Conference call

Last night I made a conference call with my friends which were also mu ex-batchmates of IMU. There were 6 of us which were Karim, Kamal, Danial, Ibkar, Hafiz and myself. We discussed and shared a lot of things. But the most interesting story was from Danial aka Daia.. He told us what he is enduring right now as a medical student in Halifax, Canada. He described to us that the medical students there are considered as part of the team treating a patient. Thus they are held responsible for anything that has been given to patient. They got involve in the management of the patient. According to Daia, they even can do the surgery if the resident doctor give them chance to do so. The mind boggling thing was that they are not taught formally in lecture or even bedside about how to do every procedure. Everything needs to be learn independently through any source especially the internet. When we heard about his experience, it sounds great at first as he got the chance to do hands on practical even a surgery. I just could not believe it when he said he had done TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT in 4 hours by himself with only instructions by resident doctor. But the worst part was yet to come as they are evaluated throughout all the task they done. For me personally, it was Allah will and He knows the best for his servant and that was why Daia was chosen to be there instead of me. I guess I won't be able to cope and did as what he had done. What a marvellous experience which very difficult to be found in Malaysia and even UK, I think..Alhamdulillah...I thanks Allah so much for giving me things that I surely can endure. To Daia, take it as a challenge and put in mind that Allah knows best for you. You just need to be patient for another 1 year. It was a great opportunity as you are already outdistanced HO doctor in Malaysia especially in term of skills. I'm sure that when you graduated, you will become a competent doctor..

Heartfelt,

Johari

30/10/2010

First clinical practice abroad

Today was the first day of my clinical practice and PBL session in Ayr hospital. And I guessed it was also the new experience getting into a hospital in UK. The day before, I was really anxious as I did not really know how my journey to Ayr would be as I only had some ideas of getting there by just searching in Google. Alhamdulillah. The journey was smooth and without any difficulty.

I departed from my house at 6.30am after eating my breakfast(fried pasta of last night leftover) and preparing my lunchbox which was wholemeal sandwiches.

I cycled in the drizzle heading to Glasgow central rail station without very vague ideas of where and how to get there. Alhamdulillah. I got myself to the station safely and bought anytime return ticket to Ayr rail station for GBP12.

I boarded the train which I would say it 98% looked like KTM commuter back in Malaysia. I was wondering, where am I exactly? Everything was seemed to be familiar as if I was on my way to Seremban from KL central. The arriving train from Ayr was crowded with people, just like back home. Maybe the differences were the people were caucasian and the temperature was sub zero.

So the train took almost an hour to get to its final destination which was Ayr. When I arrived in Ayr rail station, I made my way to the bus stop waiting for stagecoach bus no 52 which would get me to Ayr hospital. I noticed something interesting and mind intriguing: I saw lorry/machine spraying salt which was brown onto the road. I was thinking what was that for during this autumn season?

I managed to get to the Ayr hospital after asking the bus driver right before I was about to alighting from the bus at the wrong bus stop.

In the hospital I looked for the undergraduate teaching centre which was not in the map/legend in the hospital entrance wall. After inquired the reception I did not find it directly as she only gave me direction to the floor, not the room. And I was wandering in the building. Luckily, I met Jane and Ross, one of the st. Andrews friend that I knew of. He asked the the staff there and we got to know where was our group should be meeting.

By 10 am, our clinical teacher and undergraduate admin came and started with the introduction. We were divided into 2 groups. First group would be learning from bedside teaching for today session while the other group would only wait for PBL session at 1pm as their bedside teaching session would be this coming Friday morning. Each group has the chance for clinical practice once a week.

Our clinical teacher briefed and recapitulated to us about the history taking and examination sequence. After that we were taken to meet 2 patients who had cardiovascular problems. The first patient that we interviewed and examined had a history of MI and signs of heart failure. The second patient described to us that he had infective endocarditis. We had the opportunity to listen to murmur from this patient which amazing. It was a fantastic experience of bedside teaching. Thank you so much for our clinical teacher.

We finished the session at 12pm and had my lunch with my groupmates. I ate my lunch which I had brought from home this morning. I excused myself and went to the quiet room next to the chapel at ground floor for zuhur prayer. I felt very thankful as I got to be posted here as it was quite conducive to perform solah.

At 1 pm, PBL session start. We began with volunteering for the post of group leader and the scriber. Graham and Angela volunteered themselves. The same clinical teacher became our facilitator for the PBL session. He showed us how to use the electronic whiteboard which use projector. He said that the cost for the facility was GBP25k..what a waste if not use optimally...how unlucky we were, the projector lamp need to be replaced. However, I felt amazed as this was the first time I saw such a thing.

We continued with the PBL session as how it should be conducted based on Glasgow steps.

Our final diagnosis was acute limb ischaemia under sub topic of peripheral vascular disease (PVD)

We ended the session at 2.20pm.

Before calling it a day, I personally felt that this clinical practice was an amazing experience.

Heartfelt,

Johari

2/10/2010

My journey to the west

On 6^th sept 2010 marked my first voyage and foray into the world of ’mat salleh’ and the next level of my studies. Going abroad has been one of my dreams for years. Finally, the most awaited day has come. It has never come into my mind that I would have to wait this long just to get the feel of being a student in UK.

My flight to Glasgow was an interesting story to tell. Boarded a MAS flight at 11.40pm at KLIA heading for Heathrow before continue with connecting flight to Glasgow in British Airways plane. I was seated by the window and next to me was 2 retirees, husband and wife, who are going for holidays in Edinburgh. I managed to break the ice with two of them by sharing our reasons to go far away from home. They were very friendly and talkative even though at times I couldn’t quite catch what they were saying. I just nodded in agreement.

The triple 7 flight was full house that night. The plane was seemed to be taking off with difficulty. What come to my mind was that “are those org putih going back for Raya too?” as I saw many of them in that Boeing.

I spent most of my flight time with watching videos and movie which were available at the LCD screen in front of our seat. I could not be happier when there was Iron Man 2 movie to choose from. After watching several other movies, I decided trying to get a sleep as it was already almost 4 hours of the journey. Another 8 hours to go before reaching Heathrow.

We were attended with food twice during that voyage i.e. supper and breakfast. For supper i picked Briyani rice with chicken while for breakfast I ate omelet with ‘cendawan butang’. It was nice to my palate.

Finally we reached London marvellous airport at 5.20AM (local time). Alhamdulillah…I got to touch down on an alien land. Everything that I’ve heard all this while from all sorts of sources would be tested as I would be able to first hand feel by myself.

I hoped and prayed that this endeavor into this new world of uncertainties, possibilities and expectations would make and shape me into the better of me if not the best person I could be.

To be continued…

Waiting mode..

Assalamualaikum..

After a very long break...finally,i am able to revisit my blog...now still waiting for my turn to go abroad..somehow i feel very anxious about it..not sure whether i capable of coping all hurdles studying in an alien world... nevertheless, i should be positive and prepare myself...i pray everthing would be as planned...ok..till next time...cai jen.... :)