Whiners of the new generation!

Letters

Published: Monday December 8, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Monday December 8, 2014 MYT 7:57:26 AM

‘Trauma’ faced by some housemen in hospitals

IN the last two years there were a couple of articles regarding the tyranny trainee doctors in our hospitals are subjected to and the unethical treatment they are accorded to by the senior medical officers (MOs) and sometimes the specialists, too.

It is also a known secret that some trainee doctors have left the profession in disgust without completing the two-year compulsory internship.

Unfortunately, up to this day nothing seems to have been done either by the Health Ministry, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) or the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) to fix this problem.

A houseman in any hospital in the peninsular is required to work for a minimum of 78 hours a week.

I say minimum because depending on the mood of the MO in charge, it could go much beyond this, with some end up serving even up to 90 hours a week.

Once in every week a trainee is scheduled to work continuously for 32 hours. This may be extended to 48 hours if the MO in charge so prefers.

Could you imagine how effectively a doctor can attend to patients after having gone sleepless for more than 32 hours?

And, while on duty the trainees are not given time to go for lunch or dinner; forget about tea-breaks.

Worse still, at times, they are not even allowed time to rush to the washroom to answer nature’s call.

They have to “steal” time for all these, hoping that the MO in charge would not appear suddenly to check on them.

That aside, the torment these trainee doctors undergo under their overly bossy MOs, to say the least, is atrocious.

A houseman is scheduled to serve in one department for two months.

However, if the MOs or the specialist in that department do not like any of the housemen entrusted to them; then the life of that trainee would be made miserable.

The unfortunate trainee would be picked on undeservedly and reprimanded in front of the patients and visitors.

And, very often, that trainee shall be held back to spend another two months or even more in that department.

To put it in a nutshell, everything possible, including veiled threats, would be used to torment the trainee psychologically to coerce him or her to leave the profession.

I hope the ministry, MMA and MMC carry out a thorough investigation immediately in all hospitals involved in training to ensure that the housemen are treated with some decorum.

Those involved in the training of housemen should be reminded that teaching and learning cannot occur by merely humiliating and threatening the housemen.

Those MOs involved in holding back trainees for more than the stipulated two months period in any one department must be hauled-up to justify their action.

Severe action must be taken against those MOs who are found to have breached the basic ethics of humanity while dealing with their charges.

For a start, these unprofessional MOs should be relieved of responsibilities to train the housemen as they are not at all fit to be in the medical profession.

It must be remembered that the two-year period the trainees spend under senior MOs and specialists is very crucial as that is what moulds them to become good doctors.

DISGUSTED MALAYSIAN

Kuala Lumpur

It is in genes - running!

Born To Run 

Christopher McDougall (2009)
(A hidden tribe, super athletes and the greatest race the world has never seen)
Just finished reading a book (a non-fiction) about an elusive Indian tribe, a great foot race and a bunch of mad runners who do ultra marathons.

I think that this is a book that any serious runner should read it to get a better perspective on running and also on life itself!
The book starts with the author trying to track down a fabled and elusive gringo, Caballo Blanco, who had left his normal life in the US to live amongst a equally timidly elusive Tarahumara Indians in an isolated dry wasteland of canyons and desert-like terrain in Mexico in their simple way of life. The Tarahumaras are said to have been running all their life, first from the Spanish invaders and now from the drug dealers.
These Indians have tremendous ability to run extremely long distances with minimal preparations and donning simple footwear - a piece of rubber sole draped by leather strings. They do not need scientific modern training or complicated training schedules or expensive state of the art shoes. They shy away from races and treat running with respect.
The author goes on to narrate about some whacky American runners who are themselves champion athletes but who party like crazy and run equally crazy.
The running community seem to have a bone to pick with the mammoth shoes companies. Is it coincidental that the rate of running injuries seem to rise with the advent new modern cushioned shoes? The rate of injury, like plantar fasciatis, appears to increase in direct proportion to the price of the shoe. What is this with frequent need to change the footwear? Is there devious plan to boost sale? Interesting, look at the rampant upgrading of shoes annually. Only when you think you found your perfect pair of shoes, you realise that they are already out of production by the following year!

Caballo Blanco (died 2012, aged 57)

 There is a very interesting explanation to why humans should be running, especially long distances. Simians' feet are adapted to walking with its architecture. We, on the other hand, have nuchal ligament to support our head, Archilles tendon with loads of hard springy fibres, an efficient breathing mechanism and an excellent temperature regulating system via sweating. So, it is actually humanly possible to outrun a deer. Most animals (deer, cheetah, etcetera) can only run short distances with bursts of energy, crippled with risk of exhaustion and poor thermoregulation.
Anthropologically, we outlived the Neanderthals not because of bigger brain capacity. As living conditions on Earth deteriorated with global warming, the good life for the muscular and big-built Neanderthals became challenging. They had to start hunting as the the forests became scarce. Hunting of animals where you have to tire down beasts was the only way to do it. Homo sapiens succeeded where Neanderthals failed and outlived their rivals.

Copper Canyon Trail Run

The author finally catches up with the legendary ultra marathoner, Caballo Blanco. He partakes in a gruelling 50km trail run with the locals and survives to tell his story and the soul searching journey of 'The White Horse' @ Micah True@ Michael Randall Hickman.

When I get too old to work, I’ll do what Geronimo would have done if they left him alone,” he told McDougall in “Born to Run.” “I’ll walk off into the deep canyons and find a quiet place to lie down.” Caballo Blanco.
[Geronimo was a brave Apache Indian who ran in the badlands of Arizona from US Calvary only to die as a fugitive, a nobody as a drunk.]

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!

So, the marathon training plan is going on as per schedule. This time around we hit 34km. My running buddy had a bad hair day, only that he had crawl over the last stretch due to cramps (tummy and leg). He is questioning the necessity for him to run the marathon in the first place. I think he will get over it. It is the talk of a man in pain from the agony of pain.
Come next week, he would be running at his usual rocket fuel infused pace.
Later in the day, I met a guy who has a colleague, a 56 year old, who had completed the Marathon des Sables. He was narrating his colleague's escapades and difficulties of completing the grueling race against the forces of nature. He ended the conversation by saying that he respected and saluted his achievement but would not dream of being in shoes! (Sure he would have lots of blisters and cuts)
It takes a kind of tenacious unwavering mental strength to stay strong and come out pretty at the end of the race!

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!