Back in the fray

It's been a long while since I last blogged, and I apologize for the hiatus.

Anyway, it's already into my fourth week of 2nd year medicine. It's pretty much the same as what I had last year, only with a smaller bunch of meddies, plus 60 fresh-faced 1st years. I'm already starting to feel a tinge of regret for leaving some of my close pals behind in Melbourne.

But alas, due to inevitable financial reasons, here I am, smack in the middle of bustling Bandar Sunway, hopefully awaiting the moment when I can finally swear the Hippocrates Oath, and then get treated like sh*t as a hapless intern. Its worth it, I repeat to myself. Just worth it.

As the new university campus is still under construction as of now, the only faculty available is, you guessed it, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Everyone else will move in by the next semester, July being my best guess. In my opinion, the facilities in the new Malaysian are comparable to those in Clayton, except for the damn plastic lecture theatre seats. Everything is brand new and shiny. I do miss the sickly sweet smell of cadavers back in Clayton, as these are replaced by plastinated (think petrified like in Harry Potter) human beings in the new campus. Prodding the brain with my fingers didn't feel too special, as the cadavers are literally part-plastic and part-organic!

Lectures, tutes and pracs are conducted in the same way here, with local professors-cum-doctors replacing their Australian counterparts. The lecturers are more accessible to students and are way more flexible compared to some of the more jaded and weary professors we had back in Clayton campus. It's a plus in a way, and hopefully it'll stay that way in the future.

I'll be having my clinical visits soon (tomorrow!). And my biggest challenge here is yet to be overcome, more specifically dealing with patients who may or may not speak English. After all, I'm a banana...the species of Chinese incompetent with their mother tongue. I can just imagine myself interviewing my patient:


Me: Good morning, Mrs Tan. I would like to ask you a few questions. Would that be fine with you?

Mrs Tan: You ask me for what? Oke lor.

Me: Thank you Mrs Tan. Firstly, what brings you here?

Mrs Tan: My husband drive me here la.. Why u ask??

Me: Uh, sorry...I mean, what are you here for?

Mrs Tan: Ni hui zhiang hua yu ma? Wo de tu zhi hen tong.

Me: Erm..(long pause)..tu zhi tong....you mean your stomach hurts? I'm sorry Mrs tan, I can only listen to Mandarin, cannot really speak.

Mrs Tan: Aiya, ni bu hui zhiang hua yu? What lar...even three year old can speak better than you! Not malu one! And you call yourself doctor summore! -_-"

Me: :-(

Damn! I only had experience interviewing Aussies. I guess I've got a lot of learning to be done. My Malay is still functional, and my next stop, Tamil! Wish me luck cos I'm gonna need it.