DAY 1593-1606

Jan 12 - 25

1) As our country battles a third wave of COVID-19, most states have been placed under a fresh lockdown, initially for two weeks, then subsequently extended for an additional week. During this time, all our clinical rotations have also been suspended. In the midst of all this, there are two factions - those who feel that further lockdown is essential to contain the number of clusters daily; and those who feel that any further lockdown will severely cripple the country's already weakening economy, in particular the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). I can see the arguments for both, and I'm personally on the fence on this. But at some point, difficult decisions will have to be made, which will not please everyone.  

2) Personally, I've enjoyed the two weeks' reprieve from having to wake up early to attend clinics. This is an ideal opportunity for me to (hopefully) catch up with my revision. The downside to this "extra" bit of revision time is that we will now either have less holidays or less study time before our exams. That's assuming that we still get to graduate in time, of course. The way things are going, it is really hard to tell what will happen in the coming weeks. 

3) In the recent weeks, my email inbox has been inundated with emails from potential medical students/ school leavers who are interested in finding out more about medicine at RUMC. It has given me great satisfaction to be able to help these aspiring doctors decide if medicine is for them, and to share my own experience as a medical student. Before entering medical school, I had a few close seniors who were extremely patient in answering my many questions, so in some small way, I think of this as giving back. 

4) A week ago, the landlady came over with the maintenance staff to take a look at my bathroom. For the past few weeks, the toilet had been leaking from one of the pipes. Luckily, with some help, we were able to locate the source of the water (it was very well concealed behind the tank cover). As they did not have the necessary tools to fix the leak there and then, we made an appointment for the plumber to come again. All in all, the repair took just under an hour. I'm very glad as I had initially been told that it would take at least two visits.

5) That's basically it for this edition of my blog. Sorry there is nothing more interesting to read, but then again, these are some really strange times... As always, thanks very much for visiting my blog, take care and stay safe. Cheers! 

We need to stay strong and remain hopeful, and look out for one another :)

DAY 1579-1592

Dec 29 - Jan 11

1) Just like that, the nightmare that was 2020 has passed. That doesn't mean things will get any better, but with a new year comes new hope. Some of us will have made our New Year's Resolutions, while others may not. I don't have any particular resolution, other than to continue toiling about with my studies. I'm currently just past the half-way point in family medicine, and I'll be sitting for the end-of-rotation examinations in two weeks. No pressure then.

2) Exam stress aside, family medicine has been very interesting. Our 10-day break for Christmas was very useful for me, as it gave me time off to rest and recuperate, as well as revise some much-needed medicine and surgery notes. Given the recent increase in COVID-19 infections in Malaysia, we will have to wait and see if there are any changes implemented to our current movement control order, which may have an impact on our studies and exams. I guess we'll find out tomorrow evening.

3) When I was younger, I loved reading about space and astronomy - of quasars, supernovas, and supermassive black holes. Of course I was not able to understand most of it, but recently I've begun watching videos on YouTube, and it has piqued my interest again. Everything from the theory of the universe, how life began, and how we measure the age of the universe etc - all easily assessible and explained in layman terms. 

4) Another aspect of science that I've always enjoyed is evolutionary biology, specifically that of humans. Those days, it was always a search for the "missing link" - that transitional fossil that describes the intermediate form that separates modern humans from our anthropoid ancestors. Nowadays, we know that evolution is neither linear nor progressive (i.e. it is branching), and so the term "missing link" has fallen out of favour, replaced by the newer term "last common ancestor". Again, some excellent videos are available on YouTube explaining this in more detail - I just find them fascinating.

5) There's nothing really new going on in my life right now. The main objective is to finish off our family medicine rotation in one piece, and then transition to the next rotation (i.e. ophthalmology) before our Chinese New Year break. Until then, I should probably get back to revising haha. Thanks very much for visiting my blog as always, and have a great week ahead. Cheers! 

Welcome to Cat Beach!

(We took a nice detour during our posting at Teluk Bahang Health Clinic to visit this gem of a location)

I don't know anything about cats but here's a contented-looking one XD

These are all stray cats that have been put up for adoption :)

One of them even decided to get close to me XD

At the entrance to the very aptly named "Cat Beach"

Here's a close-up photo of my left retina, taken during one of the clinic postings

(it's a normal eye XD)

Lunch with Sharifah and Rachel @ Oldtown Kopitiam :)

As quickly as they appeared, the Xmas decorations have been taken down and replaced by the Chinese New Year ones

Compulsory face shield, for extra protection against the current pandemic...

A huge thanks to Melvin and Melissa for the lovely cake and banter! :')