On Saturday there was this NHS annual scientific conference thing that I was compelled to go since I had signed up and would face a hefty penalty of 70 bucks if I didn't. Not that I didn't want to, just I felt the day after CAs ended shld be spent doing sth other than academic stuff.

So I went down, and found to my surprise, that I rather enjoyed my morning there. The speaker for the psychiatry talk I went for (a man of rather high standing at IMH) was really engaging, and the topic of discussion - ADHD - was interesting as well.

Then there was this seminar on acupuncture as well - conducted not by TCM physicians but western-trained doctors. I had always been sceptical about the merits of acupuncture but apparently there are rigorous scientific basis behind the therapy. There was even a 'workshop'
whereby the speakers poked needles into the various acupuncture regions of audience volunteers, demonstrating some effect.

Although acupuncture has been in practice for thousands of years, many scientific studies have not proven its efficacy conclusively. So the seminar has not quashed my inner sceptic.

("Massage this acupunture region regularly for better health!" "Hmmm..." I say, while pressing the region of my dorsal interossei)

If side effects are relatively minor, why not?

Yes the first round of CAs are over! Obviously there are areas to improve on. Like Neuroscience was a case of rather bad time management, and some of the mistakes I committed could have been prevented if I had planned out my essay before I started. ah well.
Other than that the other subjects were quite ok :)

Nuff said abt the CAs. I still have lots to catch up on for other stuff! Haiz.

An update on post CAs activities.. I followed 'the gang' down to cineleisure for Jap buffet.. but the timing was pretty bad.. the queue at the restaurant was appallingly long.. we made a detour to another restaurant.. then decided again that the first restaurant we went to was what we really wanted!

We went back.. and waited.. and waited..

It was about 3pm before I got my hands on food, mildly hungry and irritated. Perhaps next time we should make a reservation, or choose sakae sushi instead.

At 540 we went to watch 'Tropic Thunder'. Don't ask me how I got dragged into watching that! I'm tempted to say that even without all the crude jokes and vulgarities its one of the worst movies I ever viewed. (Besides maybe, Queen of the Damned) But I did enjoy some parts of it, like the action sequences, and Weilun's reenaction of the scenes inside has convinced me of his future on the big screen.

However, other than that and its interesting premise of a movie within a movie, and a plot which manages to wrap itself up in a almost convincing manner, I couldnt stand the show. Sorry wl.

I'd much rather watch quantum of solace. Need to erase away memories of this disastrous movie.

I had Prof E Tock as my tutor for pathology pots today. And he just couldn't help but remind us how pathologists LOVE associating their favorite disease with foods.

Pathologists love naming diseased structures after foods simply because of the wide variety of foods out there.. virtually anything diseased can be named after food!

WARNING: NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH OR B4 DINNER

Show

For example, the stools of someone with cholera would be described as rice-water stools because they contain whitish grains floating in them. And those of some one with typhoid or salmonella are called pea soup stools... Maybe there's greenish stuff floating in them as well?

For ppl prefering sweeter stuff, there's currant jelly stools. Which is present in inflammatory bowel disease, dyssentry and intussusception...

And how did our pathology class get into this discussion in the first place?
The "bread and butter" appearance of the visceral pericardium in fibrinous pericarditis!

And what about the "kueh lapis" appearance of a thrombus in an aortic aneurysm?

Its dinner time, and I'm having rice with pea soup. And Currant Jelly for dessert. yum yum. but I'm not sure if I have the appetite...

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It was perhaps a rather strange time to go volunteering. And a rather random choice of project to involve myself in. But I learnt some lessons in the seemingly drab and boring job of manning a SHF health screening booth last Saturday.

I was hesitant whether to turn up for my shift actually, since I felt nobody I knew was going to turn up. But I did go, and was dismayed that it was actually how I imagined it to be - small, understaffed and completely unpopulated by students my age. But well, I was already there, and there was no turning back. I was placed immediately into the job of selling merchandise to raise funds for needy patients.

"But I thought I was supposed to help out with blood pressure measurements?", I splurted out without thinking.

"Don't worry, you'll get to perform them once more volunteers arrived."

Ok. I settled in comfortably into my job, trying to quieten sentiments of the "why am I here" type. And I did, coz I knew since I was there anyway, I had to make good use of my time.

Sure enough, reinforcements arrived within minutes of me starting my new job (just when I was getting settled in!), and I got my dream job of measuring blood pressure. And it was quite fun actually, except one person got a little miffed when I advised that in addition to having a healthy diet and exercising regularly, he shld probably see a doctor. (His high blood pressure was in the hypertensive range)

And I managed to convince another volunteer that her method of blood pressure measurement of was wrong. I'm not sure if I was tactful enough though, she didnt speak to me after that. Perhaps I need to attend more PDCP lessons in communication.

The event uneventfully, with me promising to volunteer in the future "when I have the time". It was not too bad a way to spend the Sat afternoon, certainly far better than poring over books at home or doing other routine stuff. I just hope I'll keep my promise.