DAY 2047-2060

Apr 11 - 24

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 :)

DAY 2032-2046

Mar 27 - Apr 10

1) At present, it is a little difficult to describe my emotional state. I am simultaneously anxious for our upcoming finals, while also feeling relieved that all of this is coming to an end. The same can't be said for some of my friends though. Most of them seem to be in full "exam" mode and ready to start pulling all-nighters, if they have not already started doing so.

2) This week is our sub-internship week for orthopaedics - the last of our three sub-internship opportunities (for medicine, surgery, and orthopaedics). Unlike the previous two which were in Taiping Hospital, the orthopaedics sub-internship will be in Seberang Jaya Hospital - which is much more convenient. Hopefully the next two weeks will be kind to us. Coincidentally, there are only two weeks more to go before formal teaching is over. What follows after is a series of practical and written examinations which will (hopefully) conclude our medical student life. No pressure then. 

3) Studies aside, I was very happy to be able to join some badminton sessions with my friends over the past two weekends. While I was never really good at it, I thoroughly enjoyed myself - plus it gave me something to look forward to at the start of the week. Sadly, with the start of the fasting month for Muslims (Ramadan), as well as our fast-approaching finals, badminton sessions have since been temporarily suspended. 

4) Given how much I have left to cover, and how little time I actually have, I think it is time for me to resume my revision. Thank you very much for visiting as always, and have a great week ahead. Take care and stay safe, cheers! 

Group photo after an excellent ortho session at Penang GH
L-R: Helmi, Penny, Myself, Dr. Eu, Rachel, Ting Ying, Faizul, Esther, Midun

Dinner with Khang Way and Esther after an excellent badminton session :)

A fine meal to replenish those calories

(at the aptly named Grandpa's Kitchen)

Coming in early only to find the endoscopy suite (where the sign-in sheet is located) closed

L-R: Rachel, Ammar, Myself

Post-BST destressing at Fu Er Dai, which serves Cantonese-style dim sum

The highlights (for me at least) were the woo kok (fried taro dumplings) and lau sa bao (salted egg yolk buns)

Unlike most traditional dim sum which is carted out to each customer's table, here customers are required to make their selections at the counter instead

A surprise package - wonder what's inside...

An interesting addition to the OSCE sessions

Before anyone gets any ideas, the mannequin is for practising intimate physical examinations

A second badminton session to wrap things up before finals

L-R: Khang Way, Esther, Michelle, BK, Marcus, Myself

The spicy pomfret was to die for!

The cutest iced coffee I've seen

My face after realising I'd been fooled a second time... turns out the endoscopic suite only opens around 7.30am each day

Back for some clam noodles at Ah Gu Pan Mee today

One more for memory's sake :)

DAY 2013-2031

Mar 8 - 26

1. Time to update my long-overdue blog - this time with my recent posting in Taiping Hospital for surgery. Having previously completed two weeks of medicine in Taiping Hospital, we returned now for two weeks of surgery instead. For the first week, we had daily bed-site teachings (BSTs) with the surgeons, and in the second, we had our sub-internship week where we would be expected to observe, assist and perform basic procedures that a house officer would be required to do.

2. My initial thoughts were that our surgery rotation seems to be more intense than medicine. While we only had 3 BSTs during medicine, we have one everyday during surgery. Also, our contact times with the surgeons are much more uncertain due to the very nature of their jobs - surgeries could be more complicated than expected, or emergency surgeries may pop up at any time etc. Therefore, BST's have been postponed or replaced far more often in this rotation compared to medicine.

3. In Taiping Hospital, there are only two surgical wards - Ward 17 and 18, for females and males, respectively. Every morning, ward rounds are conducted, in which the house officers do a round of presenting the patients' cases to the medical officers, who in turn do another round of presentations to the consultant. My friend Helmi and I would attend the ward rounds, then proceed to clerking and examining the patients ourselves. 

4. During our sub-internship, we managed to practice some basic ward procedures, as well as observe some minor and major operations. The minor operations we saw included an excision biopsy to remove a sebaceous cyst from a patient's back, as well as another excisional biopsy to remove a submandibular swelling, the latter requiring general anaesthesia as there were multiple swellings below the neck. We also saw various endoscopic procedures, including a polypectomy - where polyps are visualised with a colonoscope and then removed with a snare. 

5. In my opinion, the most interesting procedures were in the operating room. We managed to see four operations in total - a laparoscopic cholecystectomy to remove an inflammed gallbladder, an excisional biopsy to remove a right breast fibroadenoma (= benign breast lump), a wide local excision to remove a pilonidal cyst with rhomboid flap, as well as a right laparoscopic hernioplasty. Operations tend to be long and complex, and I've noticed that the procedures can change depending on what is discovered during the operation. For example, the laparoscopic cholecystectomy was converted to a partial cholecystectomy due to inability to visualise Calot's triangle (i.e. the gallbladder was contracted and embedded so could not be removed in its entirety). Another example was the wide local excision for pilonidal cyst - initially planned for rhomboid flap, this had to be converted to just the excision without flap due to the patient experiencing pain over the flap site despite analgesia.

6. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - so the saying goes. In line with that, we managed to really enjoy ourselves in Taiping, trying the infamous Antung coffee (served everyday in our hotel), going for lunch together after classes, and even going as far as Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld) over the weekend for seafood. To cap off our rotation, Helmi and I had a really nice brunner (breakfast, lunch, dinner) at Sushi Mentai - where the servers immediately recognised us as RUMC students, probably due to our classmates coming here often. As we left Taiping, a small part of my brain (probably the hippocampus) reminded me that only 44 days remain till our final finals. 

7. That's all for my blog today. I reached Penang safely despite the rain and traffic yesterday (Friday) evening. Thank you very much for visiting as always, and have a great one. Cheers!

Scrubbing in for surgery - Taiping Hospital

First day of surgery rotation and lessons were cancelled unexpectedly - so onwards to breakfast then :)
This is the famous Hutton Lane Roti Bakar

This is their roti canai with chicken curry and soft boiled eggs

- sounds like a strange combination but it tastes absolutely delicious!

Very unassuming location except for the long queue of people waiting for their food

Bringing the whole lot here today
L-R: Shang Chen, Yasmeen, Ishraq, Aiman, Midun, Rachel, Myself

Watching a minor procedure today

ERCP procedure - to visualise the hepato-biliary tree and also remove any gallstones if detected

Legend Inn - undoubtedly a legend amongst RUMC students

Kinda nostalgic to return to the Legend Inn

- after staying here for two weeks during medicine rotation

Back at Sri Annapoorana Restaurant for some delicious banana leaf rice

(and post-prandial somnolence after that)

Trying out Sejati Restaurant for lunch today

- catfish, fried green beans, and potato curry on a bed of rice

Okay how difficult is it to spell "Kevin"? Apparently quite...

Port Weld Restaurant in Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld) for some delicious seafood

I'm not good at translating names - suffice to say there were fried mantis prawns, steamed mussels, spicy squid, steamed tofu (beancurd), fried baby crabs, a bread bowl with prawn curry, and yau mak (i.e. Romaine lettuce)

L-R: Esther, Rachel, William, Khang Way, Myself

Khang Way and myself used to clerk together during paediatrics rotation when I was in C2021, so it was really nice to catch up with him over dinner :)

Raintree Walk @ Taiping Lake Gardens

To digest all that good seafood

An impromptu movie sesh (The Theory of Everything) with Rachel

Essentially a biographical drama of the life of renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the young age of 21

P.S: Sorry Helmi for using your bed

It's been a while since I had Nando's

Discovered the bottomless meal at Nando's - essentially free refills of either rice or coleslaw, as well as free drink refills. Because if there's one thing Malaysians love more than food, it's free food :)

Trying out one of two famous cendol restaurants in Taiping - Ansari Famous Cendol

My honest impression is that it was alright but nothing to shout about. The second cendol place was a lot better

Catfish, tempeh, and beansprouts on a bed of rice - a steal at RM10

Wan Ikan Bakar for lunch today - as recommended by Midun

L-R: Helmi, Rachel, Midun, Myself

Beansprouts, begedil, with the main course just out of view :)

The mains: A quarter leg of roasted chicken as well as a bowl of siput sedut masak lemak 

(sea snails cooked in chili cream)

Contemplating my life choices after standing for over four hours observing a complex procedure in OR

22 plates of sushi and proud of it :)

What a memorable way to finish our two weeks here in Taiping!