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I’ve pretty much disappeared.
Well, for solid reasons actually. First of all, I’ve finally begun my housemanship journey in Malaysia (or otherwise known as internship).
The email dropped like a bomb out of nowhere one fine day. I recalled being seated at the dining area, having just completed a few articles, which till this day, I have yet to upload. The email caught me completely off guard and left me dumbfounded.
I was definitely NOT ready yet.
My Program Transformasi Minda (PTM) which is a form of orientation was due to commence in 3 weeks (19/6/2023) and I have a list of things to settle. On top of that, I only had 2 days till the day I had to choose my hospital of interest to commence my journey. However, I already know of the hospital that I was going to practice in and I only had one solid choice in mind.
Well, 2 days later, I logged into the e-Houseman system and chose the hospital of my interest, Sarawak General Hospital otherwise known as Hospital Umum Sarawak which is situated in Kuching, Sarawak.
Thankfully, I befriended someone who was due to enter the same hospital as me. Thus, the weight of going through the paperwork hassle did not feel burdensome and we kept each other accountable.
I left for Kuching on the 14th of June 2023 and joined the orientation for 5 days. PTM in short was more like a state orientation as doctors (housemen) who applied to various teaching hospital around the state of Sarawak gathered together. It was a short 5 days journey held in Kuching itself. Food and accommodation were provided.
This was followed by the hospital orientation which commenced for a total of 6 days.
After that, we each began our journey in the department of our choice. We had the privilege of choosing our departments and me and my friend chose Orthopaedics as our first posting.
2 weeks of tagging from 7am till 10pm (on paper) before finally entering the normal flexi-shift hours.
I will definitely elaborate more on the shifts and my journey in Orthopaedics in another article.
It has been a long time since I’ve sat and written. It’s ironic how I love writing and since the system is not electronic for all departments, we are required to write, every time.
Morning reviews (AM reviews), noon / evening reviews (PM reviews), on-call reviews, entries, requests, you name it, it’s all handwritten and yet, I despise it.
How so?
We are required to write fast because time is of the essence, certain things are time sensitive and we all just want to go back in time without burdening the next person on shift and that results in multiple short forms and if things could not be worse, “doctor’s handwriting”.
That’s not the worst part of course.
It has been tough for me and I’m only in my first month (at the time of writing this article). I’m definitely still adjusting to the system, struggling while putting my best foot forward every day.
Time moves both fast and slow for me. Slow when I’m at work and can’t wait for my shift to end or if it’s a tough day. Fast when I’m required to complete a list of things on my joblist within a certain amount of time and at times I wish that I had the ability to clone myself just so I could complete multiple tasks at once.
I knew that it was going to be a tough journey ahead for me but I never knew how tough it would be until I’ve stepped in.
Thankfully enough, I have amazing support system over here albeit being far form home which is almost 2 hours by flight to home. The place is beautiful and the people are kind, caring and generous.
Friends are important and we lean on each other a lot.
Perhaps I need time to adapt. Nobody said that it was going to be easy. Regardless of the hospital that I choose, it is without a doubt going to be a tough journey, these next two years.
For those of you who will be joining housemanship in Malaysia soon, all the very best and have faith. Put your best foot forward every day. It is definitely different from medical school with all the paperworks and referrals as well as the hands on procedures that you have to do on top of learning but as I said, remember to have faith. That goes the same for me.
Related Posts:
- Do I Regret Choosing Medicine? – Why Did I Pursue Medicine?
- How Do I Write My Articles? – Overcoming Writer’s Block & Always Having Ideas
- Is STPM The RIGHT Pre-University Choice For Medicine / MBBS?
- 7 Ways To Keep Studying After Graduating Medical School While Waiting For Internship / Housemanship
The Theoretical Doctor 
Expecting your paeds experience ……
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Coming soon 😀
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