Second Month, Second Job

I am sleepy sleepy sleepy. So in a bid to keep awake, here's a quick update of my life.

I'm into my second month of work and things have not turned out to be half as bad as I imagined. My ex-colleagues in NUHS had previously warned me of the cut-throat back-breaking pace of work and the ruthless backstabbing nature in the advertising industry.

I had to brace myself for the culture shock, in view of the soporific mindless work which goes on in NUHS Research Office. *apologies to my ex-colleagues* :p

Lo and behold, all the warnings turned out to be... TRUE.

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But thankfully, my role as a medical writer allows me to be detached from the bitching, backstabbing and midnight stints which occur ever so often in other teams.

Working under natural light

So far, the busiest period this month had been sales pitches. And all I had to do was convince the rest of the world that I am a medical expert, capable of reciting the etiology, pathology, treatment guidelines of diseases.

Ah, with my "comprehensive medical background" and in a bid to protect my a**, I had to resort to an indiscriminate use of weasel words.

Samples of my pet opening phrases when I am consulted for my advice:

1. Most studies have shown that...
2. There is some evidence to propose the following treatment protocol...
3. Unfortunately, there is no firm consensus to the use of ABC...
4. It is generally agreed that a stepwise approach is the most...
5. In conclusion, a number of doctors consider XYZ drug as a possible drug of choice...

Then again, I suspect my non-committal advice might be the reason why I was given this on the day I met my boss.

Given a choice, I would have preferred: "There is a growing body of evidence to suggest a possibility of you being fired".