Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine & Health Sciences

Transcription

1 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine & Health Sciences Done By: Ishaq Sulaiman Al Salmi I

2 Introduction: My elective program has taken place in Melaka Manipal Medical College (MMMC) in Melaka, Malaysia. The program was for eight weeks between 11/05/09 to 03/07/09. I have been posted in Obstetrics and Gynecology department in the first two weeks under Doctor Wan Yoke Har and the next four weeks I was under Dr. Ahmed Maujad in internal medicine department. The last two weeks I spent in Paediatrics under the supervision of Dr. Loo Hui Min. This program gave me a good experience not only in my study but also in each part of my life and it left its' memories, good and bad, in my mind. I wish the aims of this program have been achieved and I appreciate everybody who has involved in this program especially Mr. Glorio and Dr. Mohammed AL-Azri. Malaysia in Lines: Malaysia is a tropical country. It has hot, wet climate and beautiful green land. The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has 14 states and 9 kings each of them rules Malaysia for five years. Regarding economy, Malaysia has a strong economy which depends mainly on industry, tourism, petrol, palm oil. Tourism is the second source of revenue in the country. That s why you find a lot of concern is given by the government on this field which in turn comforts the visitors of Malaysia. Malaysia has a population of about 25 million. It is mixture of many races including; Malays, Chinese, Indians The country respects the variety in religions and races. People in general are very kind and friendly. Generally, Malaysia is a beautiful country and it really deserves to be visited and certainly it will leave its impact on you. Things I like in Malaysia: 1- Medical students in MMMC in Malaysia are good in terms of doing procedures and they are involved in the medical work like blood collection, sending blood samples, filling the requirement papers and the charts, etc. However, I feel that SQU medical students are better in knowledge. II

3 2- Doctors are working hardly in the hospital. For example my supervisor starts her work at 8 o'clock in the word and then she works in her clinic from 10 am till 5:30 pm and then she returns back the ward. 3- There is no language barrier between the doctors and the patients which helps the doctor to communicate easily with the patients and it helps the patients to have clear idea about their problems. 4- Senior doctors respect the junior doctors and the students under them. There is no place for shouting or secrets there except in a few occasions. 5- We have seen variety of cases in the hospital and some of them are rare like Dengue fever and hand foot mouth disease. 6- The patients are cooperative and accept easily to be examined and do not hesitate to explain their problem to the medical students. I found a great chance to attend labors, to take vaginal swaps and to do Pap smears. 7- The patients files and X-rays were available and easily accessible, although the hand writing was not always clear. 8- Although we spent a lot of time looking for accommodation, the college provided us a very good and comfortable accommodation very easily. 9- The college provided us access to computer labs and library as well as the sport hall. 10- The prices were quite acceptable and the transport is usually available in Melaka including taxis, bases and even air planes. 11- The Malaysians were very helpful and they were guiding us to many places that we needed to visit. 12- The travel was a good experience for us. It teaches us how to depend on ourselves. We looked for an accommodation for us, we prepared for the travel. In Malaysia, we used to use the train, we prepare for some tours, and we used to do some job at home like washing clothes, cleaning, cooking and so on. After all, this experience was a good lesson in our lives and it prepares us for another travel in the future to complete our higher studies. Things I don't like in Malaysia: 1- The doctors talk, discuss and explain in the Malay language, especially in ward rounds, even with the students although English is the teaching language in the College. This limited our understanding of what is going on in most of the times. III

4 2- Many patients are not familiar with English or Arabic. We could not get help of doctors or nurses because they are usually busy. 3- Patients usually don t get their full privacy. You find certain are open during the labor and everyone could have a look even the cleaning workers. You find a lot of male doctors in Obs/Gyne department and they examine very sensitive areas in the patients. 4- We faced many difficulties in getting accommodation because we registered in the beginning in Melaka General Hospital rather than MMMCcollege. 5- We did not find enough concern on us from the doctors. They do not explain to much for us during the round and even when we ask them they give brief answers. 6- Most of the times, we could not get much help from the students because they are self-concern and when we ask them for help you could hardly get something. 7- Doctors are usually use the trade name for the drugs and a lot of abbreviations which we are not familiar with, which added to our trouble in reading the patients' files with their poor hand writing. 8- Most time the relatives are with their patients' that makes us not feeling comfortable with the patient. 9- Even though the hospital is so big, you will not find related department near each other and the names of the departments are written in Malay language only. This is causing difficulty in finding different wards and departments. 10- Some departments in the hospital are not provided with ACs. 11- They are rarely using bleep system in the hospital. I have not seen any doctor who carries his bleep during my entire elective. 12- You have to be extra careful in Malaysia, during our elective out of six in my group, three were stolen and two were about to be stolen. 13- There are a lot of smokers in public areas and even the taxi driver smoke during their driving. 14- People in Malaysia have good English and Arabic which make us easily to communicate with them. IV

5 Expanses: 1- Travel tickets = 226 OR. 2- Insurance = 21 OR 3- Clothes, shoes, baggage, personal accessories = 100 OR 4- Accommodation and electricity = 100 OR. 5- A fee for the university = Nil 6- Mobile Calls = 40 OR 7- Transport = 120 OR. 8- Food = 150 OR. 9- Stolen money = Nil 10- Other expanses = 110 OR. 11- Gifts = 80 OR Total expanses= ±947 OR. Suggestions for improving the course: 1- Increasing the financial support. We have spent more money comparing to our colleagues in previous years and this is because of the increasing cost globally and the problems which are facing the Dollar. 2- To improve the evaluation paper and try to make it more clear so the doctors can be more able to assess us. 3- To give the students our college phone number and the Omani embassy number so they can contact the college or the embassy in case they face some troubles. 4- There should be a good contact between SQU and the colleges or universities where the students are going to do their elective courses. 5- We suggest that the registration should be in Universities and Medical colleges rather than Hospitals. V

6 Acknowledgment: It gives me a pleasure to express my appreciation and acknowledgment to Dr. Mohammed Al-Azri and Mr.Glorio. They have offered a great help for me in my elective course. I wish we were as they expected from us, good ambassadors who left a good impression about our country, Oman. Lastly, I wish this course will contribute to further improvement in our career in the future. VI