Leaving my mark in the world

I have just made my first impact to the world. Ok. Somewhat. The first case study I have co-authored has been published in a medical journal. This was the very first time i meddled with the business of writing for publication. It is encouraging that it has been published. May this be the start of many publications to come.

Check it out.

Graduation Dinner

A night to celebrate the times we have spent together. "A (K)night to Remember" was the theme for our graduation dinner. All the new doctors were dressed up, celebrating the end our our journey through medical school. As we embark our next adventure, may we always hold each other dear in our hearts.

The Final Results Day

We all went through our time at IMU. Five years of hardwork, tears, sweat and blood. We went through countless examinations and assessments. We are finally at our last examination in IMU. The Part 2 of our Final Profesional Examination.

What we went through was 1 hour of non stop talking, trying to defend our cases and our patient's diagnosis. By the time the final buzzer rang, our throats was dry, our lips was peeling. Water never tasted so good. And with a buzz, it was the end.

It is the day we all have been waiting for. The day we got our results, the day we joined the fraternity of doctors. We said our oaths, smiled for the group pictures and congratulated each other. Well Done C2/09 and Congratulations.

The End of Med School

The end of my medical school years is just round the corner. Five years of study and I'm receiving my MBBS. This is a point of self reflection. What have I done in the last 5 years? Have I used my time efficiently? Could I have done much more than I have done? Food for thought.

Gynaecology Portfolio for Semester 10

Just completed my Gynae portfolio. Emailed it to Dr Su for review and assessment. It feels inadequate and I know it can be improved further. However, I am having difficulties organizing my thoughts into words. At the moment it feels disorganised and the level of discussion is just mediocre. sigh. Hopefully I wont disappoint her too much.

Eve of Kampung Angkat

One day to Kampung Angkat. The last two months have seen us busy with the planning and preparation for Kampung Angkat. The 12 of us in the core committee have been working on different aspects with the same goal of a successful day. Today, we spent almost the entire day at the kampung, unloading the goody bags, health screening tools, setting up the canopy, wiping the chairs, filling the goody bags, rehearsal for KAP and etc. It was a tiring day. The T shirts have been distributed to our batch-mates. We managed to get a short time off watching TV at the student lounge and a decent dinner. Most of the preparation is complete. Now for the moment of truth. All the hard work, planning and preparation leads to one day. Tomorrow will be our D-Day. May tomorrow be a great success. Good luck C209!

MBBS- 97.5% Complete

Today marks the end of my 2nd last posting for MBBS. We have completer 97.5% of our course. Just one more five week posting and we will be done! Finally, the end of our five year has arrived. How time flew by. Tis five years will always be my most treasured moments. The time we spend through clinical school, all the friends, the company, the house-mates. The joy, the laughter, the tears, the sweat, the blood, the anger, the frustration and the wisdom. To all my batch-mates of C209. May we meet again one day. C209 ROCKS!!

Research on Breast Cancer Awareness

After much paperwork and red tape, I have submitted my proposal to the hospital director for approval. Next will be to run a small pilot study and then the main study itself. I hope I will have enough time to collect adequate sample before I finish Semester 10. I only have 8 more weeks in Batu Pahat, and the next two postings do not provide much luxury of free time.

Another portfolio weekend

The weekend is here again. However, I am doubtful there will be much rest this weekend. I have 2 portfolio to complete and still need to identify a case for my Psychiatry portfolio. After I have accomplished that, there is a whole pile of things to revise and study. That's the life of a Semester 10 medical student.

I was rather pissed off earlier at how poor some people's attitude can be. There are those who looks so highly on themselves, thinks they are so smart and that they can go around insulting and looking down on us. How childish. We should realize that we are never the best and we are never better that others. Everyone is good at something. You may think you are better, but trust me when I say you are not. Do not think so highly of yourself, do not look down on others and do not think you are all mighty. You have no idea what the future holds. Remember this.

Lesson of the day

Examine your patient every time you do your rounds. Especially if the patient is acutely ill. They may deteriorate at any moment, and a good repeated physical examination is the only way to catch it early.

Another Step Closer

Five weeks of Surgery Posting in Semester 10 is over and we are one step closer to graduation. We have completed 92.5% of our MBBS. 7.5% more to go. Almost there. It's so close, I can almost grasp it already.

It's amazing how quickly we have (almost) passed through medical school. Five years has passed. I went back to the Bukit Jalil campus on Friday, and it felt like it has been ages since we were last there. Two years in Seremban has changed us so much. We grew, we matured, we became doctors. It is funny to think how our mindset and goals were when we were back in Phase 1. The way we placed emphasis on all the wrong things, the way I played too much and studied too little. There is a saying, "Don't teach a person who is not ready. When he is ready, he will learn even when no one wants to teach him" which I think is very true.

20 more weeks to go. Let's make the most out of it.

The past, present and future of surgery

For those who love surgery. The evolution of surgery from the stone age, the era of the barber surgeon, surgery in the present day and the future.

A video worth watching

My lecturer shared this video with us. This is a good video highlighting many important but forgotten point. The doctor's touch, caring for our patients and examining our patients. That's what being a doctor is about. It is not about technologies, computer screens, radiology films or laboratory results. Enjoy and Reflect.

Portfolio Done.

Finished my portfolio. It feels good to finish work earlier than the deadline. I started early, so I didn't have to rush towards the end. The best part is I can have a free weekend to work on some side projects (and do some revision). hehehe

Ok. It is not completely finished. I still need to do some corrections and all but the burden is off my shoulder.

Research and SPSS

It is time I started work on my research write up. It has been delayed for many months now, due to exams and other issues. I cannot afford to push this aside any longer as I only have a few more months in IMU.

I decided to invest some time (though I still have my Ortho portfolio to complete) last night to look through our previous research write up and SPSS data. I realised that we have made many mistakes the previous time.

I now understand what Dr S meant when she said our discussion was too superficial and etc. And I do agree as well on her comments. I guess I have learnt a lot in the last couple of months from writing experimental Case Reports. I can say that I have gained much important experience and maturity. I am now more apt at finding data, citing, preparing manuscript, phrasing of sentences and deciding what is (and what is not) important in a write up. Hopefully this time around, I will be able to prepare a better write up.

We had many errors in our methodology and sampling no doubt. As mentioned, we were all green horns trying out a new task. I obtained my own copy of SPSS yesterday (thank you Ding) and tried to perform some analysis. It turns out that SPSS is not as enigmatic as I thought it was. I guess when you have no choice, you just got to figure it out. After this, I will need to print out all our references and run through them before preparing our discussion and editing our previous write up. I hope I will be able to produce something more substantial this time.

Outcomes of procrastination

Submitted a review for publishing in a journal and received the following respond.


"Thank you for sending us your paper. We read it with interest but I regret to say that we have decided not to publish it in the BMJ.

Unfortuntaely, I just accepted a paper on this exact topic, that is due to be published in December. I think it would be too soon to accept another article on pre-eclampsia as it covers alot of the same content. Apologiesm it was a matter of timing."


Sigh. Perhaps I should have sent it earlier and not waited till now to submit it. The effects of procrastination...

Hospital Kluang

For the first time in two weeks, I'm spending a weekday evening at home. No on call tonight. haha Finally have some time to catch up on my ever growing list of learning issues. Right now, it's somewhere around 20-30 items and I'm tackling item nunber ONE.

We went to Hospital Kluang today. It's a district hospital. Going to the hospital felt like going back to the 60's. The hospital ground was huge. It was not a block or two blocks like how hospitals are now. Its a bunch of "houses" clumped together within a wall which forms a hospital. As I was saying this morning, it feels like a "health Village". haha I used the word house because there were multiple small buildings that looked like houses to me. Each unit/ department/ ward occupies one of this house. So radiology takes one, female surgical takes one, male surgical takes one, labour room another, HDW one and so on. As far as I know, that's how our hospitals used to be built. Maybe not the 60's but pre independence. The wards itself felt the same too. Imagine a long corridor, with two rows of beds on the side. That's how it is.

Nevertheless, we managed to discuss a few cases. The visit was alright. There were very few patients there though. I don't want to end up in a hospital like this next time. A hospital like Batu Pahat I don't mind. Kluang? Not really.

Source: wikipedia.
This is UM in the 20's. Tha's how the wards looked like. Don't see wards like this anymore these days.

The Time For Change

"Semester 10 is a time for change." Dato K said so today during our VC. I see what he means by that statement. Semester 10 to IMU is a time where we stop thinking (and behaving) like medical students and start being a doctor. It is a transition period between two very different chapters of our lives. It may not be easy but it is a change we must make. The sooner the better. The time for change has arrived. Make the chance. Take charge of you patients, be responsible and start becoming a doctor.

Today I scrubbed in for OT for the 3rd time. The first was in semester 6 for an appendicetomy, second was during semester 8 electives for a laparoscopic salphingectomy and today was for a loop colostomy. Scrubbing in is always better for learning than just standing around. You get a 1st class view and play a role (small but nevertheless still a role) in the surgery. I must admit that Batu Pahat is much more conducive for students. Perhaps there is much less students here, hence the staff are more receptive of us. It was very easy to get permission to scrub in. Perhaps we should really consider smaller hospitals for housemanship. Food for thought.

Surgery in BP Day 2

It has been two days since we started our surgery posting in BP hospital. I still keep saying HTJS when I refer to the hospital. hahaha The hospital is great. Something like other district hospitals we have been to ( Kuala Pilah, Miri) but much bigger especially with the new ward block almost ready for use. The staff here are very friendly. Patients are not (yet) scared away by us. hahaha Most patients here speak Mandarin and Hokkien. It will be a good opportunity for me to brush up on my Hokkien. hehe

So far we have been rather busy with ward work and looking for portfolio cases. I have identified my case for Orthopedic and Surgery. Hopefully I will be able to use it in the end. Surgery in Sem 10 incorporated orthopedic. That means we need to cover both wards and attend to both discipline. Plus we have 3 on calls per week plus one weekend call. That's a grand total of 16 calls in 5 weeks. I think (hope) other postings wont be as hectic/ bust as surgery.

BP town itself seems ok. Have not had the leisure of time to look around. So far went to a few shops near my area. Food here is definitely better than in Seremban. Less salty too. And a big glass of fruit juice is only RM4. That's the best. The last time I had RM 4 large juice in KL was in 2002. hahaha

Hong Kong Orthopedic Forum

I have accomplished the official objectives of my trip to Hong Kong. The Orthopedic Forum held at the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine concluded today. I must say I was very impressed by the overall organization of the event. For one, it was very well organized. All lectures were well prepared and presented by speakers who are more than competent in their fields. The standards that doctors in HK has set for themselves is way higher from any that I have seen before. Indeed, I can see the difference from where we come from and a first world country.

The forum was divided to different sections to cover topics focusing on spine, rehabilitation, trauma, pediatrics and etc. During breaks, we are free to walk around to "patronize" the many companies who have set up booths at the event. As usual, they will also bring in a lot of freebies, mostly pens though. haha There were many new technologies, surgical equipment and laparoscopic equipment showed at the event. I'm not sure if they are new, but I have not seen them. It also seemed that most of the doctors there are sub-specialist. This goes to show that the world has come to a point that everyone s going into sub speciality and we who are to join in the cohort soon should learn so too. Start planning for your subspeciality (After you get into a masters programme) =P

*pictures coming soon*