Month: January 2013

Do you have a dream? Have you got a picture of how your doctoring would look in the future? What kind of achievements? What superspecialty? What specific things you’d like to be remembered for? What your clinic would look like? What your hospital would look like?… Read more

In most of the hospitals I’ve worked in, there is often a big chasm between clinicians on the ground and hospital administration in their ivory towers. Doctors and nurses see patients. Administration see numbers. My goal is to get the patient well.… Read more

Doctors are busy, interruptible, distracted people. This weekend, go against your body rhythm. Spend 15 minutes (or longer) by yourself with no phones, internet, TV or radio. Leave the phone at home and go for a walk around the neighbourhood. Take a short train ride.… Read more

A good way to make your consulting life more interesting is to explore your patients in a different way. As doctors, we are not just students of diseases. We are students of life, for life. The more we learn about the habits and lifestyles of our patients, the more we will know how best to help them.… Read more

The modern world is a world full of distractions. Relentless TV ads, phone interruptions, mobile notifications, pagers, emails, etc all crowd our minds. Sometimes with good things, often times with unnecessary distractions. When you look through your day, are there distractions that take you away from the job at hand?… Read more

Remember that hospitals can’t function without secretaries, administration, clerks and many other desk warriors. These people hiding behind their desks and computers facilitate appointments, book operating cases, order equipments, and perform many other tasks that make our life easier. In patient care, they are an essential part of the team, but unfortunately they don’t often get a mention.… Read more

I confess this is not an easy one for me. I can go for a full day without any break, only on 3 cups of coffee and no other oral intake. Life is busy and I want to get my patients better sooner.… Read more

No whining. No whinging. No complaints. No negativities. No bulldust.

Can we try that for one day? The hospitals and work environments are toxic already in itself, we don’t need to add more fuel to the pressure cooker. Do not respond to any ‘bitching about’, ‘yakking’ or negative comments.… Read more

Go find a hero. We humans are natural at secretly wanting to be like someone else. We have a natural tendency to emulate something good we see in others, or for that matter, something bad. We idolise, we copy, we mimic.… Read more

I love the TV series ‘Modern Family’. Despite their quirkiness and dysfunctionality, they always put the Family First. As doctors, I suspect our families play a huge part in allowing us to be where we are today. All the missed birthdays, dinners, school concerts, holidays because of our work.… Read more