How do I know if being a doctor is right for me? What if I make the wrong career decision? How will I know?   Feeling worried about our career choices is totally valid. After all, we spend about 80,000 hours just on our career alone: that’s 40 hours a…

Are you considering quitting your job? It could be for multiple reasons: You might be interested to explore another industry. Or you may feel unsatisfied with your current role. Or maybe you’re eager for a new challenge. Or you just want to do something of your own for a change.…

Quitting your job is extremely daunting, and understandably so. You are about to leave the comforts of financial security and future predictability — in pursuit of something unknown.   When I was contemplating on whether to quit housemanship in September 2021, I was plagued by anxiety, indecision and fear —…

Being a doctor is perceived as a prestigious and well-respected career. It is the dream of every (or most) parents for their child to become a doctor, and it is the dream of every child to make their parents happy.   So when someone decides to leave their medical career,…

It’s been almost two years since I left housemanship in December 2021.   When my colleagues and family members knew about it, they thought I was crazy:  “You’re quitting? Do you realise you’re wasting five years of medical school?!”   “You have to be strong, it’s just two years. Housemanship…

Sometimes deep in your heart, you already know the answer. You're yearning for a life bigger than what you're currently stuck with. You want more

Quitting HousemanshipIn my previous blog article, I shared about my thoughts on work and how we are starting to see a shift in the nature of work, from being merely as a means of survival to having a more spiritual meaning.Ever since the pandemic lockdown, many employees have more autonomy…

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in August 2021, the United States met one of the highest rates of employees quitting their job: a whopping 4.3 million.

On 15th November 2021, I handed in my 1-month resignation notice and officially resigned from housemanship 1 month later. This article is not meant

I've been contemplating about this decision every single day for the past 4 months. And to be fair, this has been one of the biggest, hardest decision that I've ever made. Because I know, once I quit this career

I’m not always the nicest when I’m exhausted. Because when I’m exhausted, I’m not the easiest to be around, I’m not the easiest to love. I get angry easily. I become reactive, I say things I don’t mean, I hurt the ones I love, I isolate myself while deeply craving…

15 hours a day, 6 days a week, 5am until 9pm. This is my current reality, although quite frankly it hasn’t quite sink in.After the creative high that I experienced in 2020 working on a business, this so called “9-to-5 job” (5-to-9?) made me realize the one thing that drains…

Working night shift tonight. Had some time on my hands in the morning for some reflection. Feeling a bit bogged down, still making mistakes…beginner’s mistakes. Inadequate, incompetent, discouraged. Still very much trying to get a hang of things, and training myself to learn actively. Putting a strain on relationships with…

A patient today confessed to me the real reason behind his high blood pressure. He presented to the hospital complaining of right-sided numbness over both upper and lower limbs. It was sudden in onset and occurred upon waking up in the morning, however it resolved spontaneously 30 minutes later. It…

Two staff nurses in our ward got infected. Both had been vaccinated. However, they were in close contact with three unknowingly Covid-19 positive patients.Apparently, we’ve been working in that ward for almost one week straight — running around, touching patient’s case files, and working in close proximity with one another…

The ships are calling for me set sail into unchartered territory called — housemanship.After almost 2 years of hiatus from the medical world, finally it’s about time that I return to it.A few months after completing medical school in 2019, I was actually supposed to start my duty as a…

“Berapa kali perlu saya ulang? Saya sudah bagitahu yang ini adalah kanser dan perlu operation!” (“How many times have I told you? This is a cancer and it needs to be operated!”), exclaimed an exasperated specialist, in front of 3 other doctors and 2 medical students, as she explained to…

Assisting in a mastectomy procedure.My time in medical school had been a fair share of high highs and low lows. Over the course of 5 years comes a series of eye — opening experiences and impactful life lessons, but here are the top 5 lessons that I would like to…