Taiwan Day 1 - 5

Taiwan, Day 1-5

After i had struggled 1 month for my final phase IIIA exam, luckily I passed... should said lucky because I not getting the pediatrics case or malignant examiner esp from paed department, if not, big probably I will do my remedial classes in UMMC. However, efforts is the must to pass the exam definitely... yaa... I m quite sure, for this exam I had put a lot of efforts, if in the SPM I should get 20 1A already... but in the medical examination, u will be very happy and satisfy even u just pass the exam. This is the level of difficulty the medical students in my faculty described the hardness of the examination.

On 16 Dec, the flight of Eva Air took 6 of us to Taiwan airport from KLIA, the other 2 fellows went by Jet Star from Changi airport. This is the 1st time I have a ride on a much better airline than the lousy Airasia flight. 4 and a half hours flight was comfortable and enjoyable with wonderful dinner and lots of entertainment, e.g movies, games, music, etc...

After we reached Tao Yuan international airport, we were greeted by uncles from Tzu Chi Tao Yuan, and we have a good night at Tzu Chi Tao Yuan after a delicious supper from aunty there. Tzu Chi peoples were really warm-haearted and friendly. Early in the next morning, we were brought to Tao Yuan railway station where we will take our train to Hualien. The railway system in Taiwan is really advanced and the station was congested with crowds of people even early in 7am. The journey to Hualien took 4 hours. The weather at Taiwan was not as cold as I thought, however, it was always cloudy and makes people depressed, and the weather is moody too. The rain here is not heavy like Malaysia; it is pin point droplets of rain. In this point, I love Malaysia's weather.

On the same day, we checked in our rooms in one unit. The unit was well equipped with fridge, washing machine, heater, air cond, TV, etc... Well, we only have to pay NTD9 per day which equal to RM1, woww!! Money will be used to eat, eat and eat then defecate, this is what the entire human like to do and enjoy very much. Am I right?

I started my posting in Tzu Chi general hospital haemato-oncological ward for the first week which I will get my data for my elective project. Tzu Chi hospital is a five star hospital if in Malaysia. The hospital is slightly bigger than UMMC. The hospital is well equipped with advanced imaging machine which may not available in UMMC which I thought is five star hospitals in Malaysia, such as PET scan (positron emission tomography).
The medical course at Taiwan is using American system which may use 7 years to complete the medical degree. Hence the, the 6th and 7th year was called intern which similar to houseman in Malaysia.

All the citizens in the country have bought health insurance under government scheme, hence, they may receive free medical service or only minimum charge of the service have to be paid especially the drugs. So, what I saw here, the doctors will order A to Z investigations for their patients without definite indication, even the consultant will do that!! Imagine if I do it at UM in front of my lecture i will be bombed terribly. Anyway, this may be the different between American and British system.

We had borrowed bicycles from Tzu Chi Occupational College. Bicycle is the main transport for us to search for food and travel around the city. Hualien is a city size like Penang or Ipoh. However, it is cleaner and tidy. I can't find any rubbish bin along the street; I can't either see any rubbish along the road. I can see rubbish bins by the road or street, the rubbish is along the street too. Sigh....

At haemto-oncology ward, i only manage to get two cases for my elective project which focus on the management and approaches on the febrile neutropenia after chemotherapy in leukemic patients. Huh... the case notes were really difficult to read as I am not adapted to the way they "type" the case notes. Have to mention that the hospital is more computerized than UMMC. The interns and residents have to type the admission notes, so most of the time they will spend the whole day in front of the computer rather than patients. However, the case notes were much more complete than the Malaysians; most of our HO may just write 2 to 3 sentences as the chief complaint and history of presenting illness.

The doctors will present the case by using Mandarin however the case notes and lab reports may in English or bilingual. Luckily I have a good grasp in Mandarin if not it is really hard to understand some medical terms they used in Mandarin. The medical students learned managements earlier than mine, they will be able to prescribe drug during their internship. However, I possessed a better understanding of basic clinical knowledge than them. Their physical examination technique were lousy, they should be stunted if you are able to present the full system examination in front of them. Hence, I still believe that the medical education of UM is still in front of the stream because our system is like building a pyramid, the base is wide, the peak is narrow. Every learning process should be like that, the stronger the basic knowledge you have, the firmer your understanding and application of the knowledge. Yea... young man, be pragmatic, success is from efforts and endurance.

20/12/2007