#5 : Killer Department

Killer ??? Shouldn't we all be Healer ???

The ugly truth is that, not everyone is professional, even the specialist !!!

Every hospital has killer department at least one. If theres two killer department and you still choose to go there, i can't find a better word to describe you than "Insanity" !!

What makes a department becomes a killer department :-
1) The Head of Department (HOD aka Big Boss)
- eg: very strict, one wrong dose of paracetamol, straight away get extended. Forgot to wear name tag, you'll get warning letters, ect.

2) The Specialist
- eg : have a special request like, HO must remember all cases while presenting the case to him/her, they will take the patient's file away from you. Cannot set up IV line at patient's leg (even if its damn hard to set in the arm). Many more. Some i find very childish & stupid, like i said, not all are professional

3) The Medical Officer
- eg : all orders given by him/her, must be settle before evening round. Some are beyond HO power, like to call the family member to come to hospital to sign consent. Or to make sure the discharge patient go back before evening round. ** i'm not making all these, it happened to me when i was a HO**

4) Lame sister / nurse / attendant
eg : you want to take blood culture, but the blood bottle is not there. You order nurse to give oxygen, but oxygen tank is empty. Ask the attendant to take the blood investigation result at lab, but they only bring back patient's food (although lab and diet department is on the same the way). At the end of the day, you'll get scolded by your superior for "not" doing your job on time.
** some department has very cekap staff, while others, just makan gaji buta, specialist & MO never blame staff **

#2 : Less HO in Department

This can only be applied after you have entered the hospital of your choice. Why?
Because Hospital admin will always put new HO (regardless of 1st posters or not) according to the number of HO in a particular department. They cannot allocate all 10 new HO to medical (already have 20 HO there) when Orthopedic only have 10 HO left, right?
They will try to balance the number of HO in each department so that there are no jobless HO in one department when there are overworked HO in the other department.

The point here is, 1 month before finishing your 1st posting, try to find out whether the next department you're about to enter is depleted of HO (ask those in that department). If its not, then you will not face any problem with lack of HO. If it is yes, what you should do is....

1. Go to your hospital admin (normally it's call bahagian sumber manusia)

2. Ask the officer in-charge to change you to another department, normally they will ask which department you want to enter. (again, do some research on which department has sufficient number of HO, if not, you'll end up in the tiger's mouth trying to avoid a dog-bite)

3. Sometimes admin is reluctant to switch you to another department. Just come up with some good & solid reasons. We're all born as liar at some point, why not use it for good reason, lol

Problems related to lack of HO in a department :-

• +++ workload = one HO covers more patient, need to start your AM round early, go back late, miss your breakfast & lunch & dinner
• +++ stress = many complaints, tons of issues need to be settled
• Freeze Leave request = since less HO available, the department cannot afford their "frontliner" to go on leave (cuti), all your request will be rejected. Remember, your leave is not your right !!
• Shift changed to On-call system = shift system for HO is less tiring compared to on-call system. With less HO available, its going to be hard to create a 3 shifts schedule for HO.  They will end up make HO do on-call system. You're not getting extra salary to do more hours, okay? Only few will thank you for your hardwork
• Working on Big Holiday = muslim working on raya, chinese working on CNY & so on, while bosses cuti kaw-kaw... lol
• Have to work even if you're sick = unless you are being admitted to the ward for falling sick, some will not tolerate, you might get extended in the damn department for falling sick. 

 " Do not expect the world to be nice at you, just because you are nice to the world. Its like asking the lion not to eat you, because you do not eat lion "

Life is about choice

"Which hospital is the best for me.."

                "My parents live in KL, whats the best for me...."

    "Do housemanship outside KL first, then come back as MO, hmmm... "

 

Don't make choices you'll REGRET later  !!

To become successful in HO life, you need to make the right choices, not after you become a HO, but even BEFORE you become one !!
Why am i saying this?? Well... Whats the point of dreaming becoming a specialist, when you can't even endure HO life, isn't it?? There are stages of doctor's life you have to go through to get to the top.
Have you ever read in the newspapers, specialist or medical officer died at work?? Or Specialist / MO complain about their workload??
Most of the complain comes from HO, yes you heard me...
Think again, why do these complaints arise in the first place?
Its like, why do people complaint when the government reduces the fuel subsidy (causes fuel price to increase)??? Why the government NEVER complaint, they are using the fuel themselves also, right??

Most complaint comes from HO because they are at the lowest hierarchy in doctor life and they are being  pressured a lot by MO/Specialist. Pressure is subjective, meaning some people can deal with tremendous pressure where others don't. So look in the mirror and evaluate yourself.

Rule of Thumb
1. Busy hospital = Tired
2. Less HO in a given dept = Tired
3. Live far from hospital = Tired
4.  Busy department = Tired
5. Killer department = Tired
6. Old hospital = Tired

I'll explain them one by one in the next post, these rules of thumb, should at least help you in making decision, on which hospital you should choose to serve as houseman.
p/s : during pre-houseman course, you need to tell KKM which 3 hospitals you're willing to work as a HO. So choose lah from now !!