DAY 1705-1718

May 4 - 17

1) Malaysia is currently undergoing its third iteration of the Movement Control Order (stylised as MCO 3.0). While initially limited to a few key states, the MCO has since been expanded nationwide due to new coronavirus variants with higher infection rates, increasing constraints on the capacity of the public health system, and suboptimal compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) amongst the general public. This includes a blanket ban on inter-district and inter-state travel, to last until June 8th. 

2) So what does all this mean for us as medical students? Well, all education has switched from face-to-face to online. This has put a halt to our clinical training in hospitals and wards. For now, our learning is conducted via lectures and online tutorials, with new timetables being circulated every now and then to accommodate the latest updates from the Ministry of Health. 

3) Group B (my group) is in their final rotation for the year, obstetrics and gynaecology (O & G). Assuming no changes, we have one week after this rotation before having to sit for our exams. Having the constant reshuffling of timetables and disruptions to our learning is not ideal, but I agree that it is necessary and in our best interests. On a positive note, the MCO extension gives us more time for self-study and revision, which can only be a good thing given our upcoming exams.

4) Just yesterday the fifth years finished their final year medical exams - a massive congratulations to everyone! I'm sure the coming weeks will provide a much-needed break for most of you, and richly deserved indeed. I've been really lucky to call many of you my friends, and I look forward to seeing where you will go from here. All the very best in your future endeavours :)

5) Yesterday was also Teacher's Day - a very special day where we showcase our appreciation to all the teachers out there. As a secondary school student, there was a particular poem by Malaysian poet Usman Awang that I really enjoyed, called "Sajak Guru O Guru" (lit. "Teacher Oh Teacher"), and which is commonly read during Teacher's Day celebrations. Here is a particularly poignant stanza from the poem (in the original Malay Language and then translated by yours truly into English):

Jika hari ini seorang Perdana Menteri berkuasa
Jika hari ini seorang raja menaiki takhta
Jika hari ini seorang Presiden sebuah negara
Jika hari ini seorang ulama yang mulia
Jika hari ini seorang peguam menang bicara
Jika hari ini seorang penulis terkemuka
Jika hari ini siapa sahaja menjadi dewasa
Sejarahnya bermula oleh seorang guru biasa
Dengan lembut sabarnya mengajar tulis baca.

English translation: 

If today exists a Prime Minister come to power
If today exists a king ascending the tower
If today exists a President of a nation proper
If today exists a noble scholar
If today exists a lawyer upholding one's honor
If today exists a famous writer
If today exists someone who became wiser
Their story started with the humble teacher
Teaching in calm collected demeanor

6) I liked the poem so much that I actually committed it to memory, in anticipation of our SPM Malay Language examinations back when I was in secondary school. Unfortunately, the theme "Teachers' Day" did not come out for our exams that year. Nevertheless, I've never forgotten my teachers, not even those from primary school. Hopefully, I'll be able to come back and meet up with some of them in the near future. And on that note, I shall end my blog post here. Thanks very much for tuning in, and hope you have a great week ahead. Take care and stay safe, cheers!

Happy Teachers' Day 2021

To all the teachers out there, thank you for being so kind and inspiring!

DAY 1047-1060

July 15 - 28

1) And so... another two weeks have passed. Time for a summary of events. I started off the first week with a three day visit to the Private Clinics (in my case, at Island Hospital). I was initially supposed to shadow a neonatalogist (someone who specialises in neonatal health (babies below 1 month of age), but ended up following a paediatric cardiologist for the first two days instead. I must say I learnt a lot observing patients in a clinic setting (compared to the wards) as I got the opportunity for one-on-one teaching. It was really interesting to watch multiple echocardiograms (ultrasounds of the heart) as well as appreciate the different types of heart murmurs and clinical presentations of patients with heart disease.

2) On Thursday, we had our mid-module appraisal (MMA) at Hospital Kepala Batas. Thankfully, transport was provided for by van, although we had to leave really early to reach on time. Dr. Violet took us for the appraisal, which involved going over (confidentially) areas we were weak in, critique and feedback over the course so far, as well as a semi-mock exam for each of us. In the afternoon, she brought us over to the T&CM (Traditional and Chinese medicine) department - one of the few hospitals with this type of department that is endorsed by the Ministry of Health. It was a really interesting experience, and by interviewing some of the patients, we found out that the majority of them had a) tried Western medicine first and failed, then b) adopted a traditional approach and found that it worked. Whether by placebo or by some other method not demonstrable by science, these patients swear by the alternative medicine that they receive. Most of them had chronic pain or disability e.g. following a stroke.

3) Over the weekend, I've been trying to catch up with studies, as any medical student would want to haha. The mid-module appraisal represents the turning point (and halfway mark) for our paediatrics rotation. That means we have another four weeks to go before our end-of-rotation assessment (OSCEs and short cases). In addition to those, we have continuous assessments as well, in the form of online quizzes, preparations before class, and three online report submissions (on Paediatrics, Neonataology, and Evidence-Based Medicine respectively). Our group (B12) has but one more report to finish - on Paediatrics. After that, it's study all the way till finals - as caffeine consumption increases and sleep deprivation too.

4) Next week, we'll be in Penang General Hospital, with our so-called Self-Directed Learning, before finishing off our final week in the Seberang Jaya Hospital Clinics. Week 8 (the final week) is filled with any replacement classes, revision time, and the exams themselves. So all in all, a very packed rotation, with endless information, but enjoyable and interesting nonetheless. And on that note, I'll end this edition of my blog post. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a nice day. Cheers!

Kepala Batas Hospital - waiting for our Mid-Module Appraisal

(l-r: Mahitha, Athirah, Myself)

Posing in front of the Main Administrative building :)

Huge fried fish for lunch today <3

Chicken rice in college :)

Penang "Muar Chee" (glutinous rice balls) coated in savoury ground-up peanut :)

Chicken cheese lava at Coffee Elements

 

MPU U3 Members 

(l-r: Myself, Ice, Girvana, Mehwish, Zi Yan)

- we've since expanded our group members to nine :)