8 weeks of Internal Medicine just flew by in a flash. We start Paediatrics tomorrow, albeit with a note of apprehension. I believe my foundation in general medicine is not strong enough from the past 8 weeks of learning to be able to confidently start on medicine for little people. It has definitely been an eye-opening experience. I haven't seen enough to conclude that this will be the kind of work that I want to do in future, but I prefer it to surgery nonetheless; the lifestyle and the culture differ significantly. I have met so many patients and doctors who have left a lasting impression, and it has impacted my learning in a way that books and lecture notes would not.

Over the past 8 weeks there were a few points in time when I felt so tired of listening, tired of having to carry so many people's burdens even though they didn't expect me to. It's so dangerous when that happens, because I realized I started to distance myself away from patients, and started viewing them as entities, as bed numbers and pathologies, rather than as individuals. When times like these happen, I have to remind myself to take a break and revisit my priorities again. No one likes to be a nameless, faceless, statistic. I know this for myself as a medical student, because being ignored during ward rounds is such a despairing feeling.

I've talked to many patients over our medical posting, have seen many people cry and have heard many people who are frustrated and angry and frightened. I've witnessed a few deaths, a few malignant diagnoses being revealed, and it all just comes to sum up the fact that the hospital is a very scary place where patients are at their most vulnerable. It reminded me of what a privileged profession this is; to be able to help, heal and listen. Medicine is as much of an art as it is a science. There's alot more for us to learn (: