Back in KL

They don't appear keen to go home. Do they?

The 'Problem Solving' paper this morning seems rather more reasonable compared to the CPC yesterday. After the exams, there were some confusion about what to bring back with me to KL. I was rather anxious to get going because I don't want to be stuck with exam papers in my hands overnight. Anything can happen!

Idlan playing Wii in the hotel suite while Irfan and Mum surfing the Net

The counting of the scripts after the exam also took longer than expected. There were a few scripts without the seat number filled, making life complicated for us. We tallied everything in the end. The list for short and long cases next week has been announced. The students now have a clear idea of what is ahead. The RCMP boys and girls will be traveling in a couple of buses to UM this afternoon, hoping to reach there before the traffic build up. They will be spending the next 10 days or so in UniKL campuses, being shipped into UM daily for the exams. The OSCE will start tomorrow running for a couple of days. They will then have the rest of the week off before the long cases Monday to Wednesday, the short cases Thursday onwards. They will be praying for good news come Monday to hopefully attend the mini convocation on the 7th. I might take my leave that day and see off my Final year students. Have to start calling them doctors by then!

The Racecourse from our suite window

Since there were no rush, we had lunch at Casuarina before leaving. We left just before three. On the way to Tambun yesterday, Anita was struck by a sign board just off Casuarina pointing the way to 'Impiana Bougainvillea'. She thought it is a hotel or a rest house. It turned to be a new housing development. Disappointed, we made our way to KL, reaching the Jalan Duta toll house just before 5. There was no traffic jam back to Gombak. Had the time to clean the car right after before settling in. Back to work tomorrow. I have already have a couple of text messages this morning from patients asking if I will be in tomorrow.

Greetings from Ipoh

The main entrance to the CollegeThe pickup this morning after breakfast was prompt at 8. The Royal College of Medicine Perak is only 10 minutes away, and there was hardly a morning rush. I was greeted by an officer from the Dean's Office, Cik Sarinah and was then ushered to meet the Deputy Dean, where I spend around 20 minutes chatting. He was interested in my take on the syllabus after learning that I am a Sheffield graduate. RCMP is currently using a syllabus similar to Sheffield while fine-tuning it to the local needs. He retired a couple of year ago as Deputy Director of Health, and his main specialty was Occupational Health.

The actual academic building was actually awesome. Purpose built for the college with a Moorish design, it certainly is different from UM. Personally however, I think they will struggle in the future when their program expands. The are currently gearing up to producing more than 100 doctors per batch and with only 3 lecture theatres they will need to expand. The facility currently cater for both clinical and pre-clinicals. In some of the attachments, the students will need to travel to district hospitals around Ipoh. The building is just next to Ipoh General Hospital where the students were also attached. Accommodations are rented, not purpose-built. The majority of the students were Malays, mostly MARA scholarship holders.

The examinations I must say were very well run. In the one I was involved in this morning, there were 4 invigilators with 4 other clerks helping out with administration. There were only 89 candidates and everything went without a hitch. Two of my fellow invigilators were UM graduates, a Surgeon and a Psychiatrist. I had a great time chatting with Dr Mohammad the Psychiatrist over coffee. He graduated in the early 80s and had been an academic for nearly 20 years. He was previously seconded to USM before joining UNIMAS in Sarawak. There, he had been doing plenty of freelance work, concentrating in organisational dynamics and psychology. I discussed his view on the lack of personal support for my cancer patients especially amongst Malays. I plan to invite him as a speaker during the upcoming MaxFamily meetings if everyone is keen. I later found out that his wife is an English teacher in MRSM Terendak, my high school. She joined after I left however.

The Ipoh General Hospital located just next door to the College

The transport back was again prompt to take me back to Casuarina.

Greetings From Ipoh

Cought a sight of this party taxi just as I was departing. There were plenty more balloon on the back seat! I wonder how much the fare is for them! Maybe tak pakai meter!Made it to Ipoh finally by 4pm, after the drama at the start - see my previous post and update.

I am here representing the UM Medical Faculty to the Perak Medical College. They will have the same exam as our UM boys and girls from tomorrow. Since my wife is from Perak, she decided to follow. So we rented an extra room, and both Idlan and Irfan were having a blast. We were at the pool for nearly an hour and a half. Ordered food for afternoon tea, which they gobbled down. We just got back form dinner, and they were running around like headless chicken in the lobby.

Casuarina Ipoh - now known as Impiana Casuarina - is one of those 80's hotel, old school style lobby, old furniture in the rooms. I remember staying here in the late 80s with my parents. It used to be more 'happening' then. It used to be buzzing with people, a place where who's who used to chill. I remember bumping into the previous Menteri Besar and his family while his children were playing in the pool. I bet it will not happen now as we can't even be sure who the Menteri Besar is here.

The Main Lobby at Impiana Casuarina tonightThe lobby was expansive but felt empty. There were nobody playing on the grand piano, there was no background music or chatter. The cafeteria was also pretty basic, although I was told that it was one of the best 'high tea' Ipoh has to offer. We had buffet there for our dinner. The spread was nothing fancy, the main dish being beriyani with a couple of sides. There was also some pasta, some basic salad with dressings. A disappointment really, at a place I used to look forward to visit when I was young. Maybe I was pampered too much with good food in Bangsar and around KLCC. 

The only thing that got the place going must be the swimming pool. We stayed here sometime last year when my wife's uncle died. The boys wanted to hit the pool but time was tight. They got their wish this time around.  The breakfast then was pretty OK. That is something to look forward to tomorrow morning.

As for my boys and girls in the final year at UM, they will have their Final MB coming up tomorrow. So all the best. Stay calm. I am sure I will have to call you with Dr as the prefix in a couple of weeks time. Good night and good luck. 

Good Luck You All!

Tried both tops but we still got beat. Must be the Tandoori, or the lack of it!

The amount of abuse I have to endure for United losing last night was unbelievable. As usual, as a true Devil, I remain confident that we will wrap the league up soon. Chelsea lost last night, and so will Liverpool tonight. Hence at the of the day, everything remains status quo, except for the ascendency of Villa who will beat Liverpool tonight. All the fuss will be about nothing.

As I mentioned on my previous post, I have superstitious about a our recent winning run. On the weekend games (obviously I can't get any Tandoori at 4am in midweek), I will don my ManYoo 2001 long-sleeved replica with number 4 Veron on the back - look at the pics, certainly has been over worn - , then I will go out to my local Mamak stall and order Mee Ladna, ABC, Tandoori chicken and a couple of naan bread. Last weekend during the Pool game, my Veron shirt was in the washer - courtesy of my maid which Alan is certain is a Liverpool fan - and we got soundly beat. I wore the Ronaldo top instead plus the Tandoori. Conclusion, no can do.

Last night, got my Veron top, but due to one thing or the other, no Tandoori. I SMS Alan, and he reckoned it was a bad omen. The rest is history. Next league game will be in a couple of fortnight. Enough time for me to sort everything out, and for sure United will win!

Just finished packing for my trip to Ipoh. The kids are in the shower. Will be there until Tuesday with the kids on tow. For my Final Year students, it has been a pleasure teaching all of you, and I hope that we will make good Doctors out of you guys and gals. Stay calm, trust what you know. There will not be any trick question I am sure. Got to go!

Update on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 5:39PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

It was rather more adventurous than we thought. Reversed the car out of the driveway, put it back to drive. Parked it on the side, wanted to put it back into reverse but the gear wouldn't engage. Ooops! Only got the car serviced last week. Looks like it's going back to the garage. Had to use my father-in-laws CRV then. Made it to Ipoh smoothly though. Just got out of the pool with Irfan and Idlan.

Update on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8:08AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

My C200 has been fixed on Wednesday. It was a minor wiring problem after the servicing the week before. No charge this time which is nice. The technician came to the house and got it fixed in no time. Drove into work today in it since my Kelisa is with my father-in-law.

You Don't Need Luck ... You Need A Miracle .... Part III

There was a major change of plan for the weekend as instead of going back to Penang, we will be heading to Ipoh tomorrow. Since I was kind of free in the afternoon, I took a stroll to the Orchid Garden in Taman Tasik. Weather was gorgeous. Took my camera out for a spin. I thought I post a couple of the picture on this update.

After some rest I thought I sit down and finish off my series of tips. We are now down to the short cases. This is a double-edged sword. It is easy to pass, it is also easy to fail if you are not careful. And if you are lucky and confident, you can breeze through it.

I will just comment in terms of Medical stations. The possible scenario will require you to be able to demonstrate ability to examine systems that can be listed as - Cardio, Respiratory, Abdominal, Cranial nerves, Neuro upper limbs, Neuro lower limbs and special system. The special systems include thyroid status, thyroid eye disease, common skin lesions (cellulitis, eczema, psoriasis), rheumatoid hands etc. The last group is basically a pot luck of cases!

Neurological cases are the most dreaded, maybe because lack of practice. It is very common to get neurological examination of the lower limbs, which all of you should score but in general are badly done in exam situations. If you take your time, even the cranial nerve examination can be taken in stride.

For the systems, you should have developed your routine by now. Remember the rules of first introducing yourself to your patient, then to ask if they are comfortable or in pain. You then explain that you need to examine them and expose them. You will then observe them from the edge of the bed. You then start with the patient's hands, unless it is the cranial nerves or lower limbs. In the special systems, if you are uncertain, always expose the patient, then start from the hands.

There is no substitute for practice unfortunately. If you are not prepared at this point, they is nothing much you can do but to practice your steps. Practice on your friends even though there are no pathology to be had. When I was a student, I printed all the steps in each of the examination procedures on a piece of paper and go through each one of them in sequence. I still have a copy of them when I was preparing for my MRCP. I gave the soft copies to your seniors. If you guys are interested, you can download it from this link. Not sure if it will make much difference. However at this hour, every little things help! Happy hunting!

Update on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 1:10AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Well, you win some, you lose some ..... well done Fulham!