Courses Doctors May Find Helpful

Working in the medical profession entails a continuous learning process. When I say medical professional, I am not only referring to doctors who are practicing in hospitals and clinics but to doctors who are doing medical research and to those who are in the academe or doing consultancy work, sharing their knowledge, expertise and experience to fellow medical practitioners and aspiring ones. For doctors who are working in this field, a medical teaching course aimed at giving formal medical education training to help improve their teaching skills and styles is very good start. There is also another program called teach the teacher course offered by Oxford Medical in Oxford and London, which runs for only a couple of days, ideal for ST doctors, sprs, middle grades and consultants. From this course, doctors will be trained in the theory of adult education, perfect their presentation skills, develop and write structured learning objectives among others.

Another interesting course for doctors is the consultant interview course, an interview training course that takes place only in a day. This course trains doctors how to structure, prepare and deliver a medical presentation, and respond to any interview question, how to deliver exceptional responses to difficult questions in terms of management, leadership and current NHS issues, and practice in a mock interview among other things. There is also a three-day medical management course, which highlights the key management and leadership areas that practising doctors should be trained in. It focuses on the skills and awareness required to lead and manage within a medical team by varying management/leadership style, communicating and negotiating effectively and understanding how to make best use of the diversity of individuals in the team. At the end of the course, the delegates will then be able to write a business plan for developing the service, and having the ability to describe and discuss a range of issues which form the context for the development of services within the NHS.

If you want to be ahead of your career and be the best, taking a course or two will surely help.

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My First Ski Experience

In life, there are many first encounters. From our birth onward, our parents lovingly noted when we had our milestones: first steps, first laugh, first tooth, etc. These many firsts were a result of our persistence and perseverance. As we grow older, we encounter more profound, fun and sometimes painful firsts: first love, first hearbreak, first kiss, first job, first paycheck.

A happy but exhausted me during our break.

I had my first ski experience on the first week of the first month of the new year 2012. Together with family and friends, we set off to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to get a taste of snow and all the fun it could bring. I decided to try skiing for the first time. I had a dreadful feeling when I tried on my ski shoes because the fit isn't good. Putting them on was really weird but as you get used to it, you realize and begin to understand why the ski shoes are like that. They are so designed to protect your foot and your ankles from injury. But it was REALLY difficult to walk with them on.

Learning how to ski using the carousel.

Since I did not do any training or exercise before the ski trip, I really had a hard time when I had my ski lessons because I kept falling down. The falling down part is easy, since you just need to land on your butt and back (big laugh). The difficult part is getting back up on your feet. Being big and having no exercise, well you can just imagine what happened. I felt sorry for my poor ski instructor since he had to use up a lot of energy just to pull me up. :D But despite the numerous falls, I managed to stand up (with help of course) and continue with the lesson. The children who took the same course fared better than me. I guess that is always the case. Children learn faster than adults.

I cannot count the number of times I fell during the duration of the ski lesson. But I remember that I managed to be on my skis three times. During that short span of time, I managed to learn how to glide, how to walk on my skis and turn, ski down the kiddie slope and how to brake. A very helpful advice that my friend gave me: do not look down on your skis but straight ahead. I gave up when we transfered to the beginner's skilift (which moves faster) and I was delaying everyone because I keep falling down.

Maybe next time, we can go skiing again and I will be ready by then. I already know what to expect and it will be more fun if I can really ski.

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