Diet has become a strong 4-letter word that isn't.Diet is not starvation.Dieting is not about 'going-on' a diet.There is no such thing as going 'on' or 'off' your diet.Eating correctly has to be a lifelong commitment .What is more important is that you treat yourself well ,feel good about yourself, be committed to eating properly and exercising!!

This is the wisest word I've heard so far about D.I.E.T.

It's no longer about calories.
It's no longer about fat content.
It's all about healthy portion, fresh food and good amount of exercise!

LIVE HEALTHY IS A PROMISE TO MYSELF FOR YEAR 2011!!
( I refuse to call it resolution because if I can't achieve my resolution its okay, but I've made a habit of not breaking my promises any more. I must be a responsible human in life :p )

It's my first time watching the parade during republic day. I've always wanted to watch but for the past 2 years I've never gotten enough of sleeping hence never making it to watch my college march. This year, I've made a promise to myself to wake up early whenever possible. I've watched horror movie the night before and I've slept over at my friend's place but I still woke up at 8am to drag myself home and grab a tuna sandwich before walking down to KMC Greens. It's been a great parade to watch I definitely must say but personally I feel Malaysian students can march better...not just our college people.. any uniformed bodies would have marched better. Have you seen the marching competitions? and the band competitions in Malaysia? I must say that it is an awesome sight to see the absolute synchronization.Don't believe me? Try youtubing it and watch for yourself.

On the other hand, I've just finished my community medicine and I must say it's been a great 3 weeks-journey for my holistic mind. Not only I've so much free time for myself to do the things I've wanted like catching up on my TVB Hong Kong dramas but also on the novels that I've abandoned for so long. And also going to gym everyday without fail (okay, honestly, I've skipped a day or two).

Community medicine used to be a stranger to me, I've not fully comprehend the actual point of doctors leaving the more challenging and interesting, not to mention, lucrative fields like surgery or internal medicine but now, finally after 3 weeks of being in their shoes I've realised that the doctors in community medicine and public health are the ones with the greatest ambition. They are not only passionate towards patients as a person but they are passionate to improve the country's health system as a whole. Without them, there would be no health system working in order, no patients referred from primary health care to tertiary health care (hospitals), no medications supplied on time etc. It would be chaotic to work as a doctor in hospital. Nursing staff , hospital waste management, even though they seem to be irrelevant to us doctors, but working in a hospital is just like working in any office. You need teamwork, you need good organizational skills and communication skills to be able to survive. As for knowledge itself, it is a must for any good doctor.

So , for future medical students going for community medicine rotation, observe and watch the whole system play. You will realise the importance of this branch of medicine once you learn to open your mind and heart to a whole new level of passion in medicine. I've wondered to myself, why a doctor would want to take up public health when in fact he could be like any doctor working in hospital or private practice. I've wondered, I've wanted to ask. But I held back my question and I've wanted to observe. I've read once about Pulse Polio Programme in India from a surgeon named Atul Gawande who authored the book "Better" . I will recommend this book to any medical students undergoing community medicine rotation as you will see a totally different side of community medicine. It will definitely be an eye-opener and by the time you flipped to the last page of the book, I hope that you will place importance to community medicine as much as you've placed importance to the other branches of medicine. I hope that you will see community medicine as I've seen them.

Come tomorrow, I will start my paediatric posting. What to expect in paediatric posting? I've googled some and these are the links to some interesting articles. Hope it will be of use to some :)

Guidelines for the MBBS Students during Paediatric Posting

http://www.prsharma.com.np/students/MBBSStudents.pdf

Examination of a newborn baby

http://www.newbornwhocc.org/pdf/teaching-aids/2010/Examinationofanewbornbaby-ENC6.pdf