DAY 1863-1878

Oct 9 - 24

1) As I walked past the sea of people on my way to the food court in Gurney Plaza, it suddenly dawned on me - we are gradually recovering from the effects of the pandemic. Once empty walkways and corridors are now filled with people going about their business, and empty food stalls have returned to near full capacity, with dine-in being allowed for fully vaccinated individuals. Week by week, I am amazed by how much progress has been made. Case in point, today we recorded just 5,666 infections - nearly half the number of daily infections we had at the beginning of the month. Over 94% of the adult population has been vaccinated, and there is an ongoing vaccination programme for schoolchildren, targeting at least 80% full vaccinations before school reopens in 2022. I think that is a commendable effort.

2) In the past two weeks, my group has had clinical teaching in the various surgical departments in Penang General Hospital. We had teachings in cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, urology, and general surgery, covering a wide range of cases ranging from simple to really, really complex. Anyway, it has been a productive four weeks of surgery / orthopaedics. The next rotation (for me) is medicine, followed by public health to wrap up the semester. 

3) The past two weeks have also been unbearably hot. Even with a stand fan on at full blast in my face, I was still sweating profusely. The hot weather also made me really sleepy, especially in the afternoon, and after a heavy lunch. Thankfully, the past couple of days have been much more bearable, mostly due to the frequent raining. I still remember when I was studying in Ireland, deep in the middle of winter, complaining about how cold and dark everything was (as I often do in my blog updates). I made a promise that when I returned home, I would not complain about the weather - no matter how hot it was. Well, turns out I just complain a lot about everything.

4) Before I start complaining about other things, perhaps it's best to end this blog update here. There's nothing really exciting going on in my life right now, but maybe no news is good news? Thanks very much for tuning in, take care, and stay safe. Cheers! 

Gurney Food Hall - the side entrance from the lifts

The "Canteen"

"Bak kut teh" or pork bone tea - today's lunch objective :)

The interior decor reminds me of when I did my research in China

"Bak kut teh", accompanied with a heaping bowl of rice and "you tiao" or fried dough sticks

Yes it's the one and only Sim!

It was a lovely day outside today - just after the rain

DAY 1848-1862

Sept 24 - Oct 8

1) For the past two weeks, things have been getting better - both for our country and for us as medical students. The average number of new Covid-19 infections per day has fallen by over 7,800 over the last three weeks, with today being the fifth consecutive day the cases were below 10,000. Considering at our peak, we were averaging well over 20,000 cases per day, I would call this a huge milestone. Indeed, things are looking much brighter now, as there are plans to lift the ban on interstate travel in the next couple of days, once  90% of the adult population have been vaccinated.

2) As for us medical students, we have been informed regarding the re-opening of campus on the 18th onwards. This is a very timely update as well, since we are now in final year, and usage of the library and other facilities will definitely help us through our final stage of medical school. For the past two weeks, my group has resumed clinical training in the orthopaedics outpatient clinics. As mentioned before, we have not been allowed in the wards yet, due to the high number of cases. But in the coming weeks, I am hopeful that at some point we'll be allowed back, as more Covid-19 wards are reverted back for normal use. 

3) Having completed our two weeks of orthopaedics posting (for Semester 9), we now have another two weeks in the surgery outpatient departments (SOPD), after which we have two more rotations - in medicine and public health, respectively. Having done half our the public health module in Semester 6 (Year 3), we will now complete the remaining half during Semester 9, and we will sit the final examination for Public Health as well. Next year, Semester 10 - our final semester - begins. We only have two large modules, medicine and surgery, which includes sub-internship (i.e. pre-housemanship) training as well. Barring any hiccups, there will be one last round of examinations at the end of Semester 10 - these are the final examinations for medicine and surgery. Thus concludes medical school in a nutshell.

4) It has been a really long ride, certainly made longer by my research year abroad. But at the end of the day, I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it. And with that, I'll end my blog post here. Take care, stay safe and stay happy. Cheers!

Dinner with my good friend Sim @ Sushi Tei, Gurney Plaza

A lovely view to the sea

Chicken katsu curry for dinner :)

This is my first dine-in at Gurney Plaza Food Hall in months. 

Feels great seeing people coming back.

Saba meal deal for lunch. Cheap as chips for just RM10 (~£2)!