Jul 1-14
1) These past two weeks have been pretty hectic for me, and it still is - so I'll have to keep it short this time around. After our introductory week in Paediatrics, our group (Group B12) was posted to the neonatal ward at Penang General Hospital. We would be there for a whole week, clerking, performing examinations on neonates (basically babies below 28 weeks or <1 month old), as well as attending Bedside Teaching (BST) with the clinicians.
2) While posted there, we had a couple of tasks to accomplish, including learning about Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), performing a heel-prick test on a baby, plotting a neonate's length, weight, and head circumference on an intrauterine growth chart (for pre-terms) etc. There was a lot to do, and a lot to learn. We also had to be on call for at least one night at the Neonatal Ward. Mahitha and I chose to do it together (basically we are on call in pairs), and we had a really interesting time visiting the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit), reading and interpreting the investigations (ABGs, CXR, FBC etc) as we went along.
3) On top of all of that, we had to complete a neonatal case write-up, basically an extended version of our everyday clerking. Along with the case write-up was the EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) write-up, which had to be submitted together. Essentially, that tested our ability to formulate a research question using the "PICO" format, select then critically appraise an article online, before applying the results to the case we had clerked. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? And it certainly was - I spent an entire Saturday finishing the two write-ups.
4) And that was just our FIRST week in the wards. The second week, we were posted in Ward 2 (Paediatrics) at Seberang Jaya Hospital, and as with the previous posting, were required to spend at least one night on call at the Clinical Skills Unit (CSU). Khang Way, Athirah, and myself decided to go together for our "night shift" on Monday. We witnessed night ward rounds where the house officers (HO) would take turns to present the cases to the medical offer (MO), and shortly after that, the MO would have their own rounds to present the patients to the Specialist.
5) It was our first time spending the night (basically 7pm-7am) over at the Clinical Skills Unit. The idea is that by spending the night over, we get to see many more acute cases (emergency cases and new admissions)
before the patients are stabilised. All in all, it was an interesting if tiring experience (we had to continue our morning clerking, bedside teachings, and afternoon lessons back at campus later!) And yes, we have our own paediatric case write up as well, thankfully sans any EBM component. So in total, we have three case write-ups to submit online.
6) Next week, I'll be in Island Hospital, shadowing a doctor in the paediatrics section. It will be interesting to compare and contrast the facilities and services in a public vs private setting. That's basically it for my blog today, hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a lovely week ahead. Cheers!
From l-r: Myself, Athirah, Aneesha, and Khang Way (missing our fifth member Mahitha)
- Group B12, having lunch at Nasi Kandar Pelita before our afternoon session at the Clinical Skills Unit (Cerebral Palsy case study)
RCSI + UCD Malaysia Campus - conveniently obscured by some trees
Having dinner at The Noodle House @ Gurney Plaza, with Aden and Denise :)
I always prefer the "teared" noodles (cuz they are thicker and actually teared by hand) when it comes to pan mee
All mix rice (roast chicken, siew yoke, char siew) with a side dish of lobak (five-spice meat rolls) - totally out-of-this world :)
Dinner at a famous "nasi kandar" outlet, with Khang Way
(en route to our first paediatric on-call night shift at SJH)
This is basically nasi (rice), with their famous fried chicken, a side of vegetables (cabbage), and their "kuah campur" (mixed gravy)
Looks like a mess, tastes even better! :)
Khang Way, Athirah, and myself - en route to Seberang Jaya Hospital (yes, we carpool XD)
Afternoon snack at the Penang Digital Library cafe - this was the day after my on-call
(and as you can guess, my mind wasn't exactly functioning any more)
Burnt creme-brulee tart
Harvest time - dinner with Hoong Yun and Denise at Harvest Cafe
Something that I really like here is the chicken schitznel, served on a bed of mash and a side of greens - just look at the SIZE of the chicken! <3
Nasi Kandar Pelita - lunch with my friends
That's nasi briyani (briyani rice), with fried fish, fried egg, and mixed curry :)
Ordered from Food Panda (food delivery) again, and this time for some breakfast - that's poached egg with hollandaise sauce, on toast bread with ham - very tasty, and very pretty :)
