Blog
Here we pen our stories about our latest activities and our weekly feature on Humans of Medicine. Our team is forever expanding, if you’re interest in contributing to our blog, feel free to contact us.
“NURTURING YOUNG DOCTORS – Hope, Reality, Tragedy. (Part 2)”
For more than 35 years I have worked in university and hospital settings. I have regularly been consulted with regard to medical personnel facing various stresses during career as a doctor; especially during housemanship and as junior doctors. Some doctors have given up medicine and a significant number have given up on life itself – attempted and committed suicide. Many have found themselves so desperate that they have turned their problems inward and have died a thousand deaths. I have witnessed doctors dying from complications arising from issues associated with ‘housemanship’ problems and how these were ‘mis’-managed. It is indubitable that housemanship has its peculiar challenges and these have metamorphosed over time for many reasons as we progressively live in fraught times……
“‘Sane’tise”
These are tough times for all of us. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones and to those who are suffering, directly and indirectly.
The lock-down is about a week old but it is clear that it has caused and can cause more serious stress for all of us, as individuals and as groups living and working together. Now that the curfew has been extended there are many more challenges to deal with. The reactions, repercussions and consequences are unimaginable. It is undeniable that it is affecting all of us in many different ways. ……
“Healthcare As One - Launching of Malaysian Healthcare Students Alliance (MHSA)”
The Malaysian Dental Students’ Association (MDSA), the Malaysian Medics International (MMI), and the Malaysian Pharmacy Students’ Association (MyPSA) are proud to announce the official launching of the Malaysian Healthcare Students Alliance (MHSA). It is a student-led, non-political, and non-profit national level healthcare alliance that unites all healthcare students, forming a network and community of healthcare students across Malaysia……
“…I Was on the Brink of Losing It, Thinking to Myself, ’I Can’t Do This Anymore”
A sense of relief swamped me as my family stepped out of their bedrooms for the first time in two weeks.
My dad was the first to show symptoms. He had a persistent fever for about three days despite taking the medication prescribed to him by a local clinic. He decided to take a rapid test and urged my mom to do the same. Devastatingly, they both tested positive for COVID-19 and began to quarantine themselves in their bedroom once they got home. The next day, my parents went for the PCR test at Sungai Buloh Hospital and were tagged with a pink wristband. To add salt to the injury, my sister tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after and underwent the 10-days quarantine in her bedroom……
“ …Being Healthy and Leading a Good Lifestyle Doesn’t Mean You’ll Be Safe From the Virus.”
Last December, I started feeling unwell while preparing for an exam. This illness was sudden, and was unlike anything I had ever experienced. By day three, I had a fever, joint aches and was feeling very weak. I soon developed a dry cough and breathing difficulties, which worried me as I had pre-existing asthma. Despite all this, I decided to tough it out until my exams were over.……
“If I Had Known That There Would Be This Many People, I Wouldn’t Have Come”
We celebrated a birthday on December 19th. It was a Saturday night, and as birthday dinners typically go, it was loud and lively. This was a crowd I wasn’t too familiar with. I was my boyfriend’s ‘plus-one’, and even the celebrant of the evening was a friend of a friend. We had a private room at the restaurant. It was a private party; 30 people with the buzz of alcohol, and the reverberating playback of the karaoke machine. Truthfully, if I had known that there would be this many people, I wouldn’t have come. Already not too keen on the singing and celebrations, I quietly passed on sipping from the same bottles that were going around……
Policy Brief: Improving Houseman Training in Malaysia Policy
Recent years, there have been countless emerging cases or news articles featuring issues within Malaysia's Houseman Training, amongst which include prolonged waiting periods for houseman postings, incessant complaints of stresses and fatigue mentally, emotionally, and physically while within the programme, and cases of housemanship extensions and dropouts due to incompetency……
Improving Houseman Training in Malaysia
We refer to the above matter. This is a press statement released by Malaysian Medics International to affirm our stand to improve houseman training in Malaysia.
“ If You Hear About a HO Killing Himself, It Might Be Me.”
I continued working as a HO.
One day, I was called for a meeting with my HO supervisor and the Head of Department (HOD). I remembered very clearly these words, ‘housemanship is very difficult, and some people are just not meant to be doctors’, during the meeting. I was dumbfounded. Not only did they not show any support, but they also insinuated that I was unfit to be a HO. My mental illness was brushed off, and I was branded weak. I felt discouraged and denied justice. Anger welled up inside of me. However, I kept telling myself that everyone is the same, and these people are just the minority……