There were 5 of us going through the orientation. Jo, Nicole, Revathy were from the same induction camp in Hotel Midah, KL. Fakhrud was from the camp in Bagan Lalang, I don’t know where is that, but it’s in Malaysia.

So the first day after reporting ourselves to the State Health Department of Kedah (JKNK), we rushed back to Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim (HSAH) to report duty.

The hospital director gave us a warm welcome and had given us some info regarding the hospital. We filled in more forms, it’s slowly develop the phobia of writing my name, IC number, address, and my occupation and its grade. So after the orientation, we went back home.

The next 2 days, we had a crash course on IT regarding the operating system in the hospital as it’s fully computerized. It’s not paperless though, but it’s definitely less paper. I was late to the class as I was taking the driving test for my driver’s license. So I was like 30 minutes late to the class. But it was quite okay as I’m catching up fast on computers. We have to know how to use the so-called eHIS system. We can record patients’ information in it, amend it, order drugs, order and schedule OT etc etc with it. To make a conclusion of mine to it, it’s TROUBLESOME. Then we also had a talk about handling the medical records in the archive and the coding on files.

The following 2 days were devoted to pathology. We went to blood bank and learnt things about blood transfusion, its components, indications, contraindications, criteria to blood donation etc. It was quite an intense session because we were asked questions. So we ended up going to library to seek for answers. Then we also went to the Histopathological department to learn what’s to what’s not, how to prepare a slide from a specimen. Next was Cytological department, which technically is in the same department like the histopath, but they don’t entertain each other, kinda ironic. We were taught about gynae, non-gynae, and FNA procedures which are tested by cytology. After that we went to microbiology lab. Same things were told, like what’s to what’s not, introduction, what reasons the specimens got rejected. We also were taught how to prepare thick and thin blood film for malaria parasites. And yes, it has to be done by the HOs. The last thing we’ve done was introduction to infection control practice and standard precautions like washing hands, wearing masks, wearing gloves, wearing shoecovers () etc. The best mask is called N95, very relatable isn’t it? LOL

So how are the slides for histopathology prepared?
1. Samples taken must be soaked in 10-20% formalin to preserve the structure and preventing cells from disintegrating.
2. Samples are wash and fixed with alot of alcohol, then xylene to remove the alcohol then waxed. The whole process could take 15 hours to get done. So we were advised to not rush the pathologists to get the samples prepared. Smaller samples are put in a block then are soaked in wax until it’s solidified.
4. The samples were frozen in the fridge.
5. Samples were taken to the microtome to get sliced to get a good sample for a slide.
6. Samples were sliced into thin films, then put on top of water and get “scooped” up on a slide.
7. Slides are put on top of a heater to melt and vaporise the wax.
8. Slides are sent for staining and covered.

Click to view slideshow.

Induction was on the 11th of October, in Hotel Midah, KL. Dad and bro-in-law decided to drive along with me to KL. Papago was with us in case if we got lost and raped in KL. We went there on 10th of October.

Dad and bro-in-law went to KL for a business meeting with their suppliers. The good thing I went with them was I didn’t have to pay a single penny for food. It’s all on their suppliers’ bill. And the food was not cheap!!!!!!!!!

So this is the 29th batch of Induction course. During induction, we’ve been sorted into groups. My group is team 7, there were 10 of us and one of us is the prettiest girl in the whole induction course. I was so happy~ LOL We were given a task. It’s a scenario that we had to act out on the 4th day of induction. All things went well, my team mates were cooperative, so we got the scene right on the day itself. My room mate was a student graduated from Edinburgh, UK. Nice person indeed, kinda crazy, definitely alot is going on with him. Very knowledgeable and very friendly. Glad to have him as my room mate for 4 nights.

We had seminars about the Department of Human Resources, Corporate Culture, Ethics, Constitutional Bureau(BTN), psychology, discipline, money matters etc etc. Some were interesting, some were plain boring, one was brutal. Some were well-learnt, some were spent on FB and daydreaming.

BTN was the most brutal seminar. It raised up racial issue that we could not even question them. The nonBumiputra were told about the privilege of the Malays, and basically telling us to blame our ancestors. Hahahaha. It’s like this, in 1951 in return of the Malays accepting us as citizens, our ancestors had to agree to give the premium privilege to the Malays.

We spent most of our time inside the hotel, more or less like prisoners. The food in the hotel was nice for the first day, 2nd day, but it’s too much and boring from the 3rd day onwards. But some of us managed to get out with friends, cruised around KL, eating out, got lost on monorail, buying drinks from Petaling Street. Willy’s brother, William brought me and Shu Yu to eat Hokkien Mee(Hokkien Char) in a nearby place. It was taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassstyy~~.

After 5 days of nothingness, we had to go back to our states to report ourselves to the State Health Department before reporting ourselves to the hospital.

I got my first choice, which was Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim in Sungai Petani. I had no regrets choosing it because I live just 5 minutes drive outside the hospital area.

The waiting process is not flattering. I’m bored with what I’m doing everyday.

I have a flat ass waiting for the induction!

So what was I doing?

TAKING CARE OF BABY CHERRAINE!!!

Gosh, baby Cherraine loves to cry and it’s torturing. What’s wrong? Babies are supposed to eat, sleep, and poop!!!!!

You know I rule ya'll

TAKING PHOTOS OF THE HEAVY RAIN CLOUDS AND RUN-AWAY CARS

The weather was so brutal and when it’s about to rain, the dark clouds are so thick and dark and looking horrendous. So the cars were speeding up to avoid the rain. It once struck me thinking that hurricane is coming and destroy this small town.

The hungry clouds

Run away car

I don’t know what else I’ve been doing……but I’m really bored!!!!!

It’s been a while since I blogged about my stuff. But since I’m becoming a doctor, I figured I should write a blog about it.

I came back from Russia on the 24th of July, 2010 as a graduated medical student, not yet a doctor. So it’s kinda funny when hearing people calling myself “Doctor” coz I am not a doctor yet!!! I’m just a medical graduate!!!

As the time gone by, I figured I have to try and live with the trite cliche.

I went to Putrajaya for registration on the 16th of August 2010. And with the help of our favorite big sis in the group, Ieja all things went perfectly well.

She drove us from one department to another (walking from one to another place wasn’t just a short distant).

The documents needed are thesein Malay andEnglish. You also need to make photocopies of other documents like birth certificate, SPM results, and yada yada(you’ll find all in it).You’re supposed to fill all these documents and make sets of certified copies. I went to my old school so it was free for certification.

So the first one was SPA(Suruhan Prkhidmatan Awam) department where all documents were submitted. We filled in some papers in SPA and we’re supposed to wait for the staff to get our letter of offer as a medical staff.

The documents needed are thesein Malay and English. You’re supposed to fill all these documents and make sets of certified copies. I went to my old school so it was free for certification.

While waiting for the letter to be processed, we went to KKM(Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) to fill in some forms, again, but this time we’re given 3 options for choosing the hospital you desired.

After everything was checked, we had to rush to MMC(Malaysia Medical Council) to pass up our final set of documents in order to get the temporary letter of acceptance. But to our sorrow, it was lunchtime and we had to wait. And to our luck, Ieja’s mom’s office was nearby and we took our rest there in an airconditioned office, just nice to escape ourselves from the scorching weather.

Lunchtime’s over, we headed back to MMC building again. We were waiting for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get the temporary letter of acceptance. We were literally taking nap on the couch, it was fun, we love couchsurfing!~

Now we are half-doctor like centaurs. The next step – enjoy the holidays and wait for the induction letter.