I'll be Gentle

I used to examine regularly during my days in UM. Nowadays, the opportunity came only once or twice a year. I kinda missed it. So, when UKM invited me to examine today a couple of months back, I leapt to the idea and cancelled my schedule for today, although I still had to do rounds later today.

I arrived early as usual to beat the traffic, had breakfast at the cafeteria and just chill out for the morning. It was a surprise that the hospital was already buzzing at 7.30 in the morning, the car park almost full, despite having a designated area to leave my car.

But unfortunately the parking lot was already packed when I arrivedThe stage was setThe candidates didn't look too terrified when they posed for a picture with the faculty before the start ....I was still waiting for my candidate to present while catching up with the other examiners who used to be my colleague, marvelling at how spacious the medical department at UKM was.

Welcome to the Department

It was June and every year at this point we welcome the new batch of MMed students to our Faculty. This afternoon, the candidates for our Department came over. I was asked to give a quick presentation of our Department, the structure of the MMed program, the exam format, as well as the rather confusing on call roster we employ at the Department. All together, we had a total of more than 30, but only 10 would be staying on for the next couple of years as in campus candidates.

Both the Head of Department and the Course Coordinator were away on this School Holiday week. So we had a couple of Professors as well as one of our SLAB Masters student to give a lowdown on the on calls and the running of the Department. That was about it for the Department but I heard that they had a full three days of form filling, registration as well as orientation. Most of the work was done at both the Faculty and Chancellory level. We just had a few hours with them for the time being.

Walking around the Faculty, welcoming the new students seemed to be a big thing. I said this judging from the number of banners we had about the place. They were practically everywhere. I hope they recycle them for the next years as I was sure it would have cost the Faculty a bomb printing them new.

The signs were everywhereSo, for the new MMed students, both in Internal Medicine and to other Departments, a warm come to all of you to the Faculty. The next four years or so would be a busy time for you lot. A lot of new things to learn, as well as a whole new culture we have here in UMMC. See you guys around!

The Throat Killing Me

I'm pretty certain that the problem with me at the moment is in the throat. It was red. And painful. The voice is OK but obviously talking caused strain and raising my voice was excruciating. And I had to examine earlier this afternoon.

The pain improved after some paracetamol. And some fluids. The antibiotics certainly took it's time to kick in. Since the air con in the exam hall was in full blast, I was shivering halfway through. I was sure I was still shaking on the drive home.

A shower and a quick nap later, I was ready to settle in for the evening, but jot after my boys wanted to climb all over me. Better sleep in the study room I think for tonight.

Sunday Morning Meeting

Sunday. Meeting. Almost a crime to string them words on the same sentence, hence the full stop in between. But today it was different. We were gathered to discuss the conduct of the coming MMed exams scheduled for next week. Since UM was not one of the hosts - Part I would be in UKM and Part II in Kubang Kerian - we hosted this calibration exercise. And it was a very important one.

MMed is one of those exams where the exact conduct at times were mysterious. There was no real syllabus to talk about, just a guide as to how the program should be run and how were the candidates should be assessed. The actual experiences between each individual candidates could be quite different as the program emphasis was in the experience, akin to being an apprentice.

Looks like I need a new Moleskine

Having difference in ways the journey the candidates go trough is one thing, but it was a priority for us to make sure that at the very least there was some uniformity in terms of assessment, hence the purpose for meeting this morning. We went through how the format would be, and run a few scenarios and see how the differences of opinion in the assessing examiners can be kept to a minimum and everybody would be singing from the same hymn sheet. To a certain extend, that object was achieved this morning.

As for me personally, the exam would start tomorrow with me invigilating the Final Year viva. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all the MMed candidates the best of luck.

More Exams

Finally heading home after such a long but fruitful day. Disappointed that some of the candidates did not fare as well as expected, but I suppose in any exams, there will be some party left with bad news.

So, the part II MMed Exam was wrapped up. Off to HUKM tomorrow for the MMed I clinicals. Will have to be there early to beat the traffic and calibrate the cases. Hopefully it won't be as long a day as today was.

The candidates will only learn their fate on Friday morning after individual marks were tabulated and discussed. Since it will be on a Friday, I will not be able to attend the meeting but will be present when the news about the results were broken. I shall just leave it at that for the time being.

During the deliberation at the end, the External Examiners did remark abou the long day and the element of examiner fatique creeping in. It will not be fair if that were to affect the assessments of the candidates. However there will never be a totally fair exams although some exams were fairer than others. In terms of organisation, yes, there were a few hairy moments with patients not turning up. One of the patient was drowsy with a drug he has taken and was snoring away while another had a weak bladder and we had to call the cleaners in to mop up the floor! There was also this classic picture of one of my invigilating colleague using a cow bell to alert the candidates that time was up. It was a sight!