What I Learn from Working In a Hospital in Indonesia

This summer I did internship at a government hospital in my town. It was tiring, but has its benefits.

Bad things:

1. It was honestly boring. As administrative staff, I don’t like doing routine job. Like everyday checking supplies in the pantry, checking computer data, blah blah whatnot.

2. Administrative staffs. Boring job for equally boring people. Both women and MEN gossip a lot. What’s worse, they were always gossiping about celebrities’ scandals and any form of housewives talk. Like there’s nothing in the world can interest them as much as gossip does. But they don’t seem to get bored by themselves, though.

3. Because of reason 2, I couldn’t talk to anyone. I talked sometimes out of boredom, but in merely 15 minutes they made me even more bored.

4. Flirty 30-40s men with gossip traits and banal language. God, this is simply untolerable.

5. I didn’t see high-tech medical equipments. Or they didn’t allow me to see. I wish they put me in hospital laboratory instead of the warehouse.

Good things:

1. I know that working in a hospital is a bad thing for me. Or at least working at THAT hospital.

2. Prevent me from applying for a boring job in the future.

3. Despite all its flaws, that hospital is still prestigious! It’ll do good for my resume.

4. Some of people there (usually those in higher positions, not merely staff or newly hired) were more respectable and nice to talk with. Unfortunately, they were often busy.

5. I learned about drug price policy and regulations. It really helps to make me looks as if I understand economic while I barely understand NASDAQ table.

My conclusion is: work at a hospital but just for a while, don’t make it my forever after dream job. I’ll end up being such a characterless individual.

Note: this only applies for administrative works and possibly what pharmacists do in a hospital, in Indonesia. Doctors do better I think. Considering I worked at a hospital in the CAPITAL of Indonesia, it may represents the condition of all Indonesian hospital in general. I’m not talking about international hospitals here, like Pondok Indah. They may not be different, though.

But I hope they may be.

Internship in a Hospital

I’m having internship in June – July, so I may not be able to post frequently.  This internship in a local hospital has been taking most of my HOLIDAY time and it’s insanely boring! But at least it gives me some valuable information: working as a Pharmacist in an Indonesian hospital is extremely boring, more of a clerk job, and I advise myself-of-the-future NOT to apply for job in a hospital. I’d rather be in some food industry, thank you. Maybe thinking ways of advertising, marketing, or better in quality control! More details come later.

Until then, I bid you adieu.

Your most humble & obedient servant,

F.F

Antioxidant: Types and Sources

Know what antioxidant you eat.

Basically there are 3 types of antioxidant:

• PRIMARY. Now this is the type that prevents the formation of new free radicals (e.g superoxyde dismutase, glutation peroxydase)
• SECONDARY. This type catches free radicals thus prevents their chain reaction (e.g Vitamin C and E, beta-caroten)
• TERTIARY. It repairs biomolecular damage(s) caused by free radicals, so they don’t attack free radicals directly (e.g DNA repair enzymes, methionin sulfocyde reductose)

Sources? They come from fruits and veggies, mainly. Cloves is ranked #1 for having the highest antioxidant content, followed by cinnamon, ginger, saffron, and chilli (surprisingly). Herbal plants’ antioxidant compounds are flavonoid, coumarin, terpenoid, alkaloid, and glycoside.

But none of this compounds has matched the activity of Vitamin C, the queen of antioxidant! So eat whatever food has high Vitamin C value and you shouldn’t be bothered to buy fancy antioxidant supplements, that’s just my 2 cents.

The Many Wonders of Cinnamon

Cinnamomum verum or C. zeylanicum from the family of Lauraceae (commonly known as cinnamon) is a spice herb. It has a distinct taste and odor (sweet, but somewhat spicy hot). This plant is 10-15 m high, with ovate-oblong shaped leaves (7-18 cm). Its flowers are arranged in panicule, green, and have a specific aroma. The fruits are about 1 cm each and of purple colour.

Cinnamon has been long used since eons ago (app. 5000 years ago by the Egyptians) for religious reasons because of its mystical odor. Used for clothing fragrance and spice too (wonder why it doesn’t make for perfume?).

Today’s commonly used part is the bark. The skin of the bark. It has a lovely odor and taste thus people use it as spice. The odor comes from aromatic essential oil which can be gained by macerating the bark in saltwater then distilling it. The oil has golden colour and smells good. This oil also has low boiling point, therefore it is a volatile substance. The sweet odor and taste of the oil comes from an aldehyde compound, cinnamaldehyde (60% of this oil contains this compound). It can be oxydized easily and becomes darker as time passes. Besides cinnamaldehyde, there are also etyl cinnamate, eugenol, beta-caryophilen, linalool, cinnamil acetat, anethole, and methyl cavicole. Cinnamon bark itself contains important minerals like manganese, iron, calcium, and fibers.

In medication, it’s used to treat common cold, diarrhea, ulcer, hypertension, vertigo, liver disease, urate acid, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, sprue, menstrual cramps, and gastrointestinal problems. Cinnamon oil has been used for preserving foods, so it must have antimicrobial activity. Following studies are needed in this matter to know what microbes it has antimicrobial activity at. In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells. It may be developed into new antitumor drug, then. It also has anticoagulant effects. I daresay it’s a promising cardiovascular drug (antishock). So much from just one plant, eh?

Some recent studies has proved that cinnamon has therapeutic effect on diabetes type 2 and insulin resistance. This is caused by cinnamtannin B1 compound which can induce the production of insulin therefore blood sugar level can be controlled.

Normal dosage is 2-4 g (1/2 – 3/4 tsp) cinnamon powder per day. In its ticture form, normal dosage is 6-9 mL per day.

Sources:
http://www.prevention.com/cda/
http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/Cinnamon
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/15-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html