Attachment @ HTAR =)

bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim
in the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

for e last 4 weeks, i've spent my days doing attachment at klang GH. so many thgs, i've learnt n so many thgs i've experienced. i'm wondering how to story all those thgs in this one page. may be i can write in this way.

~e hospital itself

walking quickly is a must either for a HOD, specialist, MO,
HO or even a medical student!!! that's what i did, walking
fast n act as if there is an urgency..haha =D

Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), a place where i was born in fact n admitted there once. i start to hate it when mom was admitted there for nearly 40 days. i never wanted too work there but surprisingly, i've changed my mind, i'm very keen to do my housemanship there. then i told myself, "never say never".. what changes my mind??  so many thgs actly, first of all, of cos bcs it is e nearest hosp haha.. then, e conditions n places there, which i'm used to 'em now, so less adaptation or culture shock. well, it's my POB, so have to love it anyways.

~HOD (head of Medical dept)
Dr.Tan, my first impression> he doesn't look as what i imagined, unlike Dr.Yusof (HOD surgical dept, my so-called distant uncle, who likes to smile always). i couldn't see any smile on his face, how should i get his signature then??? but my impression, again went wrong, dangg!!! on my last day of attachment, where i've to get his sign, he welcomed us in a very polite way. he offered us seats n had a short chat with us asking about this whole attachment. n he advised us, e best thng to do is attaching w a HO n learn e procedures n clinical techniques (which i guess should be given on e first day instead, anyway better luck next time haha!!)

~specialists
# on e very first day, Dr. Yong, an endocrinologist, gave a very sweet n simple advice > do not stressed out but enjoy e attachment, spend time during attachment in such way, 1/3 for learning, 1/3 for sightseeing n 1/3 for food (enjoying hosp food, definitely no!! haha). he is cool n cute!!!! that drives me, no too much book-review but reap experiences as much as i can. but sadly, till e end of my attachment, i couldn't tag along with him even once.
# Dr.Kathrine, such a nice lady. e first specialist that i tagged along with. she did told that she doesn't have enough time to do teaching. n during e rounds, she asked us to palpate AV fistula on a patient's arm, n guess wht, i don't know how to feel it n e worse part, i dont know why e pt needed an arteriovenous fistula till i came out with this stupid thought tht e pt might hv a distal artery blockage hahaha..shame on me, so stupid ws i, tht serves me right, for not studying before hand. (actually e AV fistula is an access for pt's HD, since he has ESRF). luckily Dr.Kath didnt question us on it, if not, she might get an heart attack after listening to my answer =D
# Dr. Wong, e best one i will say. he ws so enthusiastic to do teaching. seriously learnt so much frm him, during ward rounds n also during clinic hours. he did interviewed me why i wntd to become a doctor n he ws quite stunned with my reply i guess, it is a cliched answer though. what made me proud is, when he attended a pt, he asked me to open up my OHCM (which i kept in my coat's pocket) on scoring pancreatic severity n after i found that page, i passed to him tht book n he was reading somethg n explaining it to his MO n HO (i ws so proud of my ohcm!!! at least Dr.Wong appreciates u. now i know, u're a good stuff..haha). he is very friendly towards his patients n he will admit if he doesn't know anything, which is a good quality of a doctor -- not showing off.
# Dr. Choor, how should i describe him, doctor cum joker?? haha.. a happy-go-lucky doc, likes to laugh n entertain his HOs, MOs, nurses, patients as well as e students. he is over cool!! i bet his life is tension-free bcs he has laughter as his medicine. tagging along w him for e last day is a big n great experience for me. during e self-intro, he told this "why wanna do elective posting?? u just come n show me ur face enough la, at e end, i'll sign for u. no need to tag w me. what u wanna learn here (Dr. Choor in a laughing mode)". then when i told him that im just a 2nd year student then he said "aiyaaa, now ny 2nd year ah?? go back n tido la..watch harry potter dy ah?? (after a no reply from me) tonite go n watch harry porter ah

(again in laughing mode)". that moment, i can't control laughing too, he was like truly amusing n a very jovial type. n when e sister in-charge of e ward was suggesting e med studs to observe e nursing procedures (eg. BP measurements), Dr. Choor said, "no need la, these UIA students r complete package". whoawww??? doc, hold, i really dont deserve it. but his expectation n assumption r very positive. i never heard of any outsiders saying UIA med studs/grads r good, but he put tht expectation, so have to work for it, inshaAllah!!! along e ward rounds, i cant stop laughing looking at his acts, it ws so hilarious. despite joking around, he still did some teaching n asking opinions.


~MOs
a position where one is not superior yet comfortable. these MOs will follow e specialist during ward rounds n supervise e HOs during their rounds. if somethg went wrong, HOs would be blame n not them. but sometimes bad luck falls upon them too, n that moment will be disastrous for 'em. these MOs are very much afraid if medical students tag along with 'em n they don't dare to say anythg nor teach anythg. n everytime approached, they'll say > e specialist is there, u can follow him/her, he/she knows more n we're still juniors. damn, we're more junior than u, y cant u just help us out in thgs u know.. huuh.. anyway, they're not very much helpful but they're good doctors indeed, very dedicated n caring. wanted e best for e patients. yea, i understand, they're afraid that they might say somethg wrong n we students will bombard 'em w queries then. it's okay, at least i observe e way they did PE.

~HOs
god, what should i say??? they're e worst part of e hierarchy, sorry to say. once during a ward round, a HO nearly cried after being scolded by a specialist. n while another HO was presenting a case, he got scolded too bcs he miscalculate e pints thg. n one thg i noticed, they're more like scribes than doctors bcs they r always writting n writting wht r e MOs saying. but some r very strong n dedicated. they run here n there to trace this n that. they skip lunch sometimes n not to forget, they're obligated to attend e CME courses. no rest at all, but i think life still can go on if u enjoy doin ur work. n they too feel awkward when students approach 'em for tagging. (contraindicates with Dr.Tan's suggestion rite.haha). but i learnt history taking n clerking from them by just observing 'em.

~MAs and nurses
MAs r really cool n very approachable. they taught me e medical procedures, blood drawing, stitching, ecg, echo, injection, setting line or branula, emergency medicines etc. i learnt so much here in e procedure room. they r very friendly n sometimes it is nice to hv a friendly chat w 'em.
the nurses btw, good too. one of 'em told us, smiling is very important, do not show off n treat e patients as if they're our own family members.

~MS (medical students @ colleagues)
there r many other universities students did their attachment at HTAR. people always say that u'll know e true color of ur friends when u enter clinical years. but, for me, i dont hv to wait till this sept. i've seen some here. no need to be mention here, let bygones be bygones. but some r very helpful n not selfish. they're willing to teach n call upon other colleagues if there is anythg to be shared, regardless of which university r u in. glad to know them, hope can be their real colleague, one day.

~patients
patients are always patient. they're sick, so no comment. but one thg disturbs me till now. when i ws walking in e ward one night, a patient called upon me n spoke to me in urdhu (i was astonished firstly, as i ws thinking how he knw tht i cn speak urdhu). he said he is in pain n he need some medication for tht. but, i just told him to wait as e nurses will come later. i can't help him much bcs i'm just a student. i don't know wht is his case actly, n if i go to e nurse, im fret she'll scold me fr bothering her. so, i just left. i pray to Allah that moment, ya Allah please keep e pt away from pain, tht's wht i can do bein a helpless person.
another story, a colleague of mine storied to me a conversation btwn her n a doctor. she said e doc classified pt cme to AnE dept into two : manja-itized n MC-itized. e former is those who present to AnE w just a minor n self-limiting pblm, n e latter is those who seek medical consultation just to get an MC. haha. what a classification, but true sometimes. n of cos not to b forgotten, 3rd one which r those who really need help.
n taking history from 'em is anothr thg, they always deviate me n e history taking will end up into a family drama chat..haha..it's ok, they need a listener, at least i can help 'em in that way.

~the deceased
lastly about e deceased. i've attended a postmortem session. after seeing e autopsy, first time in my life as a med student, i strtd to gv a 2nd thought of bein a doctor, seriously. then, aftr a while of thinking, i strengthen my stand -- becoming a doctor to serve humanity. autopsy is just a small part of medicine practise, so not to be bothered so much.

~~ to cure occasionally, to relieve often, to comfort always, but never do harm~~ a wise man said it once which is very true.
if u cant heal or cure e pt, please comfort 'em n don't ever harm 'em. that's e policy n always believe that Allah is The Best Healer indeed.
my time has come, to be honest, i didn't make use of my attachment period. i did wasted so much time by doing nothing in e library (reading med books actly). n now, i've to prepare myself, physically n mentally to face e upcoming clinical world. inshaAllah...