PHS 2009

Whoever said that Public Health Screening (PHS) was losing purpose should go eat some barbituates and die of asphyxiation. If anything, there's still tonnes of purpose in organizing this annual event.

First of all, I wanna say that this year's PHS was quite well organized. I must say the M3s and M2s did quite a marvelous job in putting it together. And the turnout of volunteers was just AMAZING. So many M1s and M2s turned up! It was a sight that managed to touch the dried up heart of mine. Haha.

I think this new batch of M1s are amazingly enthusiastic. Okay... maybe its still too early to see if they can keep the enthusiasm going (admittedly, we probably felt the same way when we first started medical school, but look at how 4 years of hard work managed to change us into a bunch of jaded, cynical old farts who complain incessantly!) but in general, their bright-eyed enthusiasm was really quite a sight to behold. And they are so fresh! Every single thing amazes them! Let them take blood pressure and they squeal in delight! Let them take blood glucose/cholesterol and they squeal in delight! Let them talk to patient and they squeal in delight! Let them take height and weight and they ALSO squeal in delight! Damn amusing. I think that such an event is a perfect introduction to world of medicine though: I mean, at the end of the day, Medicine is a kind of service. Being in Medicine means that we are rendering a service to the public, and by giving these enthusiastic M1s a chance to serve the public, to see how its done, is just a perfect way to orientate themselves to this fact. That alone is good enough a reason to keep organizing this event every single year!

That said, the real reason why I find PHS so meaningful is that it really gives us a chance to reach out to people. Just two days spent in PHS has rekindled my passion for Medicine. Very often, in the hustle and bustle and intense stress of everyday clinical work, we often forget the reason why we started taking up Medicine in the first place. And being there at PHS, talking with members of the public, joking with them, sympathizing with them, listening to them, I'm reminded once again of the reason why I'M in Medicine: its because I wanted to help these people. No matter how rude and grumpy they are, no matter how ridiculous and absurd their demands may be, I wanted to help people. And for a moment, I completely lost sight of that. But this weekend has brought it all back, and now I feel like I'm back on the right track again!

PHS is not about scoring brownie points for volunteering or about getting free gifts (or even ridiculous stylish Polo-tees). Its about exhibiting the passion, the heart and the altruism that resides in all of us. And that is the true purpose of PHS.