A few days ago, we had a station where we had to deliver a bad news to a patient's daughter. It was difficult, I didn't know what to talk about. All I can think about was trying to be myself - empathetic and concerned. At the end of the session, the actor slapped me on my knee jokingly & said, "Stop smiling" :)
I was surprised with the comment because I was aware throughout the consultation that I put up my poker face. She said I did really well, that I was the only student in her station who did something which highlights my empathy. I shall not tell you what I did though :P
Who knew that my smile could actually be one of my hindrances in the medical world?
This event led to me showing Syakir my various faces whilst on the hopper bus to Derby the other day and asking him if it's good enough for the exams. Lol.
The conclusion; I shall use my sad face during the breaking bad news station if it ever were to come up in Feb next year. Since my neutral face is a smiley face, I guess I have to put in some emotions; maybe recollections of sad events in my life like when everyone left me in the past few months which I shall enliven in my mind so the facial expression will look natural. I guess all those drama practices that I had back in MRSM TGB would be really useful for my Final Exam in 2014. Awesomeness!
In addition, on the same day, I met an old lady at the bus stop on my way to Derby before I had the session on breaking bad news. She didn't smile at all. No, seriously..her face was so "ketat" and she looked at me with sharp evil eyes. I can get very uneasy when I meet people who just don't smile. I feel bad for her because she was unable to smile. I mean.. can you imagine people who just couldn't smile? Kesian kan? Imagine all the people that they manage to scare with their neutral faces. At least my neutral face is the smiley one. I guess that's why people kept saying that I never stop smiling even though I actually do.
And to everyone else, smile to the people around you. It's not that hard. You make other people happy just by smiling. And I just love when my housemates are smiling at me when I get back home after a long (sometimes dull) day in the hospital...
