First month

Yeap! I survived the first month of work. And praise God it hasn't been as bad as I thought. In fact, praise God, it has been quite okay.

I was nervous for awhile when I first started. After a month or so, I believe I am getting the hang of things.

There isn't much difference in the medical side of things. After all, human beings are remarkably alike in many more ways that we thought.

It's just the ways things are done - tests are easier to come by, finances less of a concern; and on the other hand, patients are more demanding and litigation more of a problem.

All these affect the way medicine is practiced here. For the better? Perhaps not always. Overall, efficiency suffers because doctors have to be more defensive.

Going to work is also not as bad. Driving across town to work is something that we are used to do in Malaysia. Traffic is better here as well. So there is not as bad as it seems.

The other thing is weather; weather here changes at the drop of a hat. It could be cold and damp one day, and hot and sunny the next. Overall, though, it is warming up, and we are beginning to have 30 degrees days even early in November. It is forecast that we will have one of the hottest years in decades, with peak temperature up to high 40s mid summer this year.