truth to be said, i'm homesick. lol.
it all boils down to being optimistic or otherwise i guess. cz everything has its ups and downs, pros and cons, challenges and sweet memories.
i'm currently doing my elective posting in Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan. now most ppl paused for 1 second for the msg to sink in, then open their eyes real big and ask,'dont u hav2 speak mandarin in Taiwan?' n i'd say 'awww come on, my mandarin has improved over the past year with me being forced to practise speaking to elderly chinese uncles and aunties in the hospital... i'll survive.. it cant be thatttt bad.'
3 days into the posting, (in internal medicine, Respiratory) i've been complaining non stop to my friends about hitting my mandarin quota, listening (mostly) and communicating in mandarin. on my 1st day i was utterly lost, blur, slightly miserable at being unable to read the instructions on the computer, building signs, not understanding what Dr.s are discussing in seminars esp when they discuss management cz they use a lot of mandarin medical terminology.
plus the style of teaching in this medical school is really different. every student gets attached to one supervisor. 1 to 1 or 2 to 1. they are given 2 patients each and they plan out the management, write case notes like a houseman for that patient. every morning they consult their supervisor about their patient and they offer suggestions on Diagnosis n plans to the Dr.s, even if the Dr. is like an MO or Specialist.
now think what would happen if i tried to offer management advice to a specialist back in msia. *shudder*
the Dr.s take in every suggestion seriously. and explain to the student the rights and wrongs of that decision etc. in a super nice non sarcasm filled way. this makes their students very voluntary in offering suggestions and answers when questioned. the students tag the Dr.s like 8am-5pm every single day unless they have classes. WOW...
i was taken aback at this culture n it took me some time to get used to it. found it extremely pleasant. n the Dr. even requested every1 else to communicate in English bcz he knew my mandarin's horrible.
the dr.-patient relationship here is really amazing. super ppd skills alert!
however, i find myself spiralling down into depression bcz i feel so inadequately equipped with knowledge compared to the students here. gosh. the students here are like super whiz kids with compartments in their brains for physiology, patho, pharmaco, everything.
the Dr.s are extremely nice and understanding and give leeway for my dumbness tho thank goodness. bt that doesnt take my ego of feeling miserably dumb away. lol. i went through a cardio lecture today where we're suppose to identify heart sounds. now in UKM the Dr.s say u dont hav2 go into too much of details, MR/MS/AR/AS is enough. fullstop. here, u have to be able to identify S3, S4, gallop rhythm, ejection sound etc.. they identify murmurs without timing with the carotid pulse. nt sure if that's a good thing, but, big wow.
but thr's a different side to it i guess. while Msian universities place emphasis on History taking and PE, the hospitals here focus on Diagnosis, Investigation and Management. CT scans are really really common. n students here know how to read ecg (super detailed, even those uncommon stuffs they know), xrays, ultrasounds, PET scans, CT scans almost like a pro. they were given very detailed classes on it and study it with detail as well. another wow.
there's 2.5 more wks to go in this elective. but as i mentioned in front, although i do know it really is beneficial and certainly good exposure, i miss home. where familiarity breeds comfort. i guess that;s how it feels when i start working whr the environment's going to be totally different too. maybe its just bcz i've not been in any transition period for a long time, the last 1 being my 1st sem in uni. been in my comfort zone for too long. n i miss church. heh.
home, home. how i long for thee. XP
8 comments:
wow~~~ sound interesting ler~ hehe~ hmm~ izzit better if i post my comment here in chinese? so that u can learn abit? haha~
ps: 你中文真的说得不太好~继续努力~哈哈~
(ask weiwei if u dun understand it ba~ hehe~)
That's an interesting teaching method you have there.
From what I heard from Chee Inn, it's the same system in UK.
Well, although it's a late realisation but I think the Malaysian government finally realise they need to focus on quality, not quantity.
Wow! What an interesting learning experience you've got there! And gosh, do they also use Mandarin for their computer system too? That's crazy, really kao-kao Mandarin leh.. But the ego part, I totally get you. I have that in me too :(
Malaysia will wait for your return with open arms :)
olc- evil! lol XP thx for the encouragement haha.
jyi- quality wise it helps a lot to have 1 to 1 dr-student ratio. u really learn so much more. n it ensures u dont go too ter-sesat bcz we make a lot of assumptions. hehhe. tho a lot of things are run differently here. very eye opening. their final year students are equivalent to our MO. big wow :)
cher- miss u cher! haha yeah the computer system is all chinese. i've bn clicking at things randomly guessing the button on the right is Yes and left is No or Cancel. grins. sometimes things disappear. oops.
us google translate ! jus paste d link on gooogle translate and it'll translate d whole webpage for ya. haha. if ur using d net. :P
xm :)
Hope u're doing well in Taiwan!!
xm- wont do, cz the programme is chinese, offline. slowly learning by asking n opening programmes repeatedly after accidentally closing them. :D
alicia- thx :P by doing well, am currently well fed, well slept, grins. need some kiasu ego-ness to get me studying. all the best for ur exam prep :P
Hi, I am a medical student in Malaysia too. May I know how to apply for the elective in Tzu Chi?
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