Oct 27 - Nov 8
1) What a difference another two weeks makes! As Malaysia expands its partial lockdown (called the Conditional Movement Control Order or CMCO) to include most states, both my hometown (Ipoh, Perak) as well as where I'm currently studying (Penang) are soon to be affected. This one-month partial lockdown is in response to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the community, with yesterday recording 1,755 new cases - the highest number of daily cases thus far. As a medical student, what this means (according to the e-mail sent to us from the college) is that all classes will revert to online mode. However, they are hopeful that clinical teaching should continue as before, which means we do not lose out on the all-important practical skills.
2) As it is, my group (Group B) is nearing the end of our psychiatry rotation, with just a week and half left before our end-of-rotation clinical assessment. In the past two weeks, we visited the psychiatric wards, the Health Clinics (at Perak Road & Macalister Road), the psychogeriatric clinics, and the private clinics (at Adventist Hospital). I have had the opportunity of engaging with a variety of patients suffering from mental illness, and I have found the experience to be invaluable. It is really interesting to see how the mental illness develops in a patient, and to explore the bio-psychosocial stressors that predisposed and precipitated the illness. Unfortunately, there also seems to be a lot of stigma and misconceptions regarding mental illness, the result of which is that patients often present late or not at all. Therefore, the onus falls on us to educate the patients and their family (as well as the wider community) about the myths and misconceptions that people generally may have regarding mental issues.
3) An interesting incident happened to me yesterday. After a long day, I was heading to sleep after using the bathroom, when I found myself locked out of my bathroom door. Somehow the door had become locked and the door knob would not turn. I spent a good hour or so trying everything I could, including the old "credit card" method, as well as by using scissors to hold the latch and try to push it inwards. Nothing worked, and I began to panic at the thought of having to call a locksmith. In a last-ditch effort, I searched online and found a method involving a coin placed into the indent of the doorknob. Lo and behold - that saved the day! Few things have given me more joy and euphoria than successfully unlocking my bathroom door. Now I am extra careful in making sure I do not close the bathroom door completely, just in case it gets jammed again.
4) The next two weeks will be busy for me, as I will probably be preparing for the end-of-rotation assessment for psychiatry. Until then, take care and look out for yourself and each other during this most trying of times. Thanks for visiting my blog as always, and have a great week ahead. Cheers!
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