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Screwed! My arithmetic didn’t pass first grade. Thanks Doc Ness, for pointing out. But, I still want the 13 edition to be hosted by me.

I love to add some tweaks and fine details to The Blog Rounds, make it more relevant to us, MD bloggers and to our readers. Like what I said in my call for articles,

Why blog? What brought you to blogging? Was it the appeal? The diversion from intoxication? What would you want your blog to achieve? How would you like your blogs to be? The Blog Rounds? Do you think the rigorous scientific gobbledygook should be applied to what you blog? Like food stuff maybe? Do you have lofty aspirations for what you blog? Restrictions?

The Blog Rounds is expanding. And boy my spare blogging schedule just couldn’t keep up with it!

Technically, TBR 13 should be after TBR 12. But where’s TBR 12? I’m pleading Got Meloinks (The Philippine Daily Idiot ++ ) to host TBR 12 and hopes he wont turn my request down. And then I could buy another week to round up entries, stalk TBR bloggers and yes, polish my TBR mini survey round up.

Here’s a preview of who’s entries made it to the TBR 13 round up:

1. AnaKat of The Saga Continues, beat the “deadline” by 4 days and sent her “word nerd” entry. Two thumbs up!!
2. Doc Che of MerryCherry, who hates handwriting and brandishing a new laptop, sent her blogging addiction via weblog. A trivia??!
3. J.A. , host of TBR 11’s Time to go on a food trip! sent her “blogging for me” post.
4. Joey MD, did send an inspiring anthology of her blog-0-mania and how she came up with several blogs to “cope” up with her writing and learning passions.
5. Not to be outdone is Dr. Tess, our prolific blogger from bisaya(s) who rants about why she wanted to blog and puts her foot on her mouth sometimes. Doc Tess???
6. Got Meloinks, the entertaining and highly acclaimed author of the Philippine Daily Idiot, emailed me a link (honestly, I couldn’t find it in my Inbox) to this mind riveting thesis on blogging.
7. Angel MD No More stood up to her name, “ironing out” a bratty junior resident and venting the training “burnt out” on, you got it, blogging.
8. Em Dy of Pulse also shared her kind of Recovery Room.
9. VG Samson aka Gigi narrates how her search for the Perfect Blog ended up.
10. Well, I fumbled with words to describe how I feel when I read KittyMama‘s Raison de etre, and her “blog for life“. Read and find out for yourself…

Thanks again to the early entries by these MD bloggers. But TBR 13 will be up next tuesday (yes, hopefully together with TBR 12) and so to those MD bloggers who wanted to send entries still, you’re all encouraged to do so.

Twenty seven blogs, 25 Filipino physician bloggers, 12 Rounds of blogging, 12 wonderfully hosted carnival of posts, and a hundred or more posts. One Blog Rounds, Proudly Pinoy

Come to think of it. What was once an idea came into the mainstream. What was pure “recreation” to some became an avenue for exchanging ideas with everyone. To top it all, the medical bloggers have their voice, on just about anything we can dabble into, medical or other wise.And for some reason, we feel good about it.

Is it the fun, the relaxation, the diversion? A coffee break to our tiring work? Was it to bring up front a certain ideology, belief or campaign? Or was it for the “heck of blogging!”

That heck of blogging it seems, has “some” diagnostic and therapeutic use. For one, we let out our thoughts on issues we choose, analyze and then find solutions to them. Perhaps our fanatic attachments to rigorous scientific investigations has made the relaxed and less stringent “looseness” of blogging invariably appealing.

Still not getting any point in this? Well, that is because for the 13th edition of The Blog Rounds, I will be asking you the same questions.

Why blog? What brought you to blogging? Was it the appeal? The diversion from intoxication? What would you want your blog to achieve? How would you like your blogs to be? The Blog Rounds? Do you think the rigorous scientific gobbledygook should be applied to what you blog? Like food stuff maybe? Do you have loftyaspirations for what you blog? Restrictions?

Long story short, I want your ideas about blogging and The Blog Rounds. Be creative yes, but be specific also. You can throw all kind of rants for and against it, no holds barred. You can also write about you blogging icons or your blogging influence. Just give me a hint why you blog

Hopefully, I get a draft of how, why, what and what’s next for physician bloggers, their blogs and The Blog Rounds. Submit your entry to my email kokegulper[at]yahoo[dot]com with TBR 13 article post entry on the heading and the title, link in the message, before Tuesday next week June 6, 2008. For the complete guidelines of joining, read the guide here.

For most of us, the mentor-stimulus for learning is a unique experience. Our “receptors” for learning may accept signals from nice, approachable and likable professors. The feel-good- mentor attitude is irresistible.

But I learned most from the hard hitting, no holds barred tor-mentors. Not that I liked getting hurt or being hit upon for me to learn. But squeezing something positive from such “despicable challenges” always give me the “high”. Even if it was just for survival.

That’s what I think happened in these snippets of paradigms shifts during my college days.

“You got a 0.5 grade for your term paper?!” Grinning, my friend Joselito added “that’s higher than 1.0! You’re amazing!” and then he burst out in laughter. Already red in shame, I grabbed my paper Joselito was waving in air inside our classroom. I went into cold sweats and then froze humbled on my chair. “A 0.5? How the earth can that be?“

“That was for you’re ink Mr. Tito! To give credence to your ink! You wrote a reaction paper instead of a concept paper, you *@#$!” This scumbag professor just didn’t remembered my name right. He also insulted me in front of our class. Judging from his snicker, he was visibly satisfied with my agony. I grimaced in anger while wishing the earth will crumble and I can smash the face of this fag.

“How many times do I have to remind your weightless nut brain? You wrote a concept paper while I was asking for a reaction paper!“ So you get another 0.5 for your ink! Thats a 1.0 on a scale of 40 points!

Getting a 0.5 on two term papers and zero on the other two are not just pranks and whimpers. It is sabotage! For that I hated English and Communication as GE courses in Pre Med.

And then wished my bike would run over that darn professor.

That wish never came. I never had the chance to smash the face of that prof, nor I was able to wreck his neck. For some miraculous reasons, I did finish the course without having to take removals. On the last day of our our class (which was also a mini speech competition with chocolates and free cinema tickets as prizes), he walk straight to me and told me

“You were one of my most improved students. I never thought I could turn such charcoals into diamond snippets that you are right now, speech wise. You owe yourself some chocolates and a movie! Thank that 0.5 you nut brain!“

Just like that…

But I have this copycat habit of emulating some mentors in an attempt to incorporate their traits while forming my true self. Let’s face it, we take the values and personality we like and junk the others we deemed “crazy”. And mentors, are icons whether we like it or not.

“Is that him? He looks like a bodybuilder to me than a professor.” I whispered to my seat mate. “Good morning!” came the booming voice over the classroom speakers. “I am Dr… and you are entering blah blah” The tall, muscled guy sounded like he’s going to mince us one by one. “…nobody said med school is easy. And being in the premier state university, you are expected to excel. So study harder…” The cool, smooth voice of this professor is surprisingly boring and frank. He means business and he is a no fun fare teacher. “He’s definitely making sure I’m par the slot I got in this premier medical school, or he’ll kick me out!”

“Hell no! I wouldn’t want him to do that! Not ever!“

“I want to be like this professor.” No, not his macho image nor his stern look. His frankness and no holds barred attitude is worth emulating. I thought he was a surgeon. But he is not. He devoted his time after med school to learn how to make medical students learn. On a very young age, he’s quite making an impression. “You flunk any of the exams. You better study harder.” So coming in to his office means you’re in trouble. At least for the time being.

For one whole semester of listening to his human anatomy and dissecting cadavers to no end, I am both scared and emulative of this professor. His brutal frankness scare the wits out of my brains. On the other hand, I liked his habit of telling the truth first and only. No dicing. When he talks, I make sure all my ears, including my brain, is listening. Even if I can only absorb a handful of medical information.

But his frankness is coupled with fairness. “I only record and calculate what scores you give me. You do the studying I do the grade calculations. Plain and simple.”Making sure you reflect the “results” you store in, is his concern. “You are actually grading yourself”. He told us in one didactics.

For the next 5 years I marked my medical school days with attitudes I first stumbled with this professor. Frank, cool and fairness. “Keep your medical life simple. Study hard and you will get what you deserve.

Though medical life is never simple as I’ve learned later, the attempt to simplify it was a fulfilling exercise nonetheless. I had paradigm shifts.

These mentors were part of my paradigm shifts- changes in perspectives that saw the positive in every opportunity that knock in, scary and the not so scary. They were my windows to the new world.

Mentors or tormentors?