Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: Smurfit Building

Showing posts with label Smurfit Building. Show all posts

Monday, 8 October 2018

DAY 758-767

Sept 30 - Oct 9

1) And just like that, another week has passed. A week which has seen me try my best to prepare for our "quiz" - worth only 20% for each module, but at this stage in our course, every single percentage counts. Tropical Medicine and GIHEP (Gastrointestinal Hepatology) were the two modules we were tested on, one after the other with no break in between.

2) Although it was only MCQs in this particular quiz, that didn't make it any easier, at least not for me. Sometimes it feels like no amount of studying would have prepared me for the type of questions asked. Anyway, as they say, that's a thing of the past. Now it's onwards to the next couple of tests in the coming month - REGUB (Renal, Endocrine, Genito-Urinary and Breast), and CNSLF (Central Nervous System, Locomotor, Forensics) - not to mention a pass/fail OSCE in between.

3) You'd expect a brief respite after racking our brains over those two exams in the morning - but as this is RCSI, nothing can be further from the truth. We had four hours worth of study after our exams, compounding to my misery of not having slept enough these couple of days. Plus as they've long started the other modules and I haven't really looked through any of them since I was too busy revising for this exam, I now have to play catch up for the rest of the week. As if I didn't have enough already haha.

4) Anyway, in a sort of ironic way, this is preparing us for reality. When it comes to patient wellbeing (and indeed, their lives), there is simply no excuse. The plus side is the semester seems to be flying by. It's hard to believe that we're deep into our second month, and about a third of the semester gone. Here's to more knowledge acquisition in the coming weeks/months, and to achieving our desired grades in our exams. That's it for this edition of my blog, and thanks as usual for checking in. Have a lovely week ahead, cheers! :D

Post exam "celebration" - lovely Beaumont staff cafeteria food :')

(l-r: Sarita, Joshua, Aliyah, Yours truly, Zi Yan)

Curry lamb with rice and carrots :)

Chicken and mushroom pie - this tasted really awesome :)

Vegetarian something with stuffing and carrots XD

My host mom Emma bought me this really fancy luxury chocolates after coming back from holiday!!<3<3<3

Fish and chips - a staple here in Ireland. Really fresh fish too ^^

And one more for the record :)

Friday, 28 September 2018

DAY 753-757

Sept 25-29

1) After yet another busy week, I am finally marginally "free" to update my blog as usual. This semester, the workload has definitely piled up - we finished the entire Tropical Medicine module (one of four modules for this semester) in just five days! Now we're well on our way to finishing our second module (GIHEP), and we've even started the third module (REGUB). Before our first exam (on 8th Oct), we will have started our fourth and final module (CNSLF).

2) On Monday, some members of the Malaysian Medical Council came over to our college to have a casual talk with us, as part of the accreditation process for RUMC (that's RCSI-UCD Malaysia Campus; which used to be called PMC - Penang Medical College). As I understand, the process of accreditation for medical schools is done once every five years, and seeing as the last time we had one was in 2012, it was time for a new report.

3) Professor Raymond, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at UKM (National University of Malaysia), began the informal session by asking us questions regarding our studies and life here in Dublin. So we talked about our experience, our assessments, modules, summer research and observerships, and overall opinion on the quality of the school. They asked us on our practical skills exposure, OSCE's, use of "gamification" in teaching (to make lessons fun I presume XD).

4) It was a short but meaningful interview, as we got the opportunity to share our experiences and personal skills gained during our stay here in Ireland. After the session (and the group photo which I requested and they obliged), the panel were brought for a short tour of the facilities in the Smurfit Building. We went to the tutorial rooms, the new extension of the Smurfit Building, the library, and the two main lecture theatres. After that, they had to make a move, so after thanking them, we left as well.

5) The rest of the week has pretty much been the same. I've enjoyed sessions practising our "memory recall" with Joshua and Ishtar over lunch, and hopefully we'll do more of that in the future. It's been an eventful and productive week, so looking forward to more of the same in the upcoming week. It's cheerios for now, and until the next one. Thanks for reading, and have a nice weekend. Cheers! :D

Group photo with Professor Dato' Dr. Raymond Azman Ali, and members of the MMC Accreditation Team

Vegetable lasagna with stuffing and corn - complemented perfectly with the savoury brown sauce!

That was some incredible tuna salad with egg and cheese and greens ^^

Tutorial Room 6, of the new extension of Smurfit Building

(all mine today! :))

One more for the record :)

Sunday, 3 June 2018

DAY 627-629

May 21 - 23

1) And just like that our Europe trip has come to an end! But that was certainly not the end of our adventures though - as we faced an 8-HOUR delay on our flight back to Dublin! It was a rather long wait at the airport, with more than a few feathers ruffled as the flight was delayed initially from 1pm to 4pm, and then 8pm, and finally to 9.30pm. In fact, there was another flight (to Manchester) scheduled at 11am, but which ended up being delayed until way past 10pm. I can only sympathise with the passengers on board...

2) Anyway, we reached Dublin past midnight, so the entire day was gone. Nevertheless, we woke up very early the next day, before taking the first bus to town. Here our amazing tour of Dublin began - with myself as tour guide of course ^^ I first showed my parents around Dublin 1, with its lovely bridges, i.e. O'Connell, Samuel Backett, Ha'penny amongst others. We walked past Custom House Quay and the Famine Memorial, before stopping by Munchies for breakfast.

3) We continued on our way to my college, stopping by Trinity College for a bit. We would have gone in to the Book of Kells, but due to the long line we decided not to. After a bit more walking we reached RCSI. It's great that the new building has been opened, so in addition to the main campus, I had another 10 floors of state-of-the-art equipment to show my parents. We took many photos around RCSI, including a fair bit in St. Stephen's Green. After this, my dad wanted me to show him where I once stayed, so I brought my parents over to Leeson St. I haven't passed by myself for at least a year now, so the walk back there certainly brought back some livid memories both good and bad.

4) With noon approaching, we took the LUAS from Harcourt to Ballaly. If you haven't guessed already, I wanted my parents to sample what I consider to be good quality buffet at a reasonable price, at Global Cuisine. We sat down for the better part of three hours, just chatting away and enjoying the good food and lovely view of the Dundrum skyline. My parents agreed that it was a really nice meal (plus I still had a complimentary food voucher left so it was even cheaper ^^).

5) After our delicious lunch, we took a slow stroll back to my second accommodation here in Dublin, in Sweetmount Drive. Again, it was pure nostalgia as I retraced my footsteps up the three inclined slopes leading to my accommodation. Next, we found our way back to Dundrum station, before returning to St. Stephen's Green. We entered the Shopping Centre for a while, before passing by Temple Bar on our way back to Beaumont. But as usual, that wasn't the end of the day. I still had to show my parents my college at Beaumont (a.k.a. Beaumont Hospital).

6) I first brought my parents to the hospital building itself, which leads to the Centre of Education extension. We visited the lecture theatres, the student lounge, and the library in quick succession. Then, we walked to the Smurfit Building to grab some photos, and that was it for today. Returned home to what would be my parents' last night here in Dublin, while I cleared up stuff in my room. The next day, we paid a visit to Northside Shopping Centre, and I showed my parents where I did my groceries. We then had breakfast at a cafe upstairs, before returning to take our luggage.

7) Emma was very, very kind in allowing my parents to stay over for the couple of nights and for driving us to the airport, where I said goodbye to my parents. It has been a very exciting and memorable two weeks, and I do sincerely hope to be able to enjoy other such trips again in the future. But for now, that's all there is, there isn't anymore XD. Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a nice day. Cheers!