Twitterific

As you may or may not have noticed, I've decided to form part of the Twitter community after the following sequence of events:

• Twitter has been first brought to my attention thanks to Robert Galea's blog.
• Miley Cyrus has admitted to E! News that she is Twitter obsessed... Thanks to Demi Levato.
• Those two points above made me want to delve into what this "Twitter" thing is.
• Discovered that many a medical student is twittering - it's infectious I suppose... but also...
• Things are starting to get a bit lonely at home now that I stopped having lectures for more than a week. (with Prof. Paul Cuschieri managing to turn our last lecture into a class reunion after such a long time of not seeing certain faces...)

Having said this, exams start on Friday... Needless to say I'm lagging behind in studies. Hence, got to go. For Twitter updates, you can check the right margin (just under 'God's Twitter' entitled "Verse of the Day")

Tomorrow's Doctors...

Our University class Yahoo Group has always been quite a hub of communication all year. All was done in an endeavour to keep ourselves updated with everything going on at medical school, from lectures to other leisure activities. But lately, the emails (in red) that are being sent are so shameful, that I thought they deserve a little mention. As implied in the previous sentence, some people know no shame whatsoever. (But repetition is justified, you know, for the sake of emphasis) It is during this crucial time of the year were people are asking questions regarding issues that have been dealt with many months before such as...

"I was wondering why the viva [oral exam] for pathology is held a day before paediatrics exam. Can you check with secretary whether this thing can be changed? [OMG! You've never had two exams in succession before?] i have heard from previous years that people end up failing their paeds exam or do badly. would a day or 2 make a difference for them? after all a viva in pathology never helped anyone but people still have to go and thus waste a day or 2 before paeds exam."

And whilst they're at it, these same people are, naturally, asking for the pharmacology past papers...

"Can anyone kindly tell me what past papers are available for pharmacology as last time i checked at papier i found only 3. (btw i checked a week ago)"

And... wait for it...

"Wasn't there supposed to be a full set of past papers?"

Kindly note that past papers have been put in the stationer's for everyone to photocopy ages ago by our class representatives. (Yes... We are so childish in our ways that we actually need the "prefect system" that one only finds in secondary schools in order to ensure that things are working in some order.)

And they are also asking for notes too, as though our class reps haven't done a good enough job to collect and distribute all notes available throughout the year. Naturally, these people would have found it pointless coming to the lecture since the PowerPoint used is, in 99.9% of cases, found in the Yahoo Group ready for everyone to download... And emails such as follows naturally ensue...

"Hi, does anyone have the notes from Dr. N. Spiteri about vaccines please? Thanks"

And someone rightly replied...

"sa fejn naf jien [as far as I'm concerned] we don't have any notes of Dr. N Spiteri, she had written them out on the white board"

Another bright mind sends an email on the same thread...

"Anyone typed them out and can send them on the server?" [:O]

Needless to say, no one really bothered posting anything on the server. And so, people continued their panick sequence with regards to the pharmacology that most medical students never touch until the last two weeks of the year...

"hi, [Yeah, hello there] does anyone have notes for gynae pharm pls? thanks"

"And what about ophthalmic pharmacology? Are there any notes? If not, can anyone kindly list very briefly what was discussed?" [You have got to be kidding me!!!!]

[And here come the email that bursts the bubble...] "Gynae and Obs notes werent given because of poor attendence + lecturer dispute with university."

The prompt reply?

"*******... [like lecturers are expected to give us notes!] [But... the persistence of some people never ceases to amaze me...] and what about ophthalmology?"

Now, I'm a very reasonable individual. There is no harm is asking the odd query here and there. But... To all those people who expect to be spoon fed, all so that they can stay studying comfortably at home whilst the rest of their colleagues go to lectures and ward rounds as asked of them... We are forth year medical students, who will hopefully manage to become doctors in around 12 months time... Supposedly respectable and responsible citizens of society, as our duties, after all, require us to be. So, next time, instead of resting on the Yahoo Group, come to lectures and do your job as a student properly. You are free to decide otherwise and just do your own thing, in which case, when notes are missing, stop sending the class mail and go sod off!

On a more sober note, the real doctors of tomorrow (i.e. the 5th years) are just a few minutes away from sitting their first written exam (at 9am and at 3pm). I'm sure that any prayers at this stage will be greatly appreciated. :)

SPHYGMO Exam Edition

The third issue of SPHYGMO is out!!!

Check it out on the MMSA Website!

NB: This is the last issue of Sphygmo for this year and it is, very very sadly, also my last contribution to Sphygmo as editor. It's been a wonderful experience working with this year's Editorial Board and the rest of MMSA Media Sub-Committee. But now it's time to step down and move on. With 5th year round the corner and other commitments (including Faculty Rep), I already have more than enough on my plate as it is...

Why People Come and Go

This won't be the usual "meant to entertain you" post. Was meant to write this for quite a while but was a bit busier than usual.

The reasons behind this post are three:

1. I read Benji's blog post called People Come and Go... And I wanted to reply to that.

2. Went to mass last Sunday which I found very relevant to point number 1 above

3. Saw a comic on Chalkboard Manifesto (see later) that, again, is very relevant to points 1 & 2.

As Ben put it, "This isn't just about y4j but everywhere we Christians go..." Likewise, this is not about community, or any other prayer group. So, really, any possible "controversy" is not intended. But this is something important to bring up...

This is because MANY people have asked me why bother going to church? A lot of people rightly wonder why the hell bother with mass. And I sometimes struggled with the question why bother with community!

Personally, I don't blame people asking those questions, especially when mass is perceived as being something as follows...

This is the misfortune of today! That church is somewhere you go to and not somewhere to belong to. Last Sunday's gospel (Luke 24: 35-48), we were given a glimpse of how the early church was... people talked to each other, shared with each other, broke the bread and ate together. A group of people become a church, a community, when people share. And as Jesus said in Matthew 18: 20, "...where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." In fact, even in the Bible, when Jesus appeared, He usually did so when there were a group of people.

Even in last Sunday's Gospel, more than three people were gathered in Jesus' name. And Jesus appeared to them saying, "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." Such people had the fortune of having such a profound and life changing experience of Jesus like never before.

Today, we can't touch Jesus directly. But the Bible says that the church is indeed the body of Christ (Romans 12: 4-5).

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."

For people not to "come and go" they need to be given the opportunity to move away from Christianity as being a simple idea, and more towards Christianity as being a profound and life changing experience. For that to happen, an experience of God's love is necessary... A love which is today manifested in other people... Manifested in the church.

So, if community is so important, why do people miss out?

People nowadays speak about feeling close to God thanks to personal prayer, but still don't go to mass. When I went to 18:30 mass at Naxxar on Sunday (29th of March), this mentality was out rightly condemned when the priest was able to have his 15 minutes say on the pulpit. When I went last Sunday, the priest was a bit more understanding. Nevertheless, the community aspect of our faith is important and church is necessary.

This is a fact that is worth repeating, especially in the light of hearing many community/prayer group members say, "you should come to the meetings for God and God alone". But it's a flawed principle, that is not really Biblical when you think about it. Apart from what has already been stated above, God made it very clear in the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis (2: 18)...

"The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone."

It is not good... i.e. it is wrong... for man to be alone.

What is most striking is that this was said at a time when Adam still had a PERFECT relationship with God, with no hardship, no separation and no sin in between. And yet, God still found it unjust for man to be alone! Let alone now! Sin, with all it's consequences (doubts, fear, worry, sickness) now makes a healthy community experience even more essential to have a healthy relationship with God.

This is why Benji's observation is so important. As very rightly put by Ben...

"Am i really testifying the love of God by including, them talking to them and sharing with them?"

Again, this is not about not having our own group of friends. This is more about breaking our comfort zones to reach out to other people. We keep ourselves busy, immersed in things to do, projects to carry out, outreaches to organise, healing services to do, dances to rehearse, programmes to film, DVDs to make and websites to update. And in all this busyness, we forget the people who come and go. The very people we would have done outreaches for, the people we would have done programmes for, or Lenten talks, or healing services, and youthful worship... All to win souls for God.

And we manage. We lure new people into our meetings to give them a taste of who God is and how much He loves us. But then the worship stops...
The music fades...
The noise ceases...
The talk ends...
And then...

What do we do?