when i grow up, i wanna be a ...

Way back in primary school, there used to be a particular form in which we were told, as Standard 1 kids, to fill in our ambitions.

It was so cliche then.

Girls would be nurses, teachers or even a housewife ... at the age of 7. Most guys, influenced by their daily dose of Airwolf, Knight Rider and the idea that holding a gun would be cool, ended up being soldiers, policemen or pilots.

Heck, if they could, they rather be He-Man or Captain Planet.

As everyone gets older and supposedly more matured, people start talking bout law, engineering, medicine, accounting and whatever crap that's available.

Which brings me to my next rant ... I think being a doctor is an extremely over-rated profession. If you're a medical student, your status is supposedly higher compared to other courses. Relatives start going go goo-goo-ga-ga bout how great it is to be a doctor.

Each year the same ol' headlines appear.
"Student with 20A1s unable to study medicine"
"Application for scholarship to study medicine overseas rejected"

Heck, there's even the more "noble" ones.
"I wanna study medicine so that I can find a cure"
"I wanna study medicine so that I can save the world"

A lecturer, who's a nut herself, once said ... "If you decide to become a doctor, you must have some self-torturing tendencies in you"

Do people these days even know why they wanna study medicine??

Every year, its the same ol' talk bout students not getting scholarships or entry into university to study medicine. If a straight-A student does not study medicine, its considered a waste of talent. And almost all straight-A students immediately decides to study medicine as though its the most natural thing to do.

What's wrong with being a rubbish collector or cobbler or dish-washer?

Another lecturer(nut) said that he hates conducting medical interviews cos its all a joke. Almost all interviewees are fakes and put-ons. He's pretty much a nut himself too ... then again, aren't reasons such as ... "I was born to study medicine" ... "I wanna be a doctor so I can help people" ... "Its not for the money, its for the job satisfaction" ... all too familiar. Really shows how creative society can get.



When you start Clincal School ... that's where the real shit begins. And you wonder, why the heck am I doing this.

It re-defines your priorities. Studying medicine to find a cure or to save the world ain't gonna carry you through.

Clinical School's where you learn the harsh realities of life. Medicine ain't bout Davidson's or Kumar & Clark. There's a whole lot of nonsense that happens in the hospital, whether in the open or behind the scenes.

So, do I sound like a frustrated medical student who has lost his sense of direction in life??

Heck, I'm loving every single moment of it. Maybe, that ain't quite true.

I "think" I know my priorities for doing what I'm doing. And it ain't to save the world or find a miracle cure. Definitely not because I got straight-As.

Do you??