Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: DAY 404/405/406

Oct 9, 10 & 11

1) Today I went for another Friendship Lunch, this time at TR1. Friendship Lunches are co-hosted by RCSI CoMPPAS, RCSI S.U. & RCSI Peer Mentors. As a friendly second med student, I take it upon myself to ensure that the juniors are comfortable making friends and getting to know the seniors better. It is imperative that we form a strong peer mediated support system to ensure everyone feels comfortable with the environment they are in, as well as the course load that they are undertaking. I am therefore of the opinion that these lunches are a great way to integrate and assimilate with the rest of the faculty.

2) Today's lunch had a lower turnout than I expected. That being said, it gave us even more reason to socialise and engage in some highly (un-)intelligent conversation! After speaking with some of the first years, they told me that while RCSI is absolutely brilliant when it comes to international outlook, they felt that there was more that could be done to ensure that students came out of their shell to make new friends, rather than remaining within their social circle/clique. I think that would be something to aspire towards, and may I recommend, as a means of achieving this goal - to have more friendship lunches in the future? XD

3) Alongside the friendly banter, we also spoke to Dr. Orna Tighe, Vice Dean for Student Support and Development, and Senior Lecturer/Academic Administrator MCT. She asked us the type of clubs and societies that we had joined, and even shared with us her experience with cricket. After a lengthy conversation, she made her leave. It was getting late by now, and the first years had lessons soon, so we finished the last of our coffee and headed back.

4) In the evening, Zi Yan and I attended the "Psychological Consequences of Medical Emergencies: Live Panel" session, organised by the RCSI Friends of MSF (Doctors Without Borders). Basically we were shown a documentary called "Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell". Essentially, what he does is show us the horrors he finds. He meets women held in a house against their will and forced to work in what is clearly the sex trade. He enters one of Tripoli’s three recognised detention centres, where 490 male refugees are locked up indefinitely, beaten, starved and abandoned by every person and government in the world. He interviews a smuggler who has transported 2,000 people into Europe along a coast where smuggling now accounts for half of the local economy. And he spends a night at sea with the Libyan coastguard, getting shot at in the process.

5) Kemp’s style may be about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but when he says, with tears in his eyes, that “I don’t care who you are or where you come from … as human beings we have a duty to try and stop this suffering,” it’s a deeply powerful plea. And even sending foreign aid is up for debate - is it really helping those in need, or are is foreign aid providing a corrupting influence on weak governments? After all, in order to get to the powerless, you often have to go through the powerful. And therein lies the problem.

6) After a long day, I went off for a long overdue haircut, at the Dublin School of Barbering. One free haircut later, and I returned to the library. That has been the gist of my three days, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Until next time, cheerios! :D