DAY 567-575

Mar 22 - 30

1) I've been pretty busy the last week, for a couple of reasons. RCSI Cancer Society organised their Daffodil Day Bake Sale, in an effort to raise funds for cancer research (Irish Cancer Society). Initially we were not given permission to use the Expo Stage at the No. 26 New Academic Building, but in the end we managed to set up there - and what a collection it was! Brownies, lemon squares, Rice Krispies, cupcakes, Daffodil flower badges, and even TWO tubs of Gino's Gelato (!) sponsored by Gino's themselves. While the other society members had baked most of these sweet treats, yours truly being the less culinary inclined could only provide moral support and manpower.

2) Initially, there wasn't that large a turnout - probably because the students had class. Soon, however, the numbers began rising, partially due to the awesome deals we gave them. €1 for a tub of Gino's anyone? We tried to give them the most bang for their buck, short of actually toppling the ice cream. After a while, the ice cream began to melt, turning into a gloop of still awesome goodness, so Claire had to take it to the refrigerator. All in all, it was a really good day to raise funds for charity. Just a pity I couldn't be around the whole day, as I had other business to attend to.

3) Among the many things I've done, none was more striking than my getting a haircut. I used to get my free haircut at the Dublin School of Barbering, but recently I've noticed the website (where you book your appointment) has been taken down, and my efforts to walk there to enquire have been unsuccessful so far. As I could not wait much longer (see my 'before' pic below and I'm sure you'll agree why) I decided to have a haircut anyway, at the Grafton Barber. They have a student deal for €10 on weekdays, before 12pm. So I got my haircut, and even received a complimentary coffee as well! Not a bad deal at all :)

4) Last week was International Cultural Night 2018. My friends have been working incredibly hard for this moment - where different student bodies compete in a dance-off to promote their culture and background. I wasn't participating in this edition (I did last year) as I could not commit to the long hours of practice, compounded by the fact that I've now relocated to Beaumont. To cut a long story short, PMCSA (the RCSI equivalent of MSoc) clinched Overall Champion with a brilliant display of diversity and artistic flair - as they enthralled the audience with their intricate dance moves, accentuated by their authentic costumes and outfits! A truly monumental feat, and a huge congratulations to all those involved! :)

5) Today was our OSCE Station exams. It is a practical exam, with no grade but a simple pass-fail system. Fail, and there would be a repeat exam the following week. No one wants to fail, and so, in the days leading to this date, my friends and I were practising like mad, to cover all possible scenarios. We each took turns playing the patient, examiner, and the medical student. The videos available - we felt - were not much help, but fortunately they provided us with the mark sheet criteria as well, so we could go off that. As my batch went into Tutorial Room 4 of the Smurfit Building today, my heart was beating with anxiety. What would be the task? Would I be able to complete them in time? (we had only five minutes)

6) In the end, I got a Mr. "Smith" (for those studying in RCSI, you'll remember him as the very famous surface model with Dr. Mark Murphy in those YouTube videos), and the task was posterior chest examination. I had just finished chest wall expansion when time was called, and it was feedback time, by the invigilator. "You've passed. Good technique overall. Congrats". That's all I needed to hear. One huge load off my shoulders. And now, just two weeks more till our Cardioresp mid-terms, and another two weeks till our final semesters. This semester - and indeed, this year - is passing by so fast I can hardly catch up. And with that, I'll end my blog update here. Enjoy the photos, and thanks for tuning in. Have a great one, cheers! :)

RCSI Daffodil Day Bake Sale!!

(with my new haircut XD)

Bake Sale!

(more pics below)

Congratulations guys - awesome job! ^^

The morning view as I await the bus to the city centre (Eden Quay)

A huge thanks to Education in Ireland for this! :))

That is a very impressive diagram indeed!

Whoever did this you've got real talent :)

From this...

To this!

Wearing the Irish Cancer Soc T-shirt, just in time for the Bake Sale

Cupcakes, Rice Krispies, brownies - for €1 a pop!

The pièce de résistance - Gino's gelato in two flavours - amaretto and strawberry!

The Post Office ("GPO Dublin")

Smurfit Building 2nd Floor - practising for our OSCE's

DAY 204

Mar 24

1) Today has been an awesome day! For most of us PMCSA members, there was only one thing in our minds; International Night 2017! So much so that we skipped the first part of anatomy lessons today in order to practice one last time at the venue itself - the Olympia Theatre. Still, we made sure to go for the Anatomy practicals after that, as Card Signing is next week XD

2) We came back in the afternoon to do another run through and to size up the competition haha. It's friendly competition anyway, from CIMSA (the Canadian Society), PIBS (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and many others. It was really fun seeing everyone bring a part of their culture and identity on stage.

3) Fast forward to the evening, and it was the moment of truth. The event started at around 7.30pm, with none other than our performance! Everyone went out there, and gave it our absolute best! It was over in less than 15 minutes. All that hard work and effort, condensed into that 15 minutes of fame. Then came the surprise... the other teams were taking extremely long to finish; on average they took around half an hour to almost 45 minutes! This allowed them the opportunity to showcase a lot more songs.

4) After about an hour and a half, we finally reached a brief intermission. Then it was time for the next half, performances from the Irish Society, MESA (Middle East Student's Association) and CAS (Caribbean-African Society). Every single performance was of the highest calibre, and simply astonishing considering we are all medical students with tonnes of assignments and exams to worry about. Anyway, after the last performance, the judges were given some time to decide on the winners.

5) Finally, the results were out. And we came in third place! I won't lie, it was a bittersweet victory for us as most of us thought our performance was worthy of the top two. But I suppose that's just how things are. It's still a great achievement though. Second place went to CAS and the overall champions were PIBS! Truly a night to remember, and personally I was extremely satisfied with our team's performance. I really felt we gave it our best and we can only get better from this. That's the end of my day today, and thanks for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Olympia Theatre

Our final brief by Ms Tanya

Empty seats, soon to be filled in the evening

From l-r: Kuhan, Khee Heng, Zi Yan, me

Pre-performance selfie ^^

The Canadian Students Society (CIMSA) in action!

The traditional hula dance

The eventual winners - PIBS!

The final performance of the night and second place winners - the Caribbean-African Society (CAS)!

DAY 203

Mar 23

1) Today has been a nice day for me, as I managed to get many things done. In the morning, we sat for our Quiz 2, which comprised three modules -HBPS, GIHEP, and REGUB. I found the questions challenging, partly because I didn't have enough time to prepare. At least that's settled for now, and I don't have to worry about it any longer. Now the next important date is Card Signing 2, in just 8 days' time.

2) I finally finished taking my medicine. Somehow I feel really tired and sleepy after taking it, so it is good that I don't have to take it anymore (touchwood). Took my stuff to the library, where I have been reviewing today's lectures. A short nap in between did me wonders, and I woke up refreshed. I continued studying into the evening.

3) At around six, I returned to RCSI, where my friends and I are practising really hard for the International Night 2017, held tomorrow at the Olympia Theatre! Today is our last chance for rehearsal, although we may have some time to practice on location tomorrow before the actual performance. This promises to be loads of fun, and I can't wait to see how our performance turns out, as well as watch the other performances. I'm sure they'll be spectacular! Anyway, that's the rest of my day in a nutshell, so I'll be ending on this note. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Free pizzas after our final practice together! ^^

A full Irish breakfast - a rare treat at AK Henry's after our second quiz

Fried rice for lunch

DAY 190

Mar 10

1) Today has been a very long day for most of us. For starters, it was an 8-5 kind of day. As in lectures from 8 a.m. all the way to 5 p.m., with nary a break in between. Anatomy today was really fun; we learnt about the liver from Mr. Quinlan, a retired consultant orthopaedic surgeon. We also found gallstones in the gallbladder of the cadaver, something which we never would have expected!

2) In the afternoon, we had another bunch of lectures to go. It was at this time I decided that nothing was entering my mind, and if I had stayed I wouldn't have picked up much anyways. So I did what had to be done - packed my stuff and went to the library. Had a really short power nap, got up and felt a lot more productive than I would be if I had stayed on for the lectures. I studied the rest of the afternoon, before going to Dunnes to get some cookies.

3) In the evening, I went to RCSI to attend the Annual Inaugural Address of the RCSI Surgical Society. We were absolutely delighted to have Professor James T. Goodrich as Guest Speaker for the night. Prof. Goodrich is Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery, Paediatrics and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, as well as the Chief of Paediatric Neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, New York. Essentially he shared his experience of what changed his mindset from that of a highly decorated US Marine during the Tet Offensive(!), to the world-leading neurosurgeon that he is today. All in all an extremely informative talk indeed.

4) There was a wine and cheese reception in the atrium afterward, at which I had the honour of getting a photo taken with him. That really made my day. Afterwards, he engaged in conversation with some of the other seniors and doctors, which is when I made my leave. I still had to go for dance practice in the Tutorial Room. Today, we did an entire run-through of our performance, from start to finish. I'm really taken aback by the passion and commitment shown by each and everyone present. It makes me want to give my absolute best also, to make this International Night a resounding success.

5) By 9.30pm, practice was over, and I returned, as you would expect, to the library. Took a while to type this out and upload the photos, and voila! That's the end of my blog update today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always, and have a great weekend. Cheers!

With Prof. Goodrich, 

Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Centre,

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY

Albert Lecture Theatre, RCSI

RCSI Surgical Soc

Prof Goodrich's speech

One of the most bizarre cases in craniopagus (conjoined twins at the head) surgery, according to Prof Goodrich

Food and wine session in the atrium after the talk