Music Therapy

Honestly I cannot really say what this was meant to be (creative therapy was way fun). We got in to the room for the session, patients students and doctors, some very soothing music was played for about five mins, then we went up tempo :-), the music was switched up to some very playful  tune, like something you would hear in a silly cartoon. we listened to it for about 10 to 15 mins. The music made me feel like dancing and laughing, but since no one was, I just nodded my head a bit and smiled.. ha ha.. Then the worst came for the next 45 mins there was a discussion with the patients in Hungarian. this was serious torture as I did not understand a single thing and had to sit there  (like a moron), because it would have been so rude to walk out. They were laughing and talking and yours truly just looked.
The other day I went for a large group session where doctors, patients and students sit to discuss (a larger group than the music therapy group), and for one hour I had to sit there not understanding anything. Seriously this is real torture, whats even worst is that no one explains anything to you after (well I should have ask rite? yeah rite like they would explain an hour session to a bloody medical student). This language barrier is really getting to me, it puts a big barrier in front of my learning. And for a career like medicine, especially in the psychiatry ward, communication is key to learning.. So tell me how can I learn?
Advice to anyone who is yet to go study medicine (Don't), go where you fully understand the language. If you are like me already in a foreign speaking language country, learn the language. and if you are more like me that after 5 years you realize ooh I should have learned the language. Well its too late so bare it.. (note, I have no regrets coming here).

P.S
If you have the ability to hear and understand/ make sense of what is being said be grateful. There is a medical condition where patients have the inability to understand spoken language (kinda like me today) which they normally understood before.. How frustrating.

love,

To be a friend or not?

Hold on wait till you have had this experience......

I meet a patient on my way to a group therapy session, I knew nothing about this patient, but we exchanged gestures, talked a bit, some weird question was even put in but we (me and my mate) chose to ignore/handle it well :-). The patients looked kind of sleepy, so I would guess was under sedatives this could mean mania, but I may be wrong. whatever the diagnosis was, it doesn't hurts to give a smile to the patient, so I do just that and got to my seat.

Stares at you half of the group therapy session (creepy) and every nook and cranny I found myself in the hospital that day, I happen to see the same patient who comes to ask me for my help when it actually wasn't needed.. scary huh? yeah, that sent me out of the hospital (well not literally, I had to attend consultations, but I was the first one to get there and I even hid at the coat hanger ) cos honestly I was scared to death. I have no idea this patients diagnosis, but some part of me tells me it might be bipolar (manic-depressive disorder).

So I ask the big question to be a friend or not? should I have paid more attention and given more of my time to this patients? Or was my little time I spent with the patient and smile appropriate?As doctors we are taught to never get to attached to a patient.

P.S

• This blog is nominated at the Nigerian blog awards, under the Health, fitness or sport category (not a surprise) I have added a link on my side bar or click here, so please go vote for 'Becoming a Doctor'.
• All apologies for any grammatical error you find in my posts, I have lived in Hungary for 6 years so English is not my first language anymore, actually, I don't have that much time to re-read and spell check and all that stuffs as I am quite busy, (I do love blogging don't get me wrong) but I do come back to correct when someone notifies me or I realize. So please feel free to correct me, or if you want the post to be my editor, hola (I think I might know some one who is interested, ha ha.).
• I know the medical field is filled with so much jargon's, so please if you don't understand any of the jargon's, let me know, I will explain further.

pretty please..keep smiling, love

Creative Therapy

My dear friends, Becoming a doctor, My journey has begone........As you all know, or most of you know, I started my practice today in Psychiatry here in Debrecen, its a four week practice.

Creative therapy is a form of therapy aimed at processing negative emotions, or inspiring behavioral and mental change or healing through expression. In lay English it is a form of therapy to make people happy or at least attempt to. it is a different approach to counselling and therapy. I was privileged to attend a session today with co student doctors and patients. We took part in it and was really fun. I made some really cool stuffs..

making a flower..

tadaaaaaaa done.

making a beads chain
and rocking it!!!

One of the things we learn in medicine is to always show empathy, that is to feel what the patient is feeling. I think to make a great doctor you have to fit yourself in the patients shoe, feel what they are feeling, before you act. I kinda learnt that today, we were put in the position of patients today, sat with them round a table, carried out the same task as them, some of the patient even helped us a bit (obviously they were better than us in this). Doing the same things as these patient, put me in their shoes. I went through what they went through during these sessions, I had the same experience as these patients, I was a Patient today. which was very insightful. If I didn't sit with those patients today, I would normally pass and just think oh poor people, look how they are treating them like kids, making them make silly beautiful paper flower. Today that thought changed.

Me and my mates were just laughing all through, we all kept seeing this is good therapy for me, this is good therapy for me. When we got done we were all so proud of our work. We felt we archived something.

I left the session today feeling so happy (I definitely will be going back often). I can now say, this is a great therapy, I have experienced the happiness it brings and would recommend it to patients who need it. Now I know I am not just subjecting some depressed patient to go do some silly things. I mean look at us, final year medical students, doing stuffs that 5 year olds would normally do but we didn't feel silly one bit, instead we felt alive, happy and excited. So why not recommend it, if thats what it takes a depresses patient to smile, or a mentally retard patient to build an IQ, or a manic person to calm down, or a schizophrenic to think.

In general being creative does keep us 'alive', happy, excited..... so get creative. I have a lot of friends who keep telling all the time, am bored, get creative then, learn how to do some thing new once in a while. It helps.

Whoever said doctor's don't have fun, obviously never went for a creative therapy session. look at us we had a blast today.. ha ha. First day was conquered, and am glad.

Love

Its My Birthday!!!!

Woooohoooooooooo, cake, music, balloons.. bring it on lets paaaaartyyyy.. lol..

Am just filled with so much gratitude today. To God, my lovely family, and the best friends ever, you have made my years here worth living and without you I wouldn't have made it this far, so this is me saying a big THANK YOU.

As a double today I begin my 6th year which is my final year in medical school. whaaaaaaaaat??

Just took a moment to look back on life......................................... all I can say is AM BLESSED.

keep smiling, love

Up and Running

Hey, guys welcome, a very big thank you to all those who have already stopped by.

This blog is now up and running, I will try and update as much as possible and make sure it isn't boring, even thou it is kinda a medical blog (this kind of blogs can be boring).

Be sure to browse through from the tabs on top. Just to highlight, that I will be doing a lot of features, so keep your entries coming..

Let me Introduce myself a bit am Hirra, a Nigerian and a Gemini, Flexible and communicative yet restless and indecisive, dual nature and very versatile. I study At the university of Debrecen, Hungary.

So I start My 6th year (final year) on the 31st of may which unfortunately happens to be my birthday. but its alright thats fine.

Here is an idea of what my final year entails:

Internal Medicine, 10 wks

Pediatrics, 7 wks
Surgery, 5 wks in

Neurology, 4 wks
Psychiatry, 4 wks
Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5 wks

In the mean time before I start my practice am gonna start working on my thesis, Am writing on Children living with HIV/AIDS. so be expecting to get some more insight into that. With that in mind children's day is coming soon, (27th of may). Would like to do something special on that day, I have no Idea yet, so If you have an idea send them here, would really appreciate it, especially if it is related to HIV/AIDS. Would be on the look out too, be expecting a post on that in the next couple of days and please if it requires your help, do fall through.

Once again welcome to this blog.

keep smiling. love