This ain't Kansas anymore

Before I transferred to my new hunting ground, I'd been forewarned that it certainly isn't going to be the same.

Back in my old workplace, sure we had our share of work gripes and general dissatisfaction with the draconian authority ( but here's guessing that happens everywhere else too! ) but in general, we also made up for it with our little shared intimacies, our coffee-break rants in the pantry and our regular dinner gatherings. Although we are all a pretty diverse bunch ( from the admittedly Shameless Shalom to the undeniably Handsome Hui to some others yet unnamed ), there was a general sense of camaraderie amongst the beleaguered residents at work - and in a mushy sense, yeah we were a dysfunctional family of sorts.

With the countless numbers of physicians in my new workplace, it isn't very long before we start feeling like a tiny anonymous cog in the monstrous medical machinery. Easy enough to disappear in the midst of hundreds - just imagine Dilbert lost amongst the nameless office drones in the neverending cubicles. In a place where rotations shift faster than Madonna's hair colour, it isn't easy trying to maintain regular contact with anyone long enough to start any kind of friendship. Unfortunately there is no deep sense of kinship and belonging that you find in other smaller hospitals since everyone just comes in to work on time, does their job efficiently and then leaves for home. Hardly any scandalous pantry gossip or friendly after-hours java at the coffeehouse.

Which is a pity since it was that indefinable sense of fellowship that kept me going sometimes. Medical life would have been quite intolerable otherwise :)


Come talk to me!
So here are some updates on my wicked cronies for those who are wondering...

Helped in part by his relentless pursuit of locum tenens, Handsome Hui has finally gotten his act together ( perhaps stung by my cutting comments on his unlivable squalor :) ) and has made the monumental move to a swankier place. Or so he says. Watch out for updates as I have been invited to Hui's Homely Heaven for an assessment. I hear the man has fishies in a tank! Would prefer him in a tank top and tight speedos but I guess some goldfish would do.

A fellow advocate, Shameless Shalom has been possessed by the shopping goddess and has gotten her greedy little hands on a divine black top that showcases her best assets. Farewell to the shapeless blue scrubs. Handsome and eligible heterosexual interns and residents, take note! Homosexual ones, call me instead.

Sacrificing her weekly spa treatments and hair salons visits, Preity Posh has given herself wholly to the wicked sadism of her professional examinations.

Silent Sally remains as ever silent - albeit about five hundred miles away.