My Litmann II will do fine

By God's grace, it looks like I won't have to buy a new stethoscope or an ophthalmoscope after all! I should probably invest in a dermatoscope instead...

Wanted: A Cardio III stethoscope

My inability to hear diastolic murmurs through my trusty Classic Littmann 2 has never been so painfully obvious as in the last 2 months, since I started practicing for PACES. This has never bothered me before as diastolic murmurs are expected to be difficult to hear in most patients anyway. And, if one was suspected, echos are easy enough to order. In fact, one would be expected to order an echo.

My current concern is, should I bother getting a more canggih, professional looking stethoscope for my upcoming clinical exams? At a recent course in London, I was advised to bin my Litmann II, which has been with me since my student days. If I did purchase a new one, there would be the temporary excitement of a new toy which would last perhaps all of 2 days. Perhaps I would be able to pick up the odd new aortic regurgitation in a patient with Type A aortic dissection. It might make a 2% difference in my chances of passing. On the other hand, the examiners might expect me to be able to pick up a grade I mitral stenosis murmur with a fancier instrument, whereas if I stuck with my Litmann II, I might be forgiven for missing it. There is also the issue of parting with approximately 130 quid for an upgrade, which I am reluctant to do as I do not foresee having to use a stethoscope on a regular basis beyond the next 2 years if all goes to plan.

The Morton Medical website sure has a mind boggling array of choices, from the most basic single lumen type to the electronic stethoscopes which will even hint strongly at the diagnosis, not much clinical acumen required.

Would anyone care to donate a Cardio III stethoscope? Perhaps one of you who have crossed over to the dark side, err I mean surgery. Or even loan it to me for a few months, just until the exams are over lol.

Now my other dilemmas are, should I get a Snellen chart? Or an ophthalmoscope? The cost benefit analysis continues...

I'll be home for CNY (to the tune of I'll be home for Christmas)

I finally managed to get my leave approved for next year. It seemed to take forever as the consultant went on holiday, and then after he returned, he still had to run it by the other senior members of staff. My leave was granted on the condition that I make myself available to work both Christmas and New Year..:( Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I booked my flights that very same day - it put a smile on my face going into work that night. I haven't been home for two years! I can't wait to get on that flight. But first I have to study for PACES - I don't like.

Three months seems like such a long time to wait. Meanwhile I will have to plan carefully what to do every precious day I'm in Malaysia.

The wonders of Google Map

Yesterday my sister called me in a panic. She had just returned from a trip to London and was trying to make her way back to the peripheral hospital that she is currently attached to. Walking back from the train station in the dark in unfamiliar territory is just not the same as in broad daylight. What do you know, she took the wrong turning. 15 minutes of her walking down a deserted, lonely road later, my phone rang. I was tucked up in bed about to fall asleep.

' Ah Fong ah', she said. 'I don't recognise this road! I'm going up a hill so I must be heading towards the hospital, but can you double check for me?' I woke up immediately. My head was filled with imaginary situations of my sister being waylaid by neds. I switched on my laptop immediately, willing my computer to start up faster.

Me: 'Tell me the name of the road that you're on'

My sis: 'Benochy Road. I recognise this name. I'm sure it leads to the hospital'

Lo and behold, Murphy's Law again reigned supreme. Benochy Road was to all extents and purposes almost like a ring road around Fife. I rolled my eyes. She'd gone away from the hospital, not towards it. I managed to direct her back to her accommodation . It took about half an hour. Once, she exclaimed in surprise when an enthusiastic night runner suddenly popped up in front of her.

Me: 'Hey can you please stop taking late trains back to your accommodation? I remember the last time you visited me in Glasgow, you wanted to take the 10pm train back. You crazy ah? It's so dangerous if you walk alone from the train station to your place. Especially if you're not familiar with the roads.'

My sis: ......

Thank God for Google Maps.

First cook up

First proper meal cooked in my new flat:

Cantaloupe melon, proscuitto, wild rocket and parmigiano reggiano

Beef rendang, basmati rice and stir fried beans

a good Korean beer and a view

Ahh..good food, good company, and good conversation. What more could one ask for?

Moving

I said goodbye today to the cosy flat that I had called home for the past year. It had had its fair share of problems including:

a perpetually blocked loo (luckily the other one worked),
a mouldy ceiling for about 6 weeks when there was a leak from the flat above,
another leak which ruined some of my shoe boxes (fortunately the shoes stayed dry)
a couple of months when the boiler just would not give out hot water,
and the temperamental broadband

However, it was still home and I will miss:

sinking into the cushy sofa when I come home home from work,
the strong shower jet ( my current one is more like a stream),
the amazing king-sized bed which never gave me any back problems (All my uni accommodation beds have caused me grief),
the residential parking (parking was spacious there whereas my current one requires some degree of manouvering skills -which I lack- in order to fit into a tiny rectangle and not reverse into a column at the same time),
looking out of the window at passers by ( it's a ground floor flat, so quite good for people watching),
and the quietness of the area (my current flat is near two major hospitals, which makes for a lot of ambulance sirens)

Perhaps one thing I should have done before leaving is to try out the jacuzzi in the bath at least once! Baths are just not my thing, though. Showering is much cleaner and quicker.

Conquering car illiteracy, almost

I took the plunge yesterday and bought a car!

In the space of 2 months, I went from being car illiterate to now being semi-illiterate. If someone had said then that I would now be able to identify the make of a car by looking at the symbol on the front I would have laughed out loud. I'd been in my flatmate's car dozens of times and all I knew was that she drove a Honda, without paying any attention to the finer details like the size of its engine, or the make of the car. The fact that it was red made a better impression on me than anything else. You're probably rolling your eyes thinking ' typical female' now.

I decided on buying a Honda after hearing about its legendary reliability and relative affordability. The initial decision was between a Jazz or a Civic. Both the Jazz and the older Civic are fairly boring looking cars, but then I discovered the new British Civic circa 2006-. The space age looks and functionality of its dashboard as well as roomy boot space cemented the decision for me. It also has a red start button to start the engine as opposed to the conventional turn in the lock. How cool is that? Toyota also makes reliable cars, but being a typical female, I opted for the stylish Civic compared to an Agyo or Yaris.

I bombarded my instructor with questions as we did the usual drill of roundabouts, junctions, manouvres and emergency stops. What did PAS stand for? Power assisted steering. What size engine would be suitable for my needs? What was an immobiliser? Did all cars have trackers? What're the pros and cons of buying a diesel/petrol car? What was the difference between buying from a franchised dealer/ non-franchised dealer or a private seller?

My instructor was kind enough to accompany me to the nearest Honda dealer to check cars out. I'd decided on a 1.4L petrol engine which would both be cheap to insure and to run. A low insurance group is significantly more important for someone with a new driving license as insurance costs are usually most expensive in the first year. An insurance quote of anything less than 1000 pounds for the first year would be considered cheap. Unfortunately, it turned out that 1.4L Civics were thin on the ground. Most tend to be 1.8 or 2.2L. There was only a black version available which was actually a decent car with a low mileage and in very good condition. The only problem was the colour. I felt that black was boring. I'd have plumped for red, silver or dark blue over black anytime.

Most people that I asked seemed to think that black was a good colour, though, and that it would be easier to resell compared to, canary yellow, for instance. A quick look at news articles outlining the highest selling colours established silver and black as the colours most buyers would opt for. There could be a bias though, as companies buying fleet cars are also more likely to opt for black. White seemed to be especially popular in the Far East, like Japan for instance.

I checked the dealer website again just before I went in to seal the deal. A new 1.4L in grey had arrived. There was also a silver available in a dealership across in Edinburgh. Unfortunately the latter was in the process of being sold when I phoned to arrange a test drive.
CY happened to be on MSN at the time so I started chatting to him about car colours. Both he and CH thought that black would be better than grey. He suggested that I put a poll up on my blog but I figured it would be pretty useless since the traffic on my blog is not the heaviest. I also needed a car pretty soonish. HS panned black in favour of grey. A couple of other friends thought black was fine and were surprised that colour mattered so much to me.

1.4L in Cosmic Grey Pearl

The 1.4L in Nighthawk Black Pearl

Which do you think looks better? There are also the following colours, which were only available in 1.8L or above:

Bluish silver metallic. I personally quite like this colour. It gives an air of tranquillity

Milano Red. Striking, isn't it? This is a head-turner, for sure.

Alabaster Silver Metallic. Very practical as dust doesn't show up as much.

Royal Blue Pearl

Let's just hope now it doesn't get vandalised in the grounds of Monklands Hospital.....