Change

Dr Nolan called me last week to tell me that I will be transferring over to anaesthesia in February. Of course when I first arrived in Sibu Hospital I did ask to be posted in either anaesthesia or surgery. However, now that I have somewhat felt more comfortable being in Emergency I was havi second thoughts. In the end though, I made my decision somewhat based on past experiences and current service requirements.

I chose to go and report to the Anaesthesia department tomorrow and here are some of the benefits of doing Anaesthesia in Malaysia:

Air cond. The main reason. Of course the Emergency Department in Sibu Hospital has got air conditioning but Anaesthesia is virtually the only specialty that GUARANTEES an air conditioned workplace for a doctor in the Malaysian Ministry of Health. For those of you who have never had to (be forced to) wear a white coat in the sweltering heat and humidity of Malaysia, you just won’t understand... (ps: I think white coats are stupid, even more stupid to have people wear them in Malaysia... with no aircond)

Limited need for communication. There is an enduring problem with language barrier between me and the people here that I am still struggling to get around. In the Emergency Department this can be a rather significant and even dangerous handicap as a VAST MAJORITY of problems can be diagnosed (or misdiagnosed) by history alone. From my experience in Anaesthesia before, we generally have little need to talk to intubated patients.

Opportunity for private works. Anaesthetists in Malaysia make amongst the most money of any specialty. Enough said.

Continuity of basic sciences to application. Anaesthesia is one of those specialties where you can almost witness the interaction between all those basic sciences that you have learned in your early days of medical school and what you do to patients. Most other specialties don’t let you ‘see’ it as clearly as any of those weird and wonderful anaesthetic drugs.

On calls. Working shifts in the Emergency Department while provides for some advantages in terms of time, only allows for passive call claims – which is not a lot. Though there will be less time for locum (which pays a hell lot more, sigh).

Plus I have a great deal of respect for Dr Nolan. He actually went through all that trouble to get me into Anaesthesia and asking him to let stay ‘a little longer’ in Emergency seemed not right. Not many deputy hospital directors in Malaysia who would actually put their staff’s interest as a priority over current service requirements. In that sense I consider myself lucky.

In other news, I fixed the washing machine’s leaking hose. It must’ve been nicked during transport.