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Saturday, February 6, 2010

Life as a Medical Student

This is just based on my very own perspective and does not necessarily depicts the life of all medical students as a whole. Perhaps others may have different perceptions and feelings towards these 5 years of studying and suffering (lol).

To begin with, I never had imagined of pursuing on medical field, not until I finished my matriculation programme in 2005. When I was in school, I used to aspire becoming a scientist - doing researches and somehow win Nobel prize or something like that. Perhaps because of my bad experience with a 'doctor' (who turned out to be just MA - medical assistant) when I was studying in secondary school in Raub - a small and peaceful district in Pahang.

The MA snubbed my complain and blamed me for something that I had no control of. I had an ear infection, perhaps the MA thought that I intentionally did that somehow. No pain killer, no reassurance, just some suctioning of my ear and antibiotics. But when I think about it retrospectively, I believe that I can't totally blame him because the clinic was quite crowded at the moment and most of the complaints were just cough and cold. But if my memory serves me well, I think that was the time when news about SARS took place in the front pages & in the news. Being a naive and young boy, I was a bit paranoid upon seeing people sneezed and had runny nose. So, if it wasn't because of pain and reduced hearing (which made me difficult to focus to the learning process), I would have not even take the risk of coming to the clinic.

Future fastforward, I've just finished the first semester of matriculation when we were asked to fill in the application form from UPU (for enrollment into public university). I was stuck at the decision making again - something that will change the course of my life greatly. After consulting my family, seniors, and praying to God, I decided to apply for Medicine. Though deep inside, my love for History and study of Human Civilizations was still there. After balancing between the pro's and con's, and pondering upon the prospect in the future, I believed that my choice is right. My sister told me, once you've graduated and becomes a doctor, you can still pursue in your interest (i.e. History), like our very own statesman, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Hence the life as medical student.

The first year was quite challenging but still bearable because it was all about basic sciences - which has been covered more or less during my matriculation programme. I managed to get involved in the college activities which were not related to medical field. Second year was more challenging with Pathology as the killer subject. I remember crying out alone in the middle of night because of the difficulties that I faced. Thank God, I managed to get through the troublesome years with help from my batchmates, seniors, and our respected lecturers. This year was when I met a girl of my dream. I fell in love with her, without knowing that her heart had already 'taken' by one of my seniors - the top student in his batch. It was unfortunate when he passed away in a MVA a few years back. But I don't want to further elaborate about this, because it will not serve the purpose of this blog. It would be sufficient for me to say that I had let her go and move on with my life.

Third year was very interesting to me, especially. Because this is when we were introduced to the clinical years. The whole batch was posted in a general hospital away from main campus. A new experience for me. But not long after that I realized the importance of having good communication skills as well as the mastery of language, particularly Bahasa Malaysia and English. Mandarin and Tamil are also important especially when you are soon will be dealing with the multiracial community. Perhaps knowing what "pang sai" means, or what "muchu" means as well as other common words when dealing with patients might help. Showmanship also plays major role. That's where my weakness is. Thankfully I managed to improve myself, though there is still plenty room for further improvements.

Third year ended swiftly and the we were back in the main campus again. Our 'fourth' year (namely phase 3b junior) was "neither here nor there" according to a friend of mine. We where no longer 3a, but we were not exposed to the clinical management aspects yet. We were divided into 3 groups, one doing Gynecological and Primary Care posting, another doing elective projects, and the rest were in the minor postings (ENT, Ophthalmology, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesiology). At the same time, we observed how our senior facing their final MBBS examination. All of sudden we became extra dedicated to study and worried about our final examination - though it was a year away. T_T

Then the final year came. I started with Orthopaedic posting, which I somehow enjoyed it. Now it's already my last posting, Psychiatry. Time really passes by quickly. With a few weeks left, I believe that I am mentally prepared to become a full-fledged house officer. But the problem is that I am not sure how well my skills and knowledge is to become HO. But fortunately I managed to grab the salient points and developed important skills to function as HO. It's just that I would have to brush them up so that I will become competent and skillful HO. With less than 40 days left, I must practice more on working out a diagnosis and its management.

I enjoyed my life as medical student, just as much as I suffered from it. haha. Like one of my senior used to say to our batch during our orientation week, "If you don't have your heart into medicine, there's no point of continuing. You better quite soon enough before you regretted it in the future". But I stayed. Because my heart is with this profession (as well as other commitments of course). There are a few of my friends who quit from the Med school so to speak.

That's all for now, thank you for spending your time reading. Have to continue studying. But it's Saturday night~ Perhaps I can excuse myself for an hour before continue studying... "^_^

p.s. OK, retreat granted. Enjoy it while you can. Just received a call from a friend. Football match tonight at 11 p.m. Arsenal vs Chelsea (it has been quite some time since the last time I watched a football match. So, why not?)

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Reminder to myself: Growth Study Report and cover Anxiety disorder tonight before going out later. =)

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