DAY 1892-1913

Nov 7 - 28

1) Finally, a breath of fresh air. As the end of the year approaches, so too are the number of exams remaining in our penultimate semester. This week, Group B finished their end-of-rotation assessment for medicine. Basically, it's a continuous assessment where we have a 20-minute session with our examiner after clerking and examining a patient in the ward. Overall, it has been an interesting four weeks here in medicine, as we were finally allowed to return to the wards to practice clerking patients (before this we were only permitted in the clinics). 

2) Returning to medicine (after our fourth year sabbatical in other rotations) reminded me of just how wide the scope of medicine really is. Each ward is specific for a particular system e.g. the cardiology ward for the heart, respiratory ward for the lungs etc. In addition, there are outpatient clinics for walk-in consultations and follow-ups, as well as procedure rooms for specific interventions. Case in point, in the cardiology clinics, we were able to witness echocardiograms being performed, as well as exercise stress tests, dobutamine stress tests, and ECGs. Simply reading about all these in text books is not useful, as only by seeing them performed in real time do we actually remember better.

3) The only two assessments left for this semester are the public health examination as well as the surgery continuous assessment. In the meantime, we have a dedicated week off for both self-directed learning (SDL) and a basic life support (BLS) course, the latter which we had already passed in our pre-clinical years but are required to attempt again before we graduate. Anyway, that aside, we have a further two weeks of SDL before our Public Health II rotation begins. That concludes the end of Semester 9, our penultimate semester in this course.

4) The final semester begins next year, and consists of "just" medicine and surgery, as well as pre-internship training. But we'll leave that for another time. For now, the public health module requires my attention. And with that, I'll end this edition of my blog here. Thanks for visiting as always, and have a great one. Cheers!

Photoshoot for the yearbook!

L-R: Helmi, Tenisha, Myself, and Angel

End-of-rotation assessment (EORA) for medicine - DONE!

L-R: Helmi, Shang Chen, Lay She, Nasuha, Tenisha, and myself

Exploring Penang - Hin Bus Depot (an art and events space located in George Town)

Granola and different organic nut butters on display

As you can see, it's a busy Sunday indeed :)

Stopped for our burger and kefir soda lunch 

Tried Vietnamese egg coffee for a third time - still loving it!

Sounds like a weird combination but believe me it's wonderful

Cake and coffee - nothing else really compares :)

Chinese fan dance (left) juxtaposed with the kuda kepang dance (right)

Not sure what the bull signifies here - perhaps it symbolises the Year of the Ox?

Apparently the space behind me used to be a bus depot, now converted into a setting for indoor and outdoor exhibits, as well as a cafe and weekend market.

Lunch at a cafe with an interesting name - D' Fat Mona Lisa Cafe

Really liked the food - huge portion sizes at an affordable price, complete with sides and a drink!

Photoshoot time :)

Yes - the RCSI tie is mandatory 

(even though I haven't earned the right to wear it yet XD)

Art exhibition in Gurney Plaza today :)

Incredible painting of the food culture that permeates Penang Island

Huge fireworks display over the Penang Bridge (top) 

and over Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple (below)

Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Statue at Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple, Air Itam

I realise that I've never really taken a photo of my usual weekend lunch spot - Han Sik Ga

Lunch at Han Sik Ga, Gurney Plaza

A quick lunch before heading back to Penang General Hospital to clerk patients

Post-examination destress brunch at Coffee Elements @ All Seasons Place :)

(And so begins our three-week "holiday")

DAY 686 & 687

July 19 & 20

1) On this day, Niamh and I were scheduled for a hospital visit to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University. So we walked to the campus together, to be greeted by Dr. Teng - our host for this visit. She hired a taxi (via Didi) to the hospital, which we reached in about half an hour. As per the other hospital visits, we were greeted by some pharmacists and doctors, who gave us a comprehensive tour of the hospital.

2) First, we were given a quick tour of the pharmacy and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) departments, before getting a chance to "scrub in" to enter the drug handling room. There, we had the opportunity to observe highly regulated medicine i.e. chemotherapy drugs etc. being synthesised and packaged for consumption. The practice of something called "PIVAS" intrigues me - it stands for Pharmacy Intravenous Mixture.

3) Essentially, in hospitals, the majority of the reconstitution of injectable drugs are carried out right before the administration to the patient by the nursing staff. The risks and errors associated with this are numerous. The standardisation and centralisation of these preparations by the hospital pharmacy, so-called "PIVAS", makes it possible to reduce these various risks and errors. In China, the first PIVAS was established in Shanghai Jing'an Center Hospital, and now 30% of tertiary referral hospitals own PIVAS.

4) All of that was in the outpatient department... now we would be shown into the inpatient department. Simply put, we were taken to the wards where families were watching over their hospitalised children. I found out that this hospital specialises in treating blood cancers i.e. leukemias, hence explaining the large number of patients who come from various provinces far and abroad. We cycled through ER, neurology, hematology, and cardiology ICU in quick succession, meeting so many children with varying degrees of illness. For me, it was not easy looking at a seven-day-old newborn, hands restrained to the sides of the cot (for their own safety, lest they tug at the numerous lines and intubations strapped to their chest and mouth), and face covered with an oxygen hood, desperately clutching at life due to a birth defect (ventral septal defect - VSD). We saw loads of other children too, some with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), others with a subdural haemorrhage etc...

5) After all that, we returned to the staff room, where we had a short rest sipping mild tea. Then we were invited downstairs to an elaborate dining room, where we had an unexpected surprise - lunch! This was the last thing we were expecting, as in both the previous hospital visits we had always gone back to the campus before having lunch. Also, the fact that the lunch was served in such an elaborate fashion - complete with box set, herbal soup, cucumber, and yogurt for dessert - really touched our hearts! It almost felt as though everyone here treated us extra nice because they were used to working with children and their families. Just a theory of course ^^

6) After the marvellous lunch (in which we were bombarded with questions about our research here in China as well as our studies in Ireland), it was time to head back. Dr. Teng booked us a taxi, and dropped us right at the Pharmaceutical Sciences building. It has been back to experiments since, and nothing else worth noting other than the usual daily routine. That has been a gist of my day today (Thursday), and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks very much for visiting, and have a nice weekend ahead. Cheers! :D

Dr. Teng Xinchen (third from right), along with all the doctors and pharmacists who very kindly accompanied us for the duration of our visit :))

All scrubbed in and nowhere to go...

(just joking we had just came back from PIVAS :)

The very impressive outpatient department of the hospital

(Behind the front building is the inpatient department)

Entrance to the hospital

Beautiful artistic drawing spotted, at the PIVAS room

They make chemotherapy drugs inside this chamber...

"Look at me!" Niamh's body language would seem to indicate.

"Kindly avert your gaze,' would be mine. XD

A busy environment at the children's wards, with doctors, pharmacists, and nurses shuffling about checking on their young patients, as their parents comfort their children

ENAS Cancer Center for Children

The Haematology Department

I could hardly believe this was meant for us

(to be fair, I could hardly believe when we were told that lunch was waiting for us downstairs...

I expected cafeteria food... XD)

Group pic with everyone! Bon appetit :D

Everything looks sooooooooo good! :DD

Quick snap before we had to board the taxi back...