MISCALLEANOUS IV

• “If a patient with diabetes is called a diabetic & someone with an amputated limb is an amputee, what do you call a person who has a stoma?” our Consultant Surgeon (in Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching) Mr. WCM, quizzed us during ward round. I actually didn’t know the answer, but one of the House Officers replied confidently, “Stomee”. It sounded funny that even the patients laughed. The correct term is “ostomate”.

• During an MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Phycisians) teaching session, one of the candidates, HT, was asked a question about a physiological condition which can aggravate a certain medical problem. HT was also given the clue that the particular physiological condition occurs only in women & not in men. He thought for a while & gave the answer, “Menstruation”. The other candidates thought HT’s answer was outrageous. Perhaps he had forgotten that pregnancy is also a physiological condition that occurs only in women.