Doctor, doctor

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was become a doctor. At 9 I was playing with my own "Play Doctor" set, you know, with the fake stethoscope and fake syringes and medicines. So all I did from then on, was study super hard, cos mum and dad told me that's the only way. And all I ever did in exams was score A's.

By the time I reached 17, I had sat for SPM, done well and had only one thought in my mind...medicine. Knowing full well that my folks could never send me abroad, I was left with one choice...STP lar...the dreaded one! So single minded and one tracked I was back then.

Form Six in SJI changed quite a bit of that. I was exposed to a bunch of classmates smarter, better than I. Bigger pond mah! Anyways, I was also exposed to the creative arts, drama, music ( I was in the choir, can you believe that???). I met people like Nazruddin Rahman, who showed me the fun of being in school, of pretending on stage and just chilling...things I didn't do before, single tracked mind that I had. Anyways, by the time the exams came around, I began to realise that I probably wouldn't cut it...5A's way beyond my reach. Also, I began to wonder if I really did want to do medicine?

I'd become a bit smarter lar, realising that that career would basically kill any social life I'd planned to have. I am so glad I came to my senses. These days, when my patients ask me, if Dentistry was my first choice, I say yes. Why? Because it's really not as DEMANDING as medicine. I have friends, really dedicated doctors, who went down that path. Life for them has never been easy, the physical demands of being on call for 48 hours, doing endless rounds, sucking up to bosses and still studying for exams to further their careers, would have been too much for me. So yeah, I love working with people, and I love my job. I get to help, yet I don't lose my "Me" time. I'm so glad my folks never pressured me to do anything, unlike some Indian families, who insist on having doctors for children.

My cousins, and my second cousins come under these families. Sometimes I don't know if that really is what these kids wanna do for a career. I thinks it's parental pressure, and they really don't know what their getting into. Any way possible, mortgage house, take loans, just to send them to India, Russia, God knows where just for that MBBS. Gosh..

That degree must come with a prerequisite of passion and commitment, as a doctor friend I was talking to said yesterday, "it's not about the money, it's the satisfaction of the job". He really had it and still has it tough. He was post call yesterday, obviously tired, but still had the graciousness to return my call. I know for a fact that he deals with really sick kids, often seeing them at their worse, has to deal with them dying and he gets paid very little. But yet, he loves his job, he loves what he does and he doesn't want to leave government service, cos thats where the work is. See, I don't think I could ever do that. Much as I love my job, I get to say "No" sometimes to my patients.

To all the doctors like Dr. Ng Ruey Terng...I salute you! And I hope anyone wanting to pursue a career in medicine have the heart and soul like you...oh and of course the brains also lah. We do need doctors, but we really need good ones.