Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize

Its almost the end of my 2 weeks break..sigh..school'll start soon.Have to retrieve self from lala land for some reality check..last two weeks has been a mix of joy,anger,laughter and anguish..the spices of my life.sometimes i just failed to realise that Allah is there for me..in time of blues,He sends little gifts,that lifts me up and makes me want to move on,makes me forget the mishaps of lifes,to be thankful and contented of what i have...like the sound of shaz n azni arguing and fighting over one another to make their 1st attempt at apam balik...cheerily in the background,with hani (being the figure of a patient mummy) trying to control their child-like excitement.

eversince i started my clinical year, i have doubts of my choice of career,the feeling of incompetency and frustration was overwhelming.every exam was like a nightmare i could never get over with.the level of confidence is plumming down all the time,with some weak effort to pick myself up giving an up and down pattern of shares in the stock market.and being a TKCian, i was afraid of not meeting up to the expection,and worse,not coming up to my own expectation.in the TKCOGA mail list,everybody was busy discussing the success of a national level health project organised by old girls called HANI (im green with envy,why doesnt anybody want to use my name for a big event)...kidding hani..peace!i wonder where is the TKCian in me.there all the TKCians who are professors,dato,datin,director of these and that..they really benefit the community and people around them.and here i am struggling through my undergrads life.

thats why,when Allah sent me this gift (in the form oh Hani being the loyal posto),i was unable to believe it at first,then pleasantly suprised ,then some of the missing self-confidence seemed to crawl back into me.since hani got a similar letter..we senyum kambing at each other (",).

the letter started with something like...considering of your great performance in your ophthalmology exam (which made me laugh histerically and thought whether they were trying to be sarcastic),we would like to invite you to sit for the award exam.signed..my opth professor (whose sarcasm is phenomenal).so after some input from hani and after reading this piece below (also credit to hani),im a bit tilted to go for it.who knows ophthalmology is the destined path for me,and the mentioning of the sacred Jerusalem really got the ball rolling.

presenting.........

Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize

This prestigious prize run by the Royal College of Ophthalmologist. The purpose of the examination was to encourage an interest in ophthalmology. The prize was a certificate for an essay on a predetermined topic, and soon after a modest cheque was added to the prize. In the 1960s, a multiple choice format was adopted.

Following the death of the founder of the faculty, Sir Stewart Duke-Elder in 1978, the name of the examination was changed to the Duke-Elder Undergraduate Prize and three monetary prizes were awarded. The first Council of the College of Ophthalmologists continued to hold the examination in the same format until 1997 when it decided to offer a single prize instead - a short elective to the St John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem.

The examination attracts many entrants and the overall standard has remained high. Many winners have gone on to specialise in ophthalmology