The 23rd of November 2014 was an epic date for me. After toiling with monthly assignments and frantically googling the answers for the monthly open book test with my study buddy, Miss U, I finally entered the exam hall. It was nerve wrecking, but strangely not as how I had felt as undergraduate student in Penang years back. After silently saying a prayer, i flipped the first page of the question booklet..
Three hours later, the 2 years I had spent working for the Diploma of Family Medicine finally ended. My husband had arrived earlier in the morning from Down Under and as soon as was seated in the car, i thrust the mock exam questions into his face and demanded he answer one....or two...maybe more. At that point in my life, I was very, very thankful that I had accepted his proposal 6 years ago. At that point in my life, 7 hours before the final exams, my husband was my walking medical dictionary. I had earlier also warned him not to book his flight on any date before my exams.
A month later, I was busy seeing patients as usual in a stuffy, crowded and ridiculously small clinic in Setapak, when WhatsApp started buzzing. " Exam results are out...." someone wrote. My face paled. " Where?" someone responded. 'Email..." was the reply. I frantically opened my inbox, but at the same time my other hand accidentally pressed the next number to call the patient in. Cold sweat broke out and my limbs went weak and numb. I mumbled a curse as the wheel kept spinning, why couldn't we have wifi in this darned clinic! A 50-ish something lady sat down on the chair beside me and started complaining about something. I flipped through her book, pins and needles in my hands and stared at her records. Nothing registered despite her blood pressure written in red.All i could think off was how to get rid of her. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I finally managed to push her out. I grabbed the phone and scrolled down the page to see a list of names in alphabetical order. Relief spread over me from top to toe and i felt like doing sujud syukur there and then in that cramped little room.
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| The email which made me shake |
