我左手拿叉右手拿刀，将生活慢慢享用

09 Feb 2007

Event one:

Ever since managing the counter became less of a spin in the fog for me, I turned my spare attention to the treatment room besides the pantry. It is where the infamous thermage, the name of which spoken too frequently around the clinic, is carried out. My curiousity of how the treatment is like is killing me. I was so full of admiration when my fellow PSAs went into the room to assist the doctors in carrying out the procedure and was especially envious of a new staff when she was able to enter the room on her first day at the clinic.
Today, I was finally able to witness the procedure that goes on in that mysterious room. Dr Cheong did thermage on a staff working in the hospital. The thermage machine salesman was also there to give the doctor advices on working the device. It was a rare opportunity. I was able to question the salesman all I wanted to about the procedure, learn how to assist the doctor in doing the procedure and see how the doctor gets the job done. Thermage is quite a brilliant technology.
In addition to that, I assisted doctors in performing sciton on the same staff immediately after the thermage. Sciton is microlaser peeling, literally peeling away a layer of the skin where the laser is applied. It is extremely interesting to see how physics and biology unite in that procedure. There is just one setback in being there for the procedure: the occasional smell of burnt human skin is definitely not very pleasant. The laser would produce smoke, mixed with flakes of skin, along its track. The rather disturbing thought of breathing in human skin kept stirring in my head. :P
Nevertheless, I feel so happy that I finally got into the treatment room and it was FUN!


Event Two:

I wonder if the doctors who did the Sciton felt offended when the first thing the lady did after the treatment, amidst the doctors' caring words to make sure that she was well, was to ask who am I and thank me. Sciton is quite a painful process and I held her hands through out the procedure while assisting the doctors. I have heard stories of what significance difference such touch support can make towards curing and surgery, but I am amazed to see the stories coming to live. Warmth and support are really important to people ain't they?


Event Three:

Leona and June left the hospital today! SO FAST?!
Leona is a fellow temporary PSA who has been my colleague for only a week or so. Yesterday, the clinic manager called her to inform her that today is her last day. Boo! I become the most junior person in the clinic again! Oh well, I have only seen her for two and a half days to be exact, but it is really sad that she is going so soon. I have gotten used to her presence and I will miss talking with her about A levels and school.
June is other temp staff whom I met at the hospital. We first came across each other at the HR department on our first day of work. Remember we searched the underground maze of the hospital together, looking for the housekeeping department to get our uniforms. This is called 患难之交 :P She dropped by my clinic in the early afternoon to say goodbye. On one hand, I am very touched that she took made it a point to bid farewell to me; and on the other i am surprised by the second parting within the same day.
Hum. Will my contract suddenly terminates one day?


Event Four:

The results of O Levels is released today.
How come everyone knows that it is today when today is the day? Hum. Similarly, even though I didn't made it a point to find out when the results of A Levels are going to be announced, the news still gets to me. Very peculiar.
My mum called her friend to ask about the result of the daughter of her friend this evening. How efficient?! I wonder whether the phone of my house will keep ringing after the results of A Levels are let out.
Unless I have done well, wouldn't it be a torture having to admit my defeat again and again? And if I have done well, it is no less tiresome having to present my scores repeatedly and hear the similar comments like listening to a jammed radio cassette. All of a sudden I feel watched. I am watched by my teachers, my neighbours, my parents, my friends, my parent's friends, my parent's friends' daughters and sons...all those who know me. All of a sudden, it seems that my results are not just for me, but I must be accountable for them and I must be answerable to a whole bunch of people. Indeed, most of these people can do nothing and will do nothing no matter how good or bad my results turns out to be. Yet, they have to know. And from my stand point, it still means all the difference when I am presenting my results to them. Oh well, at least the results are not coming out over the new year. Can you imagine the results presentation being incorporated into the 拜年 program?

posted by jingzhi @ 11:11 PM 0 Comments

Lie

Just follow your heart, your feelings and speak your mind, for it is most comfortable living yourself. Are we so used to lying? A little lie wouldn't hurt. But every little lie you tell is a little bit of poison that slowly cripes into your instinct, slowly corrodes your senses so that you can't seem to function with your true feelings anymore. You become eager to please, eager to gain. From giving up what you want and telling people that you don't really mind to bluffing others into beliving in something that will let you gain an advantage, lies eat into you life. Eventually, you seems to be unable to tell the truth when you want to, and unable to face yours true self.

Try to avoid lies is to be kind with yourself, with you life. When you are lying to others, you are also lying to yourself. But you will be doing so in the full awareness that whatever you said is untrue. This will disturb yourself, your own peace, so that you might think about whatever that happened over and over again. Unless you are a professional bluff or you have truely convinced yourself of what you have said, lies eats into your serenity and the psychological impact can be lasting and unpleasant. Moral of it all? Try not to lie.

posted by jingzhi @ 10:17 PM 0 Comments

PSA

PSA - This is definitely not Port of Singapore Authority though social studies lessons and our general knowledge very well guide us into the likely conclusion. PSA refers to Patient Service Associate, the part time job that I am temporarily holding at the Asthetic Plastic Surgery Clinic at NUH.
What is the job like? Well, for those who have gone to a clinic / hospital before, you must remember those people sitting at the counter, whom you must approach to 'seek attendence' to see the doctor, whom you wait restlessly for to signal to you that the doctor is ready and whom you must give away your hard earned dollars to after seeing the doctor for a pity amount of time compared to the time you spent waiting. I am one of those people now.
Hum, to think about it, I have worked for only about eight days thus far. While Chen Lu mentioned that she managed to master everything her job demands within a day or so, i am still encountering brand new things every single day. Have I master 70% of my job scope? This is worth considering.
Being a PSA is really not simple. Besides having to know how to work the registration system, visit scheduling system and payment system of the hospital, one has to work fast, be patient, be alert of the action of everyone in the clinic (doctors, clinic manager, nurses and patients), and in my case, familiar with the services at the clinic. Be prepared to answer inquries ranging from when is a specific doctor free to how does a specific treatment work, a PSA is really a multi- purpose person acting as the role of casher, financial consultant, nurse and secretory.
I still trying to master all the skills that are required to be the professional PSA i see in my collegues.
Firstly, I have to start to learn to multitask. Imagine having four forms for each patient and five patients at hand - some doing payment, some registrating, while a phone call arrives to book an appointment. Things gets really hectic and messy, yet nothing must go wrong, and you need to serve well.
Secondly, I am learning to pay attention to the people around me. As a secretory, I need to keep track where everyone is in the clinic. Who are busy and who are not. Which nurse is doing procedure or with a doctor. I can't let a simple inquiry about is this person avaliable, that person in stun me. The more challenging part is recognising patients, which is particularly pulling me beyong my usual self for i used to pay little attention to strangers. But during my work, I realised that many patients assume that I recognise them and know their situation very well. They would talk to me about their condition and expect advise without a proper introduction. Hence, to be a good PSA as I wish to, I have to know the patients well and to stay alert. It was particularly impressive that all doctors around seems to be able to master this skill and I ll aspire to do the same.
Finally, I need to to know the treatments well, at least the basics and the cost. I feel so proud that I am finally able to handle some phone calls about our treatments by myself, instead of bothering the nurse and other PSAs around.
There are definitely much more things out there for me to learn. And I am looking forward to the day when I can move on to become a room girl.

posted by jingzhi @ 7:41 PM 0 Comments