Statistics ... Smatistics!

Real tired today, I mean mentally drained. Spent a good few hours studying the statistics of a project I am involved in. The long and short of it is my non-familiarity with SPSS. Most of the data I have were actually kept in a program called Filemaker Pro. It is a program written by Apple, and me being a MacHead, finds the flow to be logic and easy to use. For analysis, I just convert the data I needed into spreadsheet and paste them into SPSS. That's where the problem started. I manually tabulated the 2x2 (contingency) table, but just cannot analyse them in SPSS.

The morning was not made easy by the disappointment of United only sharing the spoils while letting in two away goals in the Champions League last night. Now their task is clear, to win in Porto! By hook or by crook!

After a day of prodding and asking around, I think I am getting there. So back to more statistic tonight.

Today, I had lunch with one of my student that did not make it through the exam. He has to defer for the next six months. His class will start next week. No rest for the wicked I suppose. He told me that he met the Professors yesterday and this morning for some feedback. He reckoned that he did badly in the short cases. One thing I am glad is that he accepted the result and is ready to move on and pass the exam the next time around. Talking to a few of the students, I got the feeling that the process of announcing the exam results could have been better. It is not the wait or the venue, but the fact that those who failed only found out when their names were skipped during the announcement. I think a courtesy phone call or a gentle prod to take them out of the room may be a bit more classy. Something I will talk with others in the future I am sure.

Since the main parking lots have been filled by the time I drove to work today, I had to park on the monkey hill, walking through sixth college on the way in. Going home, I bumped into at least three of the students packing their stuffs away. A quick look on Facebook showed a few of them having a whale of a time, some of them in Phuket! Great stuff! I am also planning to go on a weekend break to Genting as a family. Looking forward to that, but only after the report is sorted. I'll send you guys a postcard!

The Longest Wait

Toad all set for tonight's bash. Don't think he'll be wearing a tux.I don't envy the position the Final Year students are all in at this point in time. They are waiting anxiously for the results to be posted. I can tell everyone is desperate from the number of phone calls and SMS I have been getting through out the day. It should be up soon. The weather has also been appropriate, thunderstorm!

For the ones who passes, they will be attending the Graduant's Dinner tonight. For me, I am still cheesed off by the fact that Toad has more invitation than me. Not too mention that he asked me to drive him there! Such cheek! I am still recovering from the excitement of the winning goal 3 minutes into injury time, scored by a 17-year-old on his debut. My God he will be popular around Manchester tonight!

What's in the Name?

It has again been a long day. It may be a cause for a lot of anxiety for some, but a source of relief for others. Had another session examining short case earlier this afternoon. Saw some familiar faces. As I mentioned last night, I shall refrain from saying anything about the outcome of the exam until the results are out. 

Most of you will be traveling home for the weekend. I want to share with you a couple of stories. The first is concerning my brother-in-law's friend. He has just returned from overseas after completing his medical degree and waiting for his postings with Kementerian. One day, at a traffic light while he was on his motorcycle, a lorry came from behind and hit him. He died instantly. He never get to practice medicine.

The second is about my granduncle's son (my Dad's cousin). My granduncle was a great Paediatrician. When he left government service, he was the Deputy Director General of Health. He recently passed away in 2006 well in his eighties. Amongst his daughters and sons, none of them took up Medicine. None from his nieces and nephews followed suit as well. I was to be the first. In 1969, his brilliant youngest son was offered the Colombo scholarship to read Medicine in Canada. It was a great joy for him and the family. Unfortunately two weeks out, he died of an accident while in his father's car. His name was Fadzil.

I was the first grandchild, and was born a few years after Fadzil passed on. When deliberating what name to register me by, my granduncle wanted me to be named Fadzil. He says that one day I will become a Doctor like him. My father however was wary of the fate befallen Fadzil, an decided to name me slightly differently. My family calls me Fadzil, but most of you know me as Haris.

The morale is, drive carefully on your way back to your kampung. A lot of people are banking on you to be the pride of the family. It is one thing to disappoint people, but imagine if something were to happen to you just due to your recklessness. As the TV advert says .... 'Anda Mampu Mengubahnya!' Drive safely, and see you next Tuesday.

Update on Friday, April 3, 2009 at 11:03PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

I will be doing my fair share of driving as well tomorrow, going down to Malacca. The program there starts at 10, probably leaving right after breakfast at my mother's house. Coming back, I plan to drive via Port Dickson and Banting just for the fun of it ... Hmmm! Banting ... 

I will be taking Toad down for the journey as well. I got home late today, so Toad has gone to sleep with Idlan and Irfan.

A Long Day for Me ... An Even Longer One for the Candidates

I was involved in the examination for the afternoon session and the whole process went well. I only realised how tiring it was after I reached home. I can imagine how exhausted the students were, having firstly to wait for their turn, then suffer the agony of being quarantined.

Toad doing some online shopping. Oi! Stay off my wallet!Judging from the postings on Facebook, everyone had mixed feelings about how they did during the exams. Usually apprehension is healthy. There's not much else anyone can do after the actual exam. We can only wait and watch, and wish our friends still waiting for their turn all the best. I must say that I was very impressed on the quality of the cases on show. They are all very fair, and not out to trick their candidates. Some of the cases can even allow them to shine. Those waiting for their turn tomorrow and Saturday don't have anything to fear.

I also spend today reorganising the way things are posted on the site. I have added another journal stream, called themed posts. This is where the post according to the themes I selected yesterday will be put onto. Hopefully it will prevent the blog from getting clogged up. Today, I looked into three articles from NEJM. I thought they are pretty useful, and hopefully help my Medical Officers and students interested in current medical updates.

The best of luck for those still waiting for tomorrow and Saturday. It will be over soon.

The Lull in the Middle of the Storm

I remember the weekends in the middle of exams that I used to enjoy during my student times. It is a time when nobody and nothing can stop you from indulging. Everything you do can be justified as releasing the tension. You can stay up all night watching TV, go to cinema, eating out, retail therapy especially for the fairer sex, on the computer playing games for hours. When anybody ask you why you are wasting your time, you just shut them up by telling them how hard you studied, how difficult the paper was etc. Ahhh! Those days!

Even now as an academician, as their lecturer, there is a part of me that said, 'well some of them really messed up their paper, they should be concentrating on the clinicals', or remembering how rubbish they were when they were preparing for the exams, I can't help but to condone them. I have been through this exams before. At this late stage, a good feet-up will do wonders. Certainly stops you from asking how bad you did, what else I need to study. That will just cause you to tense up. The more tense you are, the worst you will tend to do. So for my Final MBBS boys and girls, take a good day's rest. Get your feet up. Have a nice coffee at Starbucks or Pak Abu. Watch a movie or three. During my time, I used to either play badminton or football.

Clear everything off your mind! .... and I shall see you next week for the clinicals ...... wearing my evil hat, smiling wryly .... before I ask you the five causes of bilateral facial nerve palsy! Ha! Ha! Ha! <insert evil laugh>