastic and clumsy. Hey, at least I put 2 stitches in a living, breathing person in my first week of clinicals!

Somehow, I'm not sure that patients would have as much faith in their doctors if they were aware of how much faith these guys had in doctors-to-be.

Personal
Had a delectable dinner on Valentine's day. Venue: Steakhouse @ Pier 35. Dress code: formal. Company: excellent =). I love Rumspringa. You would too!

Recently,I've watched quite a few movies. Here they are:

1) 27 dresses
Heigl was brilliant in this light comedy. Despite a thin-as-blotting-paper predictable-as-melbourne's-winter plot, i was sufficiently entertained in the 2 hrs to keep me from constantly checking my watch.

2) Elizabeth, the Golden Age
This epic story of the Queen would have been a royal flop if not for Cate Blanchette's screen presence. Wait, actually, it was a royal flop in the US. Bottomline: People like history movies, not history lessons!

3)P.S I Love You
If you can look past the cheesy title and Hilary Swank's previous screen credits in the Karate Kid and Boys Don't Cry, you might just discover her versatility and get treated to a poignant romantic comedy in which the male lead dies after the first 10 mins. Plot outline: Couple unhappily married, husband dies from brain tumor, wife realizes she loves him dearly, finds out that he's written a truckload full of letters and handed them to people around her before his death with instructions to deliver them to her at specific times, she obeys the commands in the letters, which takes her to old haunts for new experiences. She finally is able to let go.

4)Sweeney Todd
Did you know that Johnny Depp can sing?! He's got an incredibly sexy singing voice at that too! And that Helena Bonham Carter (also known as Mrs Tim Burton) slips right into the skin of his demented landlady who abets him in concealing his murderous tracks by making meat pies out of his victims. She too can sing a bird off its branch. Verdict: worth watching twice at least.

5)2 days in Paris
Crappiest romantic comedy I've ever seen. Resembled a home-made film. And its plot was...*drumroll*...to see if I could keep awake despite having had a long day. Verdict: Not recommended to anyone except masochists and insomniacs.

"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives"

So its the start of clinical school. Togged out in our finest office garb to clothed the nakedness of our medical repertoire,we third year medical students infiltrated a number of teaching hospitals across Melbourne. All 266 of us.

Perhaps its a little early to blog about the transition from pre-clinicals to clinicals after just one day of being in the hospital environment; we did not even make it to the wards! That's been scheduled for next week. Yet the intensity of the third year curriculum and the immensity of the body of medical knowledge has begun to gnaw at me. The past 2 years ave been fairly structured; we attended lectures and tutorials and studied whatever was fed to us for the exams. This year, we're playing a different ballgame. With sparse lectures on our timetables (if any at all!) and tutorials becoming increasingly self-directed, the demarcations of what we need to know has become blurred. We're kicking the same ball on a new turf and by new rules that are being spelt out to us this week. Its intimidating yet simultaneously exhilarating.

Of all the lectures we have had today as part of the initiation process, one left an impression. The lecturer commenced his speech with "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives". Then i realized that this was the first day of the rest of my life.

Just watched: Sweeney Todd. Strongly recommended to anyone fan of blood, gore, hunks and babes who sing. (I personally found Johnny Depp's singing voice extremely sexy.)