Re-watching Gilmore Girls.
This time around, I'm closer to Lorelai's age than I am to Rory's.
SO weird.
END OF POSTING WOOHOO!
This time around, I'm closer to Lorelai's age than I am to Rory's.
SO weird.
END OF POSTING WOOHOO!
Showing posts with label Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Online. Show all posts
Saturday, 1 July 2017
Saturday, 29 October 2016
HOs Nowadays Only Work 8-Hour Shifts?
Recently, another story of a HO meeting with an accident went viral on Malaysian social media. Reportedly, the unfortunate lady was returning from a 30-hour shift at a tertiary hospital in Klang Valley when- presumably out of lack of sleep- she rammed into the back of a large container truck.
Her car was totaled, but she emerged from it virtually unscathed.
Thank God and the good build of the locally produced car, she's safe.
But that is only the introduction of what I'm going to write about today.
Following the shard article on a facebook page I was following, surprisingly, was a barrage of comments from naysayers-
...
I am a current HO and I can say with confidence that quite a lot of us work over 30 hours a day.
And I am one of those people, in this current posting.
It's not because we are so generous and hardworking (though some of us undoubtedly are). By and large, the inhumane hours were imposed upon us.
Guess what, we still function- though barely. And you do not even want to imagine the mistakes that could cost our patients when a person has been awake for over 20 hours and working with almost no rest at all, then STILL expected to work further, until well over 30 hours have passed.
One of my MOs recently was taking a gander at our salary.
She thought we were getting at least 1k more than what we are actually getting.
I had a good laugh at that. Apparently, she got around that figure a few years ago as a HO- due to on-call allowances, and judging by our working hours she thought we were being compensated more fairly.
With the Flexi Shift system, we get a set amount of money per month no matter how many hours we put into our work- called the Flexi Allowance or so. Usually, this doesn't concern me in the least- I expected to work my arse off and get minimum wage (lol) even before I started working, because it's always what we were taught to expect right when we started medical school. But what truly irks me is the amount of people who do not know what is going on, and yet are so sure of what they are saying based on some statements by the authorities and higher-ups who obviously only know to make policies and not really enforce them.
And as a result, they think we are being pampered and mollycoddled, and that our voices of dissent over the injustice of it all are just a result of our lazy, self-entitled upbringing and environment.
Yes, the Flexi System was SUPPOSED to be implemented for the following factors- more manpower equals less working hours per individual equals less compensation equals more economical and effective outcome. Win-win all around.
But do we really have enough manpower?
Are the hospitals simply overflowing with doctors, and in particular, HOs?
Is there any rule out there that would strictly enforce this 'Shift System' policy with penalties for failure to comply?
Uh, no.
As a result:
If a lone HO dares to voice out his or her dissent, he or she is quickly met with antagonizing stares and fast-tracked on the road of extension and eventually displacement to another hospital. If that weren't enough, he or she is also threatened with a delayed promotion to MO-ship for being arrogant and not sticking to the status quo. Such is the way of the medical fraternity, I have learned- many are quick to anger and say they suffered the worst, and generational gaps remain massive and for the most part, insurmountable.
Words like 'during my time' are thrown around a lot, often out of context.
Le sigh.
It wouldn't have bothered me that much if some non-medical people had the misconception about our working hours. But hearing it from our own seniors really breaks my heart. What kind of attention would we be trying to garner by faking our own working hours?
Wake up.
30 hour shifts (and more) STILL exist for HOs.
We do NOT work less than 8 hours per shift most of the time.
And most HOs do not have a place to retire to by the end of their shift. In many departments in my hospital, there are no specific rooms for HOs on-call to rest- in fact, we are not expected to rest, thanks to our 'shift' hours that are supposedly blissfully short.
It is truly disheartening at times...
But life goes on.
And the job remains rewarding if you focus on the more rewarding aspects- i.e. the care of your patients.
Her car was totaled, but she emerged from it virtually unscathed.
Thank God and the good build of the locally produced car, she's safe.
But that is only the introduction of what I'm going to write about today.
Following the shard article on a facebook page I was following, surprisingly, was a barrage of comments from naysayers-
"There is NO WAY HOs nowadays can work that many hours per shift!"
"With the implementation of the Flexi System, HOs do not work exceeding 8 hours a day. That is a fact."
"Even I did not work that many hours per shift 30 years ago..."
"Is the relative SURE the HO worked for so long? As far as I know HOs do not do oncalls now."
...
I am a current HO and I can say with confidence that quite a lot of us work over 30 hours a day.
And I am one of those people, in this current posting.
It's not because we are so generous and hardworking (though some of us undoubtedly are). By and large, the inhumane hours were imposed upon us.
Guess what, we still function- though barely. And you do not even want to imagine the mistakes that could cost our patients when a person has been awake for over 20 hours and working with almost no rest at all, then STILL expected to work further, until well over 30 hours have passed.
One of my MOs recently was taking a gander at our salary.
She thought we were getting at least 1k more than what we are actually getting.
I had a good laugh at that. Apparently, she got around that figure a few years ago as a HO- due to on-call allowances, and judging by our working hours she thought we were being compensated more fairly.
With the Flexi Shift system, we get a set amount of money per month no matter how many hours we put into our work- called the Flexi Allowance or so. Usually, this doesn't concern me in the least- I expected to work my arse off and get minimum wage (lol) even before I started working, because it's always what we were taught to expect right when we started medical school. But what truly irks me is the amount of people who do not know what is going on, and yet are so sure of what they are saying based on some statements by the authorities and higher-ups who obviously only know to make policies and not really enforce them.
And as a result, they think we are being pampered and mollycoddled, and that our voices of dissent over the injustice of it all are just a result of our lazy, self-entitled upbringing and environment.
Yes, the Flexi System was SUPPOSED to be implemented for the following factors- more manpower equals less working hours per individual equals less compensation equals more economical and effective outcome. Win-win all around.
But do we really have enough manpower?
Are the hospitals simply overflowing with doctors, and in particular, HOs?
Is there any rule out there that would strictly enforce this 'Shift System' policy with penalties for failure to comply?
Uh, no.
As a result:
- Many hospital departments still use the on-call system, or very long shift systems
- We work way more than the 'cut-off' maximum hours per week
- We still do on-call systems like our MOs, but twice a week, without weekends off, and without the 'lucrative' on-call allowance nor ability to claim our weekends/public holidays to the maximum.
- And worst of all, nobody is brave enough to change the system.
If a lone HO dares to voice out his or her dissent, he or she is quickly met with antagonizing stares and fast-tracked on the road of extension and eventually displacement to another hospital. If that weren't enough, he or she is also threatened with a delayed promotion to MO-ship for being arrogant and not sticking to the status quo. Such is the way of the medical fraternity, I have learned- many are quick to anger and say they suffered the worst, and generational gaps remain massive and for the most part, insurmountable.
Words like 'during my time' are thrown around a lot, often out of context.
Le sigh.
It wouldn't have bothered me that much if some non-medical people had the misconception about our working hours. But hearing it from our own seniors really breaks my heart. What kind of attention would we be trying to garner by faking our own working hours?
Wake up.
30 hour shifts (and more) STILL exist for HOs.
We do NOT work less than 8 hours per shift most of the time.
And most HOs do not have a place to retire to by the end of their shift. In many departments in my hospital, there are no specific rooms for HOs on-call to rest- in fact, we are not expected to rest, thanks to our 'shift' hours that are supposedly blissfully short.
It is truly disheartening at times...
But life goes on.
And the job remains rewarding if you focus on the more rewarding aspects- i.e. the care of your patients.
Monday, 18 January 2016
E-Housemen: The Force Awakens
I have gone through the much-anticipated, arrhythmia-inducing process of applying through e-Housemen and would like to share it here... To the best of my abilities.
Sorry for the lack of screenies because as you may know, it is a very rushed process and you cannot backtrack to the actual forms once you are done.
I read the e-housemen guidebook which can be found online or after the KKM e-mail reaches you. I read it again and again to familiarize myself with the steps listed.
I sought to be in a place where the internet is strongest. This means NO MOBILE INTERNET and possibly leaving the comfort of your own home to be in the cyber cafe... Or to a friend's house. I noticed a lot of people living in more remote areas had the problem of their process 'hanging' due to unfavourable internet connection or device capability.
Prepare your best device. Try to avoid cellphones, and use a PC that is not ancient or overencumbered. Most laptops work fine. Make sure you are able to type accurately and comfortably on that device.
I prepared my own information: SPA reference number (the one you need to fill in the acceptance letter, as written on your offer letter from SPA), full name, phone number, current correspondence address; most of these were already filled in but I double checked anyway. These I sequestered on a word document for easy copypasta.
I prepared the information for all my family members i.e. parents and siblings. This may include your spouse and children if you are married. Information needed: IC no., full name, local residential address (no option for other countries which I think is a major drawback), age, cellphone number, job. All in CAPS. There will be several rather redundant dropdown options for each family member, which are: Ethnicity, occupation field, occupation sector... They can slow you down more than you think. But my advice is not to leave any family member behind, or omit their details, to the best of your ability. There have been several people advising us to just skip all but one family member's details to get to the placement window quicker. Being the person that I am, I am not capable of doing such a thing, as they have warned you to fill in everything. I think knowingly omitting to key in your family members is kind of like falsifying your information.
I also opted for the Chrome autofill and autocomplete functions to be turned on so that the info is easily filled in. For autocomplete, I included my name, cellphone number, correspondence address in CAPS. I tried finding ways to input other necessary information into autocomplete; I think in the end, you may put anything in the name/address/phone number blanks which may be used in autofill once you start typing out in forms on your browser. You can try it.
You should also prepare mentally and spiritually. This is to ensure you have the smoothest process and choose what is best for you. This includes prayers, family and friend support, and basically gearing yourself up to not get your first choice (or even your second or third). Be prepared to lose and hope for the best!
You should have registered earlier according to your date of offer letter. It only requires your IC number, and the registration usually opens a couple of days before the application date. Be alert as it may open before the KKM email reaches you. On the registration date, your IC number is taken as your login name, and you will have to create your password for your login process. Retrospective advice? Make your password as easy and short as possible. It would help in the frenzy of application day.
Ensure you wake up bright and early on the day the system opens and have had your breakfast.
Park your laptop somewhere close to the wifi router, or plug in the internet cable one hour prior (okay, 30 to 15 minutes before is actually very acceptable too).
Make sure you have all other unnecessary applications on your computer turned off- especially those that drain data.
Open website at http://ehousemen.moh.gov.my and find the Login page.
Log. In.
I started furiously logging in close to 15 minutes prior to my PC clock turning 12:00; I actually started trying 45 minutes prior and kept trying in shorter and shorter intervals, up until it turned 11:55, at which point my friend and I were inputting our login details continuously until we got accepted into the system at about 12:04. I lost count of the number of times I was denied access. I thought the people manning the servers might be having a chuckle about how kiasu people can be. In my defense, THIS CONCERNS A COUPLE OF THE MOST CRUCIAL YEARS OF MY LIFE OMG. Being cool just doesn't cut it!
Once I entered the systems, I noticed that most of my info was already keyed in in the first part of the form. I double-checked (rushingly) and filled out/chose the rest that is necessary: the No. Rujukan SPA, place of birth, number of siblings, religion, marital status, citizenship, number of children and sponsorship. From the e-housemen guide, these options can be seen. Then I clicked Seterusnya.
We come to the Family tab, which is probably the most time-consuming of all tabs. You may choose to ignore this tab in favour of moving forward more quickly in accordance to some people's advice. My advice is DON'T DO THAT as you should have read earlier. Here the info I have mentioned in preparation is needed. Sometimes it's quicker to type 'em in. It depends on how proficient you are at copying and pasting, or typing out information- which says a lot about your undergraduate days (hint hint)! Persevere in putting in your family credentials! I was being verbally obnoxious about it but my friend kept reminding me that your family is a blessing. You know it's true, but in the moment do you really? *laughs* When the youngest sibling has been completed, I gave my entire family a once-over, making sure the names and IC numbers and family relations are correct (rushingly), then clicked Seterusnya.
Then we come to the most confusing (but briefest) tab which is the Education tab. According to the manual this is for other qualifications than SPM and your medical degree; with the drop-down you can see it actually involves your pre-university courses or other degrees you may have taken. Foundation is notably not included. Some people who did the university foundation course just chose 'TIADA'; others put 'LAIN-LAIN', and chose the year they finished said pre-university programme regardless. Then click Seterusnya.
FINALLY the most important tab. Shriek!
This goes without saying, as you have probably visualised doing this a thousand times by the time you get to this spot. I know I did.
It's simple enough- you can choose to place yourself in a hospital or delay.
Choose your chosen hospital's state from the drop-down menu, then choose the hospital with available vacancies in that state in the drop-down menu below it. Make sure you choose the correct hospital as some states have several similar-sounding hospitals (notably, JB) and in the process you might not have noticed. Check as many times as you can afford, choose the hospital and send.
If your chosen hospital is not there, choose your next best hospital. If you refuse, and this has already been discussed with those who matter to you, you may delay instead by going to the Penangguhan tab. No one I know did this but the instructions are in the official guide.
They will confirm your chosen hospital with the next window. Read the name of the hospital and the state. Commit yourself as you cannot change this! Click on the 'PENGAKUAN' checkbox. Confirm your choice and hit send again.
A pop-up will appear! You have succeeded! Hooray! Praise be to God!
Print out your offer letter (saved in the computer as PDF form).
Screenie.
Post it on social media.
Go wild.
And pray to God you're prepared enough for a life as an HO in less than two months!
As for me, alhamdulillah. I got my first choice.
As soon as this was done with, my friend and I went to eat and settle some stuff, and we made our hospital stamps/chop and name tags.
Now I'm in the process of finding appropriate accommodation choices and thinking up ways to transport a gazillion books to said place before my PTM starts. OTL.
In preparation,
I read the e-housemen guidebook which can be found online or after the KKM e-mail reaches you. I read it again and again to familiarize myself with the steps listed.
I sought to be in a place where the internet is strongest. This means NO MOBILE INTERNET and possibly leaving the comfort of your own home to be in the cyber cafe... Or to a friend's house. I noticed a lot of people living in more remote areas had the problem of their process 'hanging' due to unfavourable internet connection or device capability.
Prepare your best device. Try to avoid cellphones, and use a PC that is not ancient or overencumbered. Most laptops work fine. Make sure you are able to type accurately and comfortably on that device.
I prepared my own information: SPA reference number (the one you need to fill in the acceptance letter, as written on your offer letter from SPA), full name, phone number, current correspondence address; most of these were already filled in but I double checked anyway. These I sequestered on a word document for easy copypasta.
I prepared the information for all my family members i.e. parents and siblings. This may include your spouse and children if you are married. Information needed: IC no., full name, local residential address (no option for other countries which I think is a major drawback), age, cellphone number, job. All in CAPS. There will be several rather redundant dropdown options for each family member, which are: Ethnicity, occupation field, occupation sector... They can slow you down more than you think. But my advice is not to leave any family member behind, or omit their details, to the best of your ability. There have been several people advising us to just skip all but one family member's details to get to the placement window quicker. Being the person that I am, I am not capable of doing such a thing, as they have warned you to fill in everything. I think knowingly omitting to key in your family members is kind of like falsifying your information.
I also opted for the Chrome autofill and autocomplete functions to be turned on so that the info is easily filled in. For autocomplete, I included my name, cellphone number, correspondence address in CAPS. I tried finding ways to input other necessary information into autocomplete; I think in the end, you may put anything in the name/address/phone number blanks which may be used in autofill once you start typing out in forms on your browser. You can try it.
You should also prepare mentally and spiritually. This is to ensure you have the smoothest process and choose what is best for you. This includes prayers, family and friend support, and basically gearing yourself up to not get your first choice (or even your second or third). Be prepared to lose and hope for the best!
You should have registered earlier according to your date of offer letter. It only requires your IC number, and the registration usually opens a couple of days before the application date. Be alert as it may open before the KKM email reaches you. On the registration date, your IC number is taken as your login name, and you will have to create your password for your login process. Retrospective advice? Make your password as easy and short as possible. It would help in the frenzy of application day.
On the day of applications
Ensure you wake up bright and early on the day the system opens and have had your breakfast.
Park your laptop somewhere close to the wifi router, or plug in the internet cable one hour prior (okay, 30 to 15 minutes before is actually very acceptable too).
Make sure you have all other unnecessary applications on your computer turned off- especially those that drain data.
Open website at http://ehousemen.moh.gov.my and find the Login page.
Log. In.
I started furiously logging in close to 15 minutes prior to my PC clock turning 12:00; I actually started trying 45 minutes prior and kept trying in shorter and shorter intervals, up until it turned 11:55, at which point my friend and I were inputting our login details continuously until we got accepted into the system at about 12:04. I lost count of the number of times I was denied access. I thought the people manning the servers might be having a chuckle about how kiasu people can be. In my defense, THIS CONCERNS A COUPLE OF THE MOST CRUCIAL YEARS OF MY LIFE OMG. Being cool just doesn't cut it!
Once I entered the systems, I noticed that most of my info was already keyed in in the first part of the form. I double-checked (rushingly) and filled out/chose the rest that is necessary: the No. Rujukan SPA, place of birth, number of siblings, religion, marital status, citizenship, number of children and sponsorship. From the e-housemen guide, these options can be seen. Then I clicked Seterusnya.
We come to the Family tab, which is probably the most time-consuming of all tabs. You may choose to ignore this tab in favour of moving forward more quickly in accordance to some people's advice. My advice is DON'T DO THAT as you should have read earlier. Here the info I have mentioned in preparation is needed. Sometimes it's quicker to type 'em in. It depends on how proficient you are at copying and pasting, or typing out information- which says a lot about your undergraduate days (hint hint)! Persevere in putting in your family credentials! I was being verbally obnoxious about it but my friend kept reminding me that your family is a blessing. You know it's true, but in the moment do you really? *laughs* When the youngest sibling has been completed, I gave my entire family a once-over, making sure the names and IC numbers and family relations are correct (rushingly), then clicked Seterusnya.
Then we come to the most confusing (but briefest) tab which is the Education tab. According to the manual this is for other qualifications than SPM and your medical degree; with the drop-down you can see it actually involves your pre-university courses or other degrees you may have taken. Foundation is notably not included. Some people who did the university foundation course just chose 'TIADA'; others put 'LAIN-LAIN', and chose the year they finished said pre-university programme regardless. Then click Seterusnya.
FINALLY the most important tab. Shriek!
This goes without saying, as you have probably visualised doing this a thousand times by the time you get to this spot. I know I did.
It's simple enough- you can choose to place yourself in a hospital or delay.
Choose your chosen hospital's state from the drop-down menu, then choose the hospital with available vacancies in that state in the drop-down menu below it. Make sure you choose the correct hospital as some states have several similar-sounding hospitals (notably, JB) and in the process you might not have noticed. Check as many times as you can afford, choose the hospital and send.
If your chosen hospital is not there, choose your next best hospital. If you refuse, and this has already been discussed with those who matter to you, you may delay instead by going to the Penangguhan tab. No one I know did this but the instructions are in the official guide.
They will confirm your chosen hospital with the next window. Read the name of the hospital and the state. Commit yourself as you cannot change this! Click on the 'PENGAKUAN' checkbox. Confirm your choice and hit send again.
A pop-up will appear! You have succeeded! Hooray! Praise be to God!
Print out your offer letter (saved in the computer as PDF form).
Screenie.
Post it on social media.
Go wild.
And pray to God you're prepared enough for a life as an HO in less than two months!
As for me, alhamdulillah. I got my first choice.
As soon as this was done with, my friend and I went to eat and settle some stuff, and we made our hospital stamps/chop and name tags.
Now I'm in the process of finding appropriate accommodation choices and thinking up ways to transport a gazillion books to said place before my PTM starts. OTL.
Tuesday, 22 December 2015
Shopping Under Sleep Deprivation
I daresay I have never shopped for so many clothes online in my entire life until the past 24 hours.
In total, I bought 4 pairs of baju kurung from one shop, then 3 pairs of (the most instant and convenient) tudung and a brooch from two other different sites. Eek!
One of the sites was Zalora, which promised me a RM 25 discount if I signed up for their newsletter, so I did just that. Only, I didn't read the fineprint which states I needed to spend RM 125 for that discount to be in effect- not until I keyed in the discount code and this statement appeared in glowing red font. Grumbling slightly, I looked for something that could raise my cart total by at least another RM 13, which is also on discount because if I had to spend more it better give me even more savings! The brooch was slightly short of RM 20 and looked appealing, so I chose that and proceeded with my purchase.
When I checked my e-mail for the confirmation, I realized I wrote my postcode wrong.
Bugger me. So I sent them an e-mail lickety-split quoting my order number and the error and correction, and as soon as that was done and sent, I changed the address on my account.
Ugh. I have never written my address wrongly before. Lack of sleep must have engineered this silly blunder.
HAHA.
I must get used to writing stuff perfectly in the most extreme states of sleep deprivation because that will be my life in 2 months!
In total, I bought 4 pairs of baju kurung from one shop, then 3 pairs of (the most instant and convenient) tudung and a brooch from two other different sites. Eek!
One of the sites was Zalora, which promised me a RM 25 discount if I signed up for their newsletter, so I did just that. Only, I didn't read the fineprint which states I needed to spend RM 125 for that discount to be in effect- not until I keyed in the discount code and this statement appeared in glowing red font. Grumbling slightly, I looked for something that could raise my cart total by at least another RM 13, which is also on discount because if I had to spend more it better give me even more savings! The brooch was slightly short of RM 20 and looked appealing, so I chose that and proceeded with my purchase.
When I checked my e-mail for the confirmation, I realized I wrote my postcode wrong.
Bugger me. So I sent them an e-mail lickety-split quoting my order number and the error and correction, and as soon as that was done and sent, I changed the address on my account.
Ugh. I have never written my address wrongly before. Lack of sleep must have engineered this silly blunder.
HAHA.
I must get used to writing stuff perfectly in the most extreme states of sleep deprivation because that will be my life in 2 months!
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