1) Where to even begin - the relief of finishing our surgical OSCE examinations was matched only by the anxiety that preceded it for the past two weeks. It is no big surprise that I've not quite been myself recently, becoming easily stressed, frustrated, and quick to anger - being in final year tends to have that effect. Of course, there were many milestones which we achieved along the way, which led to our final OSCE examinations today.
2) Firstly, we had our last bed-side teaching on Friday, and who better to wrap things up than the Professor of Surgery himself. I had never gotten Prof. Bikram for clinicals before, and I was really taken aback by his reassurance for our upcoming exams, as well as his career advice for the future. In general, I've noticed that the lecturers and consultants are more easygoing towards the final year students (as compared to third years), which is contrary to what I would have expected. Nevertheless, I learnt a lot during the session, even if we were made to stand a couple of hours more than I would have liked.
3) Secondly, we had our last online tutorial on Wednesday, and it was none other than the ex-Head of Department of Surgery himself, Dato' Manjit. Strangely enough, only in final year (and in the final week no less) did I find out that there was actually a book where our online tutorials were taken from, and that it was written by a previous professor of surgery in our college. If only I had known about it sooner, I would have gotten it for myself. Regardless, I have found the online tutorials to provide a useful framework for our revision.
4) Fast forward a few days, and it was our surgical OSCE examinations today, which consisted of seven stations - four active, one passive, and two rest. I have no idea how I fared, and I definitely would have done certain things differently if I could, but all that is in the past. For now, I'm just really glad that this is over, and we have a period of 13 days before our final finals. That would consist of our medicine and surgery long cases, as well as the medicine and surgery written papers.
5) Everything that has a beginning has an ending - and that would soon apply to medical school as well. One thing I hope it won't apply to is my blog, as I intend to continue updating it for as long as I can. And with that sappy saying out of the way, I'll end my blog post here. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a great week ahead. Take care and stay safe, cheers!
Group photo with the legend himself - Dato' Manjit
Taken in an undisclosed location somewhere in Penang General Hospital
Of course I wouldn't pass up an opportunity for a photo myself :)
An extraordinarily long day in the orthopaedic clinic :)
Group picture in front of the surgical wards, C9 and C10
(L-R: Esther, Rachel, Midun, Ting Ying, Myself, Helmi, Penny, Faizul)
It's been a while since we had Sri Ananda Bhawan's banana leaf rice!
That's breakfast, lunch, and dinner right there
Arati Villas for lunch today
Stare at the orange enough and it becomes a hernia
One more for good measure :)
