DAY 1802-1821

Aug 9-28

1) After what felt like an eternity, we are finally done with fourth year. Eight rotations (paediatrics, obstetrics & gynaecology, psychiatry, family medicine, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, emergency medicine, and radiology) all condensed into three combined written papers. Two days later, a massive 31-station OSCE practical session, assessing all eight rotations over three hours. Honestly, the last month has been one hectic race against time, as we scrambled to cover all the specialties before our dreaded finals. 

2) So what's in store for our batch? Well, we are now bona fide final year medical students, with less than a year remaining before we graduate. Initially, we were supposed to begin our final year rotations (surgery, medicine, and public health) immediately after exams, but this had to be postponed after the major hospital departments denied us entry, so it'll be online classes for the next two weeks. Less than ideal, but I'm sure this would be a welcome breather for most of us after the mental and physical hell that we've been through.

3) It is also high time for me to focus on the core subjects for which our degree is based on, namely medicine and surgery. The last time I properly revised any surgery or medicine was in Semester 6, which was literally two years ago! Of course, I'll be taking the weekend off while I focus on other, more pressing tasks i.e. sleeping and cleaning my room. There is laundry that needs to be done, groceries that need to be bought, and sleep that needs to be replenished.

4) We will (supposedly) get our results in a week or two. Regardless of the outcome, I just want to sincerely thank everyone who has helped me on my journey so far, and hopefully we'll continue motivating each other on the road to finals! And with that, I'll sign off here. Thanks very much for tuning in as always, take care and stay safe, and have a great weekend - cheers! 

Does someone need a CAT scan?

Featuring Luca: a rather contented cat :)

Fadhli and I were all smiles after our obstetrics and gynaecology end-of-rotation examination

(his was genuine, mine was forced though :')

Jinny, Rachel, and I enjoying a short break before resuming our medical student shenanigans

Oh look - someone's decided to jump in the picture as well

I've never done well with captions, so just imagine a nice one in place here

Post-exam pre-requisite photo

ft. Lai, Aiman, and myself

DAY 1772-1786

Jul 10 - 24

1) It has been a good two weeks since my last blog post. Things have been chugging along for us in Group B, as we continue our clinical exposure in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G). This is our last rotation before the end of fourth year examinations. As expected, the pressure of exams is building up, as we barely have a week's respite after O&G exams before having to sit for the final examinations. 

2) Regardless, I have found O&G to be a very interesting, if challenging field. Essentially, obstetrics covers care before, during, and after pregnancy, including childbirth and the post-partum period, while gynaecology covers the health of the female reproductive system i.e. vagina, uterus, ovaries, and breasts. Our curriculum is structured such that we spend a week each in the obstetric ward, obstetric clinics, gynaecology ward, and gynaecology clinics. We also have a session each in the fertility clinic and urogynaecology clinics, as well as five labour on-calls (essentially "night-shifts") where we are given the opportunity to witness childbirths. 

3) In addition, we have a total of five case reports to write: three labour cases, one obstetric case, and one gynaecology case, where we discuss the management of the patient as well as outline any learning points from each case. It's a busy rotation to say the least. I'm not going to lie - waking up early to clerk at least one case for presentation before 8.00am is not something I look forward to, given that we have two bed-side teachings in day - one at 8.00am and another at 12.00pm. At the end of the day, my mind is usually saturated with information. Thankfully, we have the rest of the day for self-study. 

4) Last Monday, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that an art submission of mine had been selected as one of the top three winners for the "Artist's Impression: The Heart" competition organised by the RUMC Peer-Led Assisted Learning Society (PALS). As the title suggests, the theme revolved around the heart - so that inspired me to draw a heart undergoing a heart attack, along with the progressive build-up of plaque leading to atherosclerosis, which can result in a heart attack. It was really fun to take my mind off studying medicine and instead concentrate on one of my old hobbies i.e. drawing.

5) Next week, it is our turn to enter the gyanecology wards. So I think it best to end on here. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a lovely weekend. Stay safe, and stay happy. Cheers! 

My submission for the art competition:

i) The main picture shows a heart undergoing a heart attack, with the shaded zones representing myocardial (heart muscle) necrosis (death), injury, and ischaemia 

ii) The diagrams on the right show the sequence of plaque formation, which can result in a heart attack

iii) The wavy lines on the bottom show the ECG changes over time in a patient with a heart attack

My O&G group mates @ the infertility clinic

(l-r: Myself, Ainin, Vinny, Ain, and Aida)

A negative COVID-19 swab test was required for us to resume our clinical training in the wards

We booked our free screening and received our results in under two hours :)

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 1564-1578

Dec 14 - 28

1) Back to the blog after two weeks. As my current group (Group B) passes the half way mark of our eight-week rotation, I realise that family medicine is really quite interesting - its focus on the whole patient, its holistic perspective, its continuity of care, and its integrative methodology make this field unique. 

2) Consequently, I am aware of how much more there is to cover, from basic revision of medicine in general, to paediatrics, psychiatry, and some obstetrics and gynaecology thrown in for good measure. Therefore, I have made the difficult decision to not return home for Christmas break this year. In all honesty, as much as I would have loved to be back home, I would not be able to focus on my revision as I would be busy going out and hanging out with friends/ relatives. Secondly, I have already planned to return home for Chinese New Year next year, so at least I have that to look forward to.

3) My time in family medicine has been really enjoyable. We have had experience in three different clinical settings - the health clinics (klinik kesihatan), the maternal and child health clinics (klinik kesihatan ibu dan anak), and private GP clinics. We have had the opportunity to do home visits with a registered nurse, as well as visit an old folks' home. Besides, we also managed to visit the occupational and physiotherapy departments in Penang General Hospital. A mainstay of patient management in these settings, other than return of mobility and function, is chronic pain management. I personally enjoyed the occupational and physiotherapy clinics the most, as there were so many creative approaches used to manage the patient's symptoms and conditions.

4) As the year 2020 comes to an end, I cannot help but look back with a slight sense of pride at how far I've come on this long road of medicine. When 2021 begins, I can finally say that I will (touchwood) graduate in just over a year. Of course, along with that expectation of graduating, there is increasing expectation that I should have some basic medical knowledge. Hopefully, I will have filled up some of those gaps in my knowledge and practical skills when the time comes. Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful Merry Christmas (for those celebrating), and happy holidays to everyone! I'm looking forward to a better and more productive year :)

5) Thanks very much for visiting my blog as always. Too bad I don't have a lot of interesting pictures to share this time around. Have a great week ahead, cheers! 

The price of getting a nice photo XD

(just kidding - my group mate and I were practicing venepuncture (blood taking) and IV cannulation)

An incredible learning experience here at the X-Ray department today :)

From phlebotomist to patient...

Ok lah it was quite well done...

Fish fillet rice at Gurney Plaza Food Hall

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

An opportunity to test out functional electrical stimulation (FES), a treatment that applies small electrical charges to improve mobility, for example in cases of stroke or spinal cord damage

Delighted with my new oversized purple clipboard :D

Our latest addition to the apartment!

It seems as though I'm staring into the dark abyss of space and time...