keep that doctor away

there was a recent kerfuffle over how poorly-trained new medical school graduates currently are... or will be, at least in australia. as horrifying as some of the facts may be, i reluctantly validate them all. be afraid.. be very afraid. maybe it's about time you should heed gramma and her cultural cures for common ailments.

as if that wasn't enough of a headache to the medical community, especially the academics and those who lounge comfortably in their ivory towers oblivious to the daily hoops of hardships that student serfs are made to jump through.... they are now being questioned regarding the quality of their serf screening process. i'm glad that someone has pointed out the obvious flaws prompting one to wonder what kind of doctors you all are really getting here. theoretically, you're going to be treated by a sensitive new age smarty-pants who will do their best to keep you healthy. in reality, you will be getting a charmingly eloquent doctor with checked cynicism and forced empathy at times. doesn't paint such a calming picture, eh? ironic how they let that half-page ad creep onto their publication advertizing the exact flaws that were previously highlighted.

there really isn't a point to this post... seeing the ad in the AMA magazine made me snort with sardonic scorn. everything sounds flawless on paper and plays out on completely different tangents in practice. the story of bureaucracy. that led me thought-skipping back to past rants about the inefficacy apparent in my own degree which led me down another dark back alley full of bitter memories of the singaporean education system. this infamous kiasu mentality found in a lot of asian countries, this fear of losing, this desire to one-up the next person and their pet goldfish... when will it stop?

if you were to step into my visual IMAX at this point, you would be feeling a tad queasy as my thoughts expand to reveal all of asia and then beeline for taiwan. the culture of endless extra tutoring. not your run-of-the-mill piano and ballet lessons that some think to be excessive already, especially if you're making your son don on a tutu weekly. i'm talkin' mass production plants of robot kids memorizing facts and random english phrases in monotonous tones, too tired and hungry to do anything but become a sheep. thinking about this aspect of societal norms wears me down... i used to get fired up and indignant. i'd want my megaphone to shout some sense at the world in general. nowadays, i'll let someone else play the hero... it's too draining to play the part, even in my daydreams. in the meantime, try not to fall sick in NSW.