Moodle ..... Schnoodle!

_MG_8086, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

I have always been interested in integrating teaching and multimedia. I saw an email about e-learning module and decided to see what it has on offer. Managed to get the hang of it pretty fast, even though the facilitator thought that being a Medic, things can get too complicated for me .....

The interesting part was about converting the slides into pdf and uploading those as lecture slides online. I have plenty of lectures in my laptop, and the main worry is, should I lose it I will to build new ones from scratch. Integrating it into my teaching will be a challenge though as I often times do not have control on the syllabus. However, since I have been running the revision course for the Masters Students for the last 5 years, I night start there. I might actually collect and collate the lectures and tutorials from my colleague and then publish them online as a reference for the participating students.

Another avenues that might have some prospect is publishing our weekly CME at department into the department website. At least in the future, should we need to refer concerning a particular subject, we have somewhere to go to

p/s: The picture above was taken on our last trip to Cherating. We stayed at a place called Eastern Pavillion. This is just outside our chalet there.

Better get things sorted out

KL Bird Park, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

My sister was readmitted over night again with abdominal pain. Her husband is around this time, so he arranged to her to be admitted in KLGH this time around under the care of one of his surgeon friend. She initially went there to have a check but since the pain was unbearable at times, they decided to detain her.

By this afternoon, they decided to go ahead and plan something about her gallstones. They are planning a keyhole surgery this coming Friday. She will also have other tests lined up tomorrow. I didn't have time to visit her tonight. I'll definitely drop by tomorrow instead.

In the meantime, my uncle came to see me at my clinic today. She has been having tests for her prostate and had a biopsy done in June. The result came back that he will need further test, and maybe an operation. He wanted a second opinion. Luckily, one of my friend can see him soon, but he will be occupied until Friday. So, I will be double-booked for Friday. I also have a clinic to run in the morning, and will likely only able to escape after Friday prayers. I also have some workshop to attend to tomorrow afternoon, so I will need to get into the office early and get things sorted out double quick. My two other colleagues will be away as well in the afternoon attending a talk in Hospital Ampang. My Boss will have a headache tomorrow afternoon by the sounds of things.

p/s: The picture above was taken at the KL Bird Park sometime in December last year.

It's Tuesday .... ties off, pink shirt day!

PD on a clear day, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Irfan is much better today but both Idlan and him begun the day rolling on their bed in protest first thing. They wanted to skip school today. So Mummy let them off. She herself had a busy day since she wanted to rearange the room. Apparently she is much happier since our maid left for her break. Less headache she said.

Itul visited her in the afternoon at our house. She managed to get lost on the way in, so she arrived a tad late. The planned another meetup next Monday, an all girls outing in Bangsar. As for me, I spent the whole morning going through the dozen or so insurance claims that has been burning a hole on my desk. Since Tuesday are more a day for paperwork for me, I have decided not to wear a tie. I might as well put on my pink shirt as well. I have decided to start a trend. I'll be wearing pink shirt from now on every Tuesday. I'll try to convince a few of friends to do it as well, especially Jimbo!

This week, it is the Haematology Unit's turn to present during the lunchtime CME. Habibah was the one assigned to supervise it and she covered 'multiple myeloma', very well I thought. I then spent the rest of the days seeing my trial patients and referrals.

I can't however miss to notice that the nurses were keen to move people out of the surgical ward. Apparently there was an accident not far from the hospital where a bus full of people swerved off the highway ramp into an underpass. There were a number of injuries but from what I heard there were no casualties. However, the Casualty and the Orthopedicians were kept busy I am sure.

The highlight of the day however comes during dinner. We had dinner at one of our cousin's new place in Taman Melawati. It was a corner lot superlink three story house, and it was gorgeous and chic. My boys spend the whole evening running around initially in, then in the lawns. Our cousin sent a fortune on internal decor and renovation and it tells. When it was finally time to go home, both Idlan and Irfan were upset. Irfan quite literally said, "I want to shoot you Daddy!" Too much violence in the children programs nowadays methinks!

p/s: The picture above was taken during our last Labour Day break in Port Dickson. Such gorgeous day!

Tale of the Index Finger

Work Essentials 2 - The Juice, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Monday. Such fun. I woke up this morning with Irfan having high fever. Coughing and unable to sleep all night. Luckily Idlan slept through, otherwise it would have been double trouble.

We had to have a change of plans then as I had to do the school run. It turned out to be a treat even though I arrived around 8.30 for work. Idlan was really beaming when I took him to class, and insisted on me actually going into his classroom.

Monday has traditionally been a busy day for my unit. We start with the grand round, followed by a busy-than-usual day care, when we may see up to 40 patients starting just after 11. It turned out to be around 30 today. Straight after lunch is the transplant clinic. I had the referrals to wrestle through after that and I manage to finish all of it by 6 today. Thanks to DUKE, I was home 30 minutes later.

For the last couple of weeks, my right index finger has been playing up. I think it is an old badminton injury. It causes a stinging pain on the finger joint every time I try to smash or hit the shuttle hard. According to my orthopaedic friend, I have to rest it for 4 weeks. No badminton tonight then.

Anita took Irfan to our GP earlier. He is on antibiotics at the moment. By the evening, he has got his appetite back and up to his old tricks! I am with him at the moment while he is watching the 'Disney Channel' as Anita is putting Idlan to sleep.

Supposed to have tea with an old friend

Lake Bala 1, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

... but instead, we were stood up.

One of our friend, Itul who was doing a fellowship program in Radiology in Canada returned home to Malaysia for a holiday. She will be back in the UK to start her new post there in a couple of weeks. My other buddy, Syahril and Yatt decided to invite a few of our close circles for tea over at their place in Bangi. However, at the last minute, she called to cancel. She is going for a karaoke session apparently ....

Anyhow, we still had a feast. Yatt really know how to prepare the lasagna. To top it all off, is the treat of coconut jelly. It was heavenly. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me ....

The picture above is of Anita and Itul at the centre of the photo walking gingerly at the banks of Lake Bala, North Wales. It was taken in the summer of 2003.