DAY 1400-1413

Jul 2 - 15

1) It is difficult to describe the emotional state I am in right now. A mixture of excitement, anxiety, and of course a healthy (unhealthy?) dose of stress. I am of course referring to the two weeks left till I am due to submit my masters dissertation. Looking back, I cannot believe how fast the year has passed by, and how many crazy things have happened since then. It was not an easy decision for me to take a year out of medicine to intercalate, but after going through this course here in UK, I am confident that I made the right choice. 

2) Throughout this course, I feel that I have learnt how to write scientific essays. We had an essay to write for each of the four modules we took, with each essay having a 2000 word count limit. As I've discovered, writing scientific essays is not the same as any regular essay or opinion piece - there are strict rules to follow regarding the use of scientific objective language, as well as proper citations and referencing. 

3) In addition, I've learnt the importance of statistical analysis for literally every experiment carried out. I still remember how difficult I found the concepts of SPSS (a statistical software package) when I was first introduced to it for a summer research project in first year of medical school. After coming here, I've realised that there are a range of other programmes out there (e.g. R, STATA, Prism), which allow more flexibility and customisability options. 

4) Last but not least, the dissertation project has taken up the most time and effort. It has been quite an experience conducting a novel project from start to finish, and learning how to interpret data and troubleshoot problems. Thankfully, I have had wonderful support and encouragement from my supervisor, my friend and colleague, and of course my parents back home. The next two weeks will require a lot of focus and determination, to make sure everything is finalised and that the dissertation is submitted in time. As it is, I'm left with the "Discussion" section to tidy up, and then the references need to be added, followed by an abstract, cover page, acknowledgement, and table of contents, and I'll be good to go. 

5) Thanks very much for accompanying me on this journey, as I finish up the last bits of my project before returning home. And what a journey it has been! Have a nice week ahead, cheers :D 

The last hurdle - quite literally...

DAY 1286-1300

Mar 10 - 24

1) And so it has happened. The past two weeks have been trying as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the globe. The latest news from UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has called for an immediate lockdown to be enforced by police. The only excuse for going out would be to buy food/medication, brief exercise (alone and once a day), and/or absolutely necessary work (if unable to work at home). As an international student studying for my exams, I've definitely felt the added stress of uncertainty.

2) For instance, we've only recently been notified that all of our exams will now be made online, including our clinical presentation. There remains a lot of uncertainty regarding the dissertation project itself, since (presumably) no physical contact will be permitted. Regardless, I've been taught from young to take things one step at a time, so for now - it's study for the upcoming statistics (SPSS) online exam.

3) While walking out to get lunch/dinner, I have noticed that most shops (including the street markets I usually frequent) have been closed indefinitely. The only few that remain open only do takeaways, which is fine for me since I only ever get food to go anyway. But everything feels so strange - the once bustling streets filled with men and women in business attire, now completely empty. In hindsight, I am perhaps happy that I had a chance to try out different types of food before shops started closing.

4) One of the key aspects of preventing disease transmission is hand-washing. When I was in second year of medical school, we had a machine that helped us practice our hand-washing skills - which I used to hate because I could never wash my hands thoroughly enough, given the limited time we had to simulate the act of washing. Yet now I realise the absolute importance of keeping clean, especially in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

5) Whilst scouring my news feed on social media, I am nevertheless saddened by the ongoing spread of false information regarding the disease. It seems that in addition to fighting a viral pathogen, we are also engaged in another virus - that of viral misinformation. I would therefore like to humbly point out three (3) continuously reliable sources of information, that will provide clear, concise, and most importantly FACTUAL advice regarding the disease (from the CDC, WHO, and KKM):-

1. https://www.cdc.gov/.../2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html...

2. https://www.who.int/.../novel.../advice-for-public 

3. http://www.moh.gov.my/.../view/2019-ncov-wuhan-guidelines

6) While everyone waits at home idling about and praying for the pandemic to pass, let us all be thankful for the front-liners - the healthcare providers, the police force, the army, the cleaners, the janitors, and everyone who has to literally risk their lives by potentially exposing themselves to the virus. Hopefully, when this becomes a distant memory, humanity can look back favourably on our collective efforts as we tackled nature's microscopic foe.

7) That will suffice for my blog post today. Thank you very much for reading as always, stay safe, stay healthy and let's face this together!

Simple, step-by-step guide to washing hands thoroughly :)