Hospital Attachment

Too bad I didn't take at any picture at hospital so this will be the only related picture, before I was going to hospital.

From 20th to 24th November (supposedly 20th and 21st only), I'd been at Kuala Kubu Bharu Hospital for hospital attachment programme. As aforementioned, the attachment programme was supposedly two days only, but Sister Chandra offered to extend it to five days, each day for every department(except surgery because surgeries are usually referred to Selayang Hospital), since IMU students usually come here for 2 weeks for community posting. So i asked Puan Rita, our beloved ALM (A-Levels Medicine) Core-Person for permission, and her reply was 'definitely yes.' Then I embarked on my attachment with a brief orientation led by Sister with some Masterskills nursing students. Trail behind are my brief 'report' of my 5-day stint at Kuala Kubu Bharu Hospital (HKKB).

Day 1

After the orientation I was posted at Paediatrics ward, Ward 7, under Dr. Sevugan. There were some patients, with minor illness and conditions, because major and more serious cases are referred to Selayang Hospital. So basically the patients i met there are dengue, asthma, and jaundice patients. I was told that i suffer from post-natal jaundice,which is quite common, and that day i saw how jaundice infants treated by phototherapy. They were put under blue light, with the fragile eyes protected by some kind of blue cloth. The doctor left the ward at 10am and then started our boring period before i left the hospital at 1pm. The remaining time i spent loafing around the hospital, and i was tired explaining that I'm still an A-Levels student when people called me Dr.

Day 2

Sister went to a course, and i was sent to men's ward, Ward 1 (considered as orthopedics) by another Sister. The first thing they wanted me to do was to put on my white coat/lab coat, and hey, i looked great and smart in it. Haha what a pathetic self-praising narcissistic boy/guy I am. I strolled around the ward, and guess what, i noticed, but still not so sure that time, a familiar man with a familiar name, who is actually my father's acquaintance (not friend), who visited me when i was first born. Coincidentally he's charged in that morning, which I think we're destined to meet there. He was weaker and weaker every time i see him. Another interesting case was a man who got infected and has his right shank eroded by virus till the bone could be seen. Quite disgusting and scary. I learnt quite a few things in Ward 1, and the most significant was I tried my first ever ECG (Electrocardiograph) on the former patient. Still remember the motto for the colours of wires , "traffic light and chipsmore'. And oh ya i met another old man who is already 95, but looked like 75, quite astonished when first knew his real age. Wish i could be like him to live not only long but also healthily.

I was too free, and chose to merayau (loiter) again, and when i reached women's ward, i perceived another familiar face, my primary ex-classmate. She just lost her foetus, and going to marry the following month (which is the month this post posted), so I didn't know whether to congratulate her or not, just hope that she'll live happily and healthily after this. The most troublesome and uneasy moments were when those MCA people, including my father, came to visit that old patient, because I was quite tired acting and answering all their questions. I was just not myself during the moments.

Day 3

I was transferred to Ward 5, the delivery ward, as for Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) session. There I met Dr. Azran, a cute stubby yet friendly and humourous young doctor, who taught me many things, and was never skimpy in sharing his experience with me. The patients I met there are pregnant and post-natal mothers, and of course, new born babies. It was quite surprising to see a 18-year-old, with only 134cm in height, was already having her third baby.

At 10.15am came my historical moment: the first ever labour i watched in my life after 19 years(I'm sure though many out there never watch before, and will never have chance to watch one until their death). The process was quite smooth and fast since she was already a multigravida, and this miserable world then announced another female newcomer. I am exciting enough to watch how baby was pushed out (then pulled out), followed by umbilical cord, placenta, and coagulation debris of blood and other substances, before the cut opening below the mother's vagina was stitched back using CatGut. On the other side of labour room the baby was resuscitated, bathed and injected before reunited with her mother. I thought I was lucky and satisfied to watch one labour, but in the end of the day i got to watch two more labours. How lucky I am! Even Kamal who spent 13 days in KL General Hospital hadn't got to watch one.

Mothers really sacrifice and suffer a lot, at least from what i saw and experienced, birth-giving process is the best proof, so receive my salute here, all mothers in the world!!!

Day 4
The fourth day i spent at Accident and Emergency department (A&E). Basically it was another boring day in hospital except my visit to the so-called operating theatre. As aforementioned there are few operation conducted here because we have another far more state-in-the-art hospital in Selangor not too far away from here. However I was still excited enough of getting minute compensation to watch circumcision ie the removal of prepuce. There were three circumcision operation I watched, and the conclusion I got from the operations is: the older people get, the more coward they become. While the younger boys stepped on the operation table bravely and chanted bismillah, the older boy hesitated and feared. There are even people who refused to be circumcized until the age of 14.

Apart from that, I just watched television (bawang putih bawang merah) to pass my time, because there are less accidents during school holidays. The attendants told me that A&E department will be only busy after 5pm because of a bunch of irresponsible people who want to avoid the waiting process for outer patient session for rather trifling illness such as fever and flu during day-time.

Day 5
My last day i spent at Pharmacy department. Nothing much special happened that day but I did get some knowledge and experience about the pharmacy field. Unlike the previous days, which I had not got to talk to the doctors as much, I had more chances to talk to the pharmacists. The Head of Pharmacy is very particular and concerned about her diet, while ironically I saw many of the medical staffs there are not. I guess she was in the right mood to share her experience studying pharmacy in Iraq, just right before JPA stopped sending scholars to Iraq due to the outbreak of Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988. Other things I learnt were the strict classification of medicine that can be only used by different qualification of medical staffs from nurse to consultant (but this is generally practised in government sector only, some private practitioners just don't follow the rule), and the right methods of using various kind of medicine.

So that's all my brief record of my 5-day attachment programme. In conclusion I've acquired and imbibed some useful and beneficial experience and knowledge, rather than wasting my time at home. I'm even more motivated to be a doctor in the future. The attachment is proven definitely a boon to myself.