my neighbour runs a roaring business. as they did not attain higher education, they took it upon themselves to ensure that their 3 boys studied in the best schools & are given the opportunity & support to enter the best universities. so all 3 are enrolled in private schools. the eldest just finished A-levels & has a firm offer from UCLA Berkeley for chemical engineering, which he will accept.
the 2nd boy will be doing A-levels next year & is still keeping his options open. unlike his elder brother who is fixated on doing chemistry, his mother is trying to persuade him to do medicine. she asked me if i could show him around the hospital, just to give him a feel of what to expect, even though he has no burning desire to take up medicine.
so, i took the boy around the other day. 1st, i asked my friend Dr L if he could demonstrate some communication etiquette with his patients in the clinic. the boy got more than he bargained for because Dr L also allowed him to watch a gastroscopy & colonoscopy done on 2 different patients.
then, in the afternoon, i took him into the OT & let him witness a couple of surgical procedures. at the same time, showed him some the of advanced equipment & ran through some of the precautions taken for patients undergoing anaesthesia.
i'd say it was an eye opener for him. should he eventually decide to do it, i can expect a big treat from his generous mother. unfortunately, there was a drawback. over lunch with a few of my colleagues, all of them were adamant that they won't encourage their kids to imitate their career choice, giving reasons like over-saturation of doctors & lack of specialist training opportunites.
even though the boy is matured enough to decide for himself, never underestimate the potency & influence of maternal persuasion!!
i'll let you know if i get that dinner invitation.
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6 comments:
doc, can outsider watch procedures you mentioned w/o patient knowledge? eeew...
Missyc,
only with the hospital's approval & this is given on an individual basis. naturally, only selected procedures are permitted, eg. those not involving private parts, & even then, he was allowed in only after the patients have been suitably draped (covered with sterile material).
occasionally, we get medical students doing attachment as well.
Gee DOC, really ah, maternal persuasion very influential wan meh? hahaha...
Wow, this boy is so fortunate to have a doctor for a neighbor!
Good job doc and hopefully he decides for the better of it . Good luck !
Ilene,
this mother is very ...er....overbearing.
you will find this hard to believe - this boy has over 20 doctors for neighbours. my taman has been cynically dubbed taman kesihatan. it's less than a 5-min drive to both the public & private hospital.
UG,
i hope he'll eventually choose what he really wants to do, not what his mother tells him!!
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