We Are Married

 When I went for an interview to enter a training program for public health, I was asked, "Won't you miss clinical work?" - which is a common question that is asked during recruitment interview for this program because public health is not considered as "clinical" work.  The reason why this question is always asked is because the common understanding is that "clinical" work means working directly or one-to-one with patients. But, public health does not necessarily work with patients or people who are sick, but also with people who are healthy and a whole population. Plan of management for public health depends on the common norms and behaviors in a certain population and not individual. Of course, the most obvious reason why public health is not "clinical" is because public health does not work in a clinic 👀 So, have I missed "clinical"? The answer is yes and no. What I do miss about "clinical" work would be meeting patie...

I recently read  Surrounded By Idiots by Thomas Erikson . It is a commentary and analysis of human behavior using the DISC Assessment . As I was reading, naturally, I began to assess myself. I thought I was a Green/Blue - turns out I am a Blue, with a high degree of Red. Haha...I guess Reds really do not know themselves. But, as I thought more about it, I think people have different personalities when dealing with different situations. Especially in a more "traditional" culture as the one we have here in Southeast Asia where speaking out and initiating conflicts can be considered sinful, people tend to be chameleons.  As the book focused on the dynamic and personalities in the workplace, now, that I think about it...yes, I am a Blue/Red in the office. I love doing data analysis to guide decision-making and I need a high level of convincing to change my thoughts. I can only work with *certain* people - I work best with high performers as I have very very low patience level at ...

Starting at a new workplace is always scary - especially in a setting that you have never worked at before. I was a house officer in hospital and a medical officer in emergency department, MCH clinic and outpatient clinic. Then, became a medical officer in-charge for 5 years. In conclusion, I have worked with patients and a team of different professions for the past 10 years. Now, my work involves various ranks of professions (specialists, medical officers, nurses), other departments (eg state health dept), planning and data analysis...and no patients directly. When I first started, it was already the last quarter of 2023. So, naturally, all the plans were laid out and all I had to do was follow them. I was lucky that my predecessor was still in the same office as me, so I got to ask him anything. I was familiar with the bulk of things because I was an MCH medical officer at a clinic before. But, I did not realize how extensive the program had gotten for the past 5 years. It was huge. ...

Dearest had a mental breakdown last night because he was scared that I will be angry with him because he was going back to working shift hours. Okay, this needs some background. When both of our kids were less than 5 years old, I was working office hours and he was working ED (emergency department) shift. It was especially hard for me because both kids needed extra care and attention and I needed to get out to work before 7am every morning to beat the morning traffic. So, of course, it was hard for me especially when he was not around in the morning when I had to rush to prepare them for daycare. It was also hard for me because most of my weekend was spent on doing house chores that I could not get done during the weekdays due to tiredness. Naturally, I was tired all the time...and he was tired all the time, too, due to the irregular working hours. This went on for about 2 years, then I moved to a nearer workplace...but with shift hours too 😅 but, the kids were easier to manage as I d...