Thursday, June 22, 2006

Dr, Mr and Ms

I guess not everyone is aware that the qualified Surgeons are being addressed as Mr (Mister) or Ms (Miss) instead of Dr (Doctor) in Malaysia & few other countries. And confusion do occur for those who are unaware...

There are several specialities or subspecialities under Surgery. The doctors in these categories normally hold the title of Mr or Ms. This include :
* General surgery
* Paediatric surgery
* Neurosurgery
* Cardiothoracic surgery
* Vascular surgery
* Oral and maxillofacial surgery
* Otorhinolayrngology or ENT surgery
* Plastic reconstructive surgery
* Orthopaedic and Traumatology surgery
* Urology etc.

I still remember telling my coursemates during university days that I don't want to become a surgeon in the future.. cos I don't want to study for so long to get the title Dr & then revert back to square one to the title of Miss again after I become surgeon. Hahhaa, actually that was not the main reason why I don't want to become surgeon. It is just that my main interest is not in Surgery.

I have performed several simple surgical procedures or surgeries in the past, such as appendicectomy, Caesarean Section, ERPOC & DD&C, excision of lumps and bumps (such as breast lumps or fibroadenoma, lipoma, ganglion, sebaceous cyst, dermoid cyst etc), circumcision, herniorapphy, orthopaedic surgeries (such as plating, K wiring, toes or limb amputation, finger refashioning, Incisional & Drainage, wound debridement, tendon repair etc etc).

This is an old picture (taken few years back) with yours truly doing surgery in the green ninja surgeon suit - surgical cap, surgical mask, surgical gown & sterile gloves. The picture was purposely blurred :P

42 comments:

L B said...

You sure do resemble ninja.. sot sot sot!!

L B said...

One question ah.. oh, nevermind.. too shy now..

Chen said...

lb,
wah.. u r so fast :O
U have radar installed overlooking my pc? *scared loh if lidat*

ninja suit is nice ;) only reveal the eyes :P

Mmmm... what question u want to ask?

L B said...

Yeahlah.. pity no HUGHUGCLUB wan.. but at least still made it, eh? It's not radar.. It's something that sotongs have.. electrical charges or something.. wait, maybe that's what bats use.. I was gonna ask about circumcision..

a^ben said...

aiyeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lucky i am not eating anything!!!!! scary larh that pic!!!! more scary than my jessica alba` aiyoyoyoyoyoyoyooy the yoyoyyoyoyoyooyo~~~

*pengsan keluar buih putih hingga tsunami`~*

oh yeah... memang macam ninja berpakaian costume sotong hijau??? ahhahahahahahah

*continue to keluar buih putih~*

shookmeallnightlong said...

NINJA!!

more like ninja turtle with the green outfit. ekekekekke...


but.. why ah they can't be called doctors? *blur

Anonymous said...

Hey that masked face.. so familiar wan? I've seen it somewhere.. *thinking thinking*

Yer.. so 'kan' ar u.. purposely blur the pic.. *haha*

Hmm.. didn't know surgeon is being addresses just Mr. and Ms. wor. Why the difference leh?

Anonymous said...

Aiyak.. typo error.. 'addressed' I mean.. *hehe*

Winn said...

so many jargons!

hmm...i remembered last year haze that time i had a mask like urs too...but diff color..

rainbow angeles said...

hmmm...yr ninja pic, put lar bigger! why u wanna blur it? wanna put, then put clearer laaa! kwong meng cheng tai maa...

domesticgoddess said...

that pic with surgical mask somehow reminds me of sengkor hahah :P anyway, i'm aware of the difference of prefix/title for surgeons and docs. just curious, if the lady surgeon is married, still call Miss ah? kihkihkih

Selba said...

Love to see the theater room/surgical stuff.. with all those green color...

One time, I asked my mom, why the color must be green, as the same in casinos, all the tables is also green... and how come doctors/nurses wear white...
Well, I bet you know the answer...

But then, if I'm not mistaken, in Japan, in some hospitals, the theater/surgerical stuff color is light blue. Wondering why....

Pink Cotton said...

eeeee...which part is being operated i n the pic ah?cant tell :P

wahh so gaya in the green ninja suit ho??lol

c a r c a r said...

hey chen! thanks for the good educative entry here!

remember when u called me and i ask u why is my mom's surgery / doctor been addressed as Mr Yxx..haha... i was so worried thought he is only a medical student! hahaha... moreover sbanboy told me that Mr Yxx is still pursuing his master, haha.. i was confused.

thanks thanks.

and guess what, there is a Miss Chen in my mom ward when she was in the hospital :P

hey you look cool in surgeon suit!

arh.. the surgery photo is arh..yuck!! scary!

Pandabonium said...

Those masks are really so the patient won't recognize anyone after surgery.

;^)

Chen said...

LB,
I know u always score in THHC, but there’s no THHC here :P
So u have tentacles that can receive the sotsot message?
But don’t oversot, later jadi BBQ sotong pulak..

What u want to know about circumcision? :)

ben,
what’s so scary about that picture who? I haven’t show u the more bloody picture yet..
are u interested? This is one of the mild one lah.. the operative field is so clean..
But I won’t show u the others, later u tsunami till Penang, then I susah loh…

Ninja suit cute leh :P

shookme,
Ninja suit is cuter than Michelin man suit, right?
Hehee.. They can be called doctors as well, but most surgeons prefer to be called Mr or Ms :)
Well, it is up to individuals..

Chen said...

SA,
wah.. like that also u can recognize? Even I also cannot recognize myself :P

If the nerve is stucked inside the scar tissue, that means there are lotsa scarring and adhesion with the surrounding tissue & the surgery will be difficult.. Exploration is needed (to see the extend and severity of adhesions) before any conclusion can be made :)

butt,
cos I have 10 cent face, which can be seen everywhere .. LOL
Not kan lah… If u want to see me, come & meet up with me in Penang loh.. :P
I won’t wear a mask when I meet u lah, hahaha….

Why the difference in the title.. the story is way back to many many years ago.. Long story lah..
U can find out the stories by google on the topic :)
There are good explanations given there :D

Winn,
got jagong meh? LOL
aiyak.. there are jargons everywhere lah… like I won’t understand the terminology in your field too :)
but at least u know what is PCM & APC liao, if u still remember ;)
Blue coloured 3-ply surgical mask ? That one I have too..
Or the thinner 2-ply white mask.
I still have the N95 mask with me too….

Chen said...

angel,
purposely blur it lah.. Hahha.. I want to keep low profile mah.. :P

domestic goddess,
Hahha, that is his signature picture.. man with mask :P
If the lady doctor is married, so far from what I know (in Malaysia) they are still called Miss. Other countries I dunno loh…

Selba,
Different hospital will have different colours :) Luckily the gloves and shoes is not green in colour.. or else see liao will sakit mata.. ahhaah

The green coloured gown & drape are not the disposable clothes. In my previous hospital, the surgical cap is green in colour too.. We have disposable surgical gown and surgical drap which is light blue or light grey in colour.

Yeah, there are meanings behind all those white clothings… But the bad thing is white colour clothes become dirty easily.. Mmm.. it’s time to wash my white coat?

Chen said...

Pink Cotton,
aiyak.. can’t tell ah? That’s the leg lah… operating on the upper tibia bone – putting a plate for the fractured bone. If u enlarged the picture, u can see more clearly :)

carcar,
Yeah, I still remember your question. That gives me the inspiration to write this post :)
Hahha.. medical student are not allowed to do any surgery lah.. They are only allowed to assist in surgery, but not to perform the surgery :)

Heheh.. Chen is indeed a very common name, just like Tan. I have several colleagues with surname Tan here ;)
Thanks :)

This surgery picture is the least scary one liao lah.. Scary one I won’t show here :P Later everyone really pengsan then I cham loh…

panda,
Hhahah… besides for sterile purpose, can hide the identity as well :P Killing two birds with one stone.. LOL

domesticgoddess said...

hee, i wiki the topic, and found that mrs is included too. so i guess if the surgeon is a married lady, can use mrs. by the way, i think the use of Mr/Ms/Mrs for surgeons is only followed by commonwealth countries since it is originated from RCS; the surgeons in america still us dr.

Anonymous said...

I always watch TV got this oso...
But a bit scary sumtimes...
u know the tools they use to operate... eeeee nitemare nitemare
:(

Winn said...

wah u stil can remember the model number! geng! N95! hahaha..

eh how come when u kan cheong kan cheong wanna go do surgery for ppl that time still got time to take photo wan! haha

Chen said...

domestic goddess,
Yeah, only few countries use Mr & Ms for surgeons. Mrs.. mmmm... sounds weird though :P

zeroimpact,
I'm so used to those tools liao lah..
the instrument all very canggih one :D

winn,
aiyoh.. last time SARS is a big hoo-hah here leh.. Might be next time I will write a post on SARS :)
long real life story...

kakkaa.. do surgery cannot kan cheong one.. Must be cool.. Later salah potong then how :P First photo I'm not the surgeon lah, I'm the photographer :P Second pict orang lain yang ambil lah, bukan saya :D

cooknengr said...

what's up oc, put me on the list when you are a taking appoinments for liposuction surgery.

sengkor said...

can pinjam 1 green mask? wanna take pic for my new profile..

Anonymous said...

Yah lo
Canggih n scari
:P

Chen said...

cooknengr,
Err.. IMHO you are superfit & u definitely doesn’t need liposuction :)

jonboy,
Hahah, cannot post food pict all the time :P Later will give others the impression that besides eating, I have nothing else to do :P

sengkor,
sure, no problem.. :) No need to pinjam lah.. I give one to u as pressie :D

zeroimpact,
canggih but not scary lah.. itu barang bukan machine gun :P

L B said...

Ok, I sacrifice one tentacle for circumcision..

Chen said...

lb,
hah? I dunno Sotong also has foreskin on the tentacles :P that must be interesting.. LOL..

L B said...

Actually, I have no idea if there is any either.. but yes, it's interesting, nevertheless..
I need to do some in-depth research on sotongs..

Chen said...

lb,
ahhaha.. u can always check it out on yourself, cos u r one of the sotong as well :P

day-dreamer said...

So suei... purposely go and blur that pic... :P

Chen said...

day dreamer,
blur blur a bit good mah :)

Anonymous said...

very interesting:-
1. why surgeon cannot be called doctor?
2. why surgeon suit is green color?
3. how you stop the bleeding in the above operations?
4. why need to blur?? aiyoh, all cover up liao, even clear pix also cannot recognize one hahahaha ...

maybe luilui know how to deconstruct back? hehehe

Chen said...

slurp,
lotsa Queries to answer :)

1)surgeon of course can be called doctors, just that most surgeons (in Malaysia) prefered to be called Mr & Ms :) I don't know how's the situation in Singapore.

2)I think the green colour symbolize surgical sterility..

3)There are few ways to stop the bleeding. If the surgeon can identify the bleeding vessel, then he/she will clip the vessel with artery forcep & ligate the vessel. If there are small sources of bleeders from the organ or tissue, normally the surgeon will just cauterize the bleeders.

4)hahahha... cos can still see the eyes clearly :P that's why LOL

btw, who is luilui? :P


SA,
Mmm.. hope the oral analgesia or pain killer can help to relieve your discomfort.

day-dreamer said...

Blur blur a bit good?

Wah... your patients better not hear you say that lo!!

:P

Chen said...

day dreamer,
cheh... i'm serious & professional at work :D

Anonymous said...

>> btw, who is luilui? :P
the one that always say luilui one lor hehehe ...

Chen said...

slurp,
err.. i know the one who always say liuliu, but i dunno who is the one who always say luilui woh :P

Pink Cotton said...

dr chen!
i have a question for u! :P

how isit possible to do a 4/5 hour operation or even a 10 hour operation??? you ppl got rest or not? or take turns to do the operation??hee..

Chen said...

pink cotton,
nothing is impossible lah..
it's not unusual to have surgery up to 4 or 5 hours (especially brain surgery). There are complicated surgeries which take more than 12 hours too. If the surgeon is tired, he or she can always cover the surgery site with sterile drap & unscrub himself/herself for a light refreshment. Surgeons need to go to toilet too ;) hehehe...

Normally the same surgeon will continue on with the same surgery unless if the surgery is complicated & beyond his/her capabilities, or if he/she needs help or assistance from other more experienced surgeons.

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