And ends with a cool smile

Today we finished our ECG and Radio exam. Next up is Long Case on Saturday. So tonight Geng Perkasa was at it again.

We went to Dept 23 but no residents were in sight. Proceeded to Dept 24 and asked for a valve case. The resident gave his go and this ammu ushered us in to meet the patient.

51 years old male admitted since 20 days from easy fatigability and dyspnea of 6 months. Scheduled for a mitral valve replacement next week. I was clerking. It really was out of habit to greet and directly pull out my piece of paper and the others should really stop me from doing so. The patient had fun with me, I must say.

"How old are you sir?"
"How old do you want me to be?" With a great big smile and a round of merry laughter from everyone around. He had a large group of family with him. Syaimaa said it didn't help that my reaction to him was amusing.

"Do you have problems anywhere else?"
"Of course I have. I married four!"
"Hahaha no wonder you're admitted with fatigue!"

"How many kids you have?"
"3 by 9."
"Whaaat!" Eyes wide with amazement.
"Just kidding. I have 3 kids." Laughed.

His sister subtly apologized to me for the hard time. "He is a funny guy. He's only married once btw, there's his wife." Damn he reminded me of Jackster whose words I pitifully take seriously. I mean, I was clerking okay. No wonder I felt weird why would a four-times married 51 years old only has 3 kids.

Ps: Conversations above were in Arabic.

We excuse ourselves as the patient wouldn't allow examination because his wife was concerned. We didn't push, it's either yes or no. Despite this being a teaching hospital, most patients come here because they don't have money, not because they actually want to be examined by students. So you have to always be kind and respectful to them. They are our teachers. We only took a look at his CXR showing cardiomegaly from LV, LA, RA and pulmonary dilatation.

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We discussed the case but it wasn't much considering we didn't do any clinical. So we went back to Dept 23 and chanced upon the resident closing up the resident room. Iskun introduced us and asked if he was going home and if there's anyone replacing him for the night. He said he was going home and there's no one coming after him. I was feeling deflated.

But then he added. "Do you need something?"

And proceeded to bring us to the ward. He was on duty in the CCU and so didn't know what case in the ward, but he went to show us three patients tonight that he picked out on the spot. He auscultated, let each of us auscultate and present our findings before he discussed the findings with us.

The doctor was so awesome and kind and generous and as we walked behind him, Ume turned to Iskun and said "Nanti kau kena jadi doktor baik macam dia jugak."

I interjected. "Kita semua laa kena jadi macam dia!" And yes I want to be handsome like him. Selflessly taking his time to teach us noobs, who is this angel?!

"My name is Waleed. Apa nama kamu?" He asked Iskun back. Whaaaat?!

Apparently he studied in Ukraine and had many Malaysian friends then. He even went to KL for a 5-days vacation months ago. From his accent he wasn't an Egyptian and he is currently doing his MD in Cardiology. Lankier than Iskun, clean-shaven, rusty brown hair.

I patted Ume's back. "Abangah." And smirked. He is one calon I approve of.

He auscultated, let each of us auscultate and present our findings before he discussed the findings with us. He spent time and was patient with us! It was definitely one of our most productive nights in the hospital. We had a patient with aortic click and MR, another with pulmonary hypertension and the third had a TR and a MR. I got the first two wrong (kah2 deaf) and swore to myself to get the third right.

And I didddddddddddd! Imma proud of myself haha and mashaAllah that was the loudest TR I ever heard.

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"Do you take classes with Dr. Ashraf Zaki?"

"No. Just one of us." We pointed at Pait.

"So you don't take classes with him?" He addressed Iskun who denied. He continued. "You are lazy. They say boys are lazy. Lazier-" he turned to us girls. "Girls are lazy too, but boys are lazier."

Hahahaha omg omg.

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Ume had a funny moment. She hesitated with her answer so Dr. Waleed told her to be confident.

"It's either there is a murmur or there's no. Either systolic or diastolic."

"But I'm shyyy." I guess you can imagine how Ume said that.

And then at the end of the night, as we parted, Ume asked him where was he from because his accent was not Egyptian.

Dr. Waleed threw a cool smile over his shoulder. "But you said you were shy." He waved and off he went, leaving us bursting into laughter at Ume's blushing face.

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This is probably the last of Geng Perkasa consisting of me, Ume, Pait, Syaimaa, Wani (she wasn't here tonight) and Iskun. I hope we get good marks, Iskun gets his Mumtaz, and we become responsible and great doctors who will not forget the teamwork we had.

:)