Saturday, April 30, 2011

Alhamdulillah

Salam..
After 4 tortoureous days of the pro 3 examination, it's finally over for me. Special thanx to my dearest hubs for all the sacrifices, doa, beautiful cards and gifts, luv u to bits and not to forget my supportive father who has been with me throughout my journey since I was little till I'm somebody's wifey...Tq abah for all the trouble and doa!!Tq mama and tq brothers!!!Only Allah can repay your kindness...Pro 3 ended much2 earlier for me coz my clinicals was on the 1st day. Only Allah knows how devestating it felt when I saw my name on the Monday slot for the clinicals. Abah guessed right. My clinicals happen to fall on a Monday, 25th April 2011...huhu..Well, came back with tears of fear actually...I had mixed feeling..I felt so unprepared, I tell you!!I had notes stacked on my table, bed and everywhere waiting for me to have a flip...Even if I had 100 more days to go, I would never ever be able to absorb every single details of medicine into my "limited" space of my "hard disc"..The 5 days of gap between my OSCE and clinicals was definitely not enough for me to cover everything...I even had my notes on my face while sleeping (Hoping some osmotic effect would take place while dozing off..haha)

25th April 2011
I guess there's always a hikmah behind being the Monday candidate. The cases were not too weird with exception to 1 or 2 cases..Alhamdulillah....Can't thank Allah enough for giving me some "light" during the examination...My Monday began with me being sent to the door by my fellow housemates who were all very supportive.It felt like going for a war and having all your family members waving goodbye and hoping that you'll be back home safe..Well as for me it was pretty much coming home with a title that me and all my coursemates have been working hard for which is the humble title of  "Dr..."...I gave my friends and roomie a hug and hoping that they'll pray for me while I'm at the battle field..Bismillah 19x and off I go...Headed to Marie's house on level 1...Joan Marie Palikat, the fine lady who accompanied me for the exams...We had  a "silent" conversation...I guess the both of us was nervous inside...As we arrived at the bridge connecting the faculty and the hospital, Marie said " This might be our last time passing this bridge and going through that door" and I replied "Yup, I hope so!"

Then we got into the lift. Marie's 1st destination, level 4 ; The Day Care Ward...Then I waved Marie goodbye and wished her good luck!...I was all alone then... " Tingg, level 8"...Yaiks, I've reached my destination! Then I tried to gain as much confidence and walked myself for my short case in Ward 8A...When I arrived, Lee Heng Fah was already patiently waiting for his turn to be called...At about 9.50 am, I was being called for my short case...I was introduced to my 3 examiners of which were our all time favourite neurologist, Prof Lim Poh Hin and 2 externals , Prof Wan Ariffin (Paeds UM) and Mr Andrew Das (KKM)...1st stop, a Paediatric case...To my surprise it was that little kiddo whom I've examined before..My task was to examine his CVS...To be honest I was kinda dissappointed with my performance but look at the bright side, I was still able to come to my diagnosis of PDA..Dr Johan was with me throughout my 3 short cases..After performing quite badly in the 1st case, Dr Johan led me to the next case and he was like "Go go go...!" (Dgn penuh semangatnya!..haha) Thank you Dr Johan!..Prof Lim took the lead...Yaiks, CNS!My all time enemy...huhu...Alhamdulillah,though I did not perform that well, I'm very thankful Prof Lim guided me through...I finally hit the diagnosis that he wanted to hear....Last but not least, Mr Andrew Das lead me to a surgical case..While we were on our way to the final case, Mr Andrew said to me "Why do you look so worried....relax2, you're doing well, don't worry". Deep inside I was like " I hope he really mean it...I hope that its not his way of making me calm  when it actual fact my performance was a disaster!"..huhu...The final task, "Examine the neck"..haha...what a coincidence, I had a practice a day before my exams on Dekda...thank you dekda for lending me your neck! ;p...Alhamdulillah, the 3rd case went smoothly...and before you know it, END of short case...So down with PAEDS, MEDICINE and SURGERY..Left with either PSYCHIATRY, OBS/GYNAE or perhaps the ouchy ORTHO for my long case!..haha

10.45am..
Off to the day care ward for the long case!..haha..at about 11.05am I was being called for clerking...Then Mr Paisal led me to my case and then I came to know that it was an ORTHO case...the posting that I hardly ever finish reading any chapter...I have allergies reading this boney subject...haha..Well, just go with the flow! I just had 1 hour to complete everything...Chief complaint? Pain on my right hip!Ahahh! It's the HIP...and I was like "HIP hip hoorey!"haha...Wondering why?hmm, thanx again to my fellow housemates, Sarahlailah & Nusrah for having a quick revision on hip examination..haha...Syukur Alhamdulillah!As I introduced myself to the fine lady whom I was asked to clerk, I tried to calm myself down and began to organize my thought..My 1st opening statement after asking her particulars was " Akak ada sakit darah tinggi, kencing manis n etc2 ?" and she replied " Akak takde sakit apa2 dik, alhamdulillah"...and I was like ALHAMDULILLAH big time!hehe...save the headache about co-morbids...huhu...as I went through the 1 hour, the lady was very supportive...Tq Allah for giving me such a good patient! :) Then, I waited patiently to be called in for presentation...Lecturers walk to and fro in front of me...I had about 10 extra minutes to reoorganise my presentation...my handwriting was horrible yet still readable...haha...No time for sentences, I just numbered my points in order...It was all about SURVIVAL MODE..huhu...Thank Allah my SURVIVAL mode was "functioning"..haha...After about 10 mins, Mr Paisal called me in, "Noor Sarah Zainol?" and I replied "Ye saya"..."Dah ready?Ok...All the best!" + a smile :D...As I entered, to my surprise, Prof Devnani!haha...my external examiners on that day were Dr.Salina (Psychiatrist@ Serdang) and Dr Ngau (KKM...my examiner during pro 2 as well..haha)..Prof Dev dominated the whole session...all in all, alhamdulillah Prof Dev was nice and guided me through..He gave me the confidence on that day, alhamdulillah!The 30++ minutes of discussion just passed superrr fast...and before you know it, PRO 3 was FINALLY OVER!hahaha...yeay! At that point of time, all I could do is TAWAKKAL...I've tried my ultimate best the rest is all up to Allah :)

26th - 28th April 2011
Finally back home, doing the wifey thingys..haha...
Then abah was admitted to the hosp for an operation :( [I guess this is one of the hikmahs of having my clinical exams on Monday]...Syukur I was given the chance to look after abah..alhamdulillah, his operation went well...

29th April 2011
Today's THE DAY...The day that will cure or perhaps precipitate anxiety!haha....We had a briefing about a community program at about 8.30am...We were initially informed that our results will be out after the Friday prayers...tiba2 we were told that the dean will announce the results at about 11 am...Apa lagi, super duper cuak ok!haha...really...Nasib baik I had my "anxiety remedy" which is Al-Quran...I recite my favourite surah many2 times to help me reduce my palpitations and anxiousness!...Alhamdulillah, its way2 better than propranolol (Altho I've never tried it...there's no indication for me to mkn propranolol pun..huhu..at least the remedy is without side effects ;)..."dub dub..."

11.05am
Prof Norlijah, our dearest dean walked in the meeting room...me and my roomie was like holding hands and hoping for GOOD NEWS!.."I'll be calling the names who have passed the exams..Those who are not being called, please stay back"...Then she started " Ruzaina...." half way through the deputy dean asked the dean to start calling our names with the "Dr" title in front...and so she continued "Dr Mohd Syafeeq Faiz....Dr.Azhar Faruqi......Dr.Sharifah Nursamihah" and I was like "Alamak, kenapa dah huruf  S..Padahal my name begins with N"...I did not lose hope...Then she continued "Dr Norlaila Abd Rahman.....Dr Nor Azillah Abd Aziz..."[and I was like "Ya Allah,please let my name be called upon after Azillah's]...and finally the most awaited "Dr. Noor Sarah Zainol" and I hugged my roomie and tears just drizzled down!I called abah, ma, hubs and umi..they were all happy for me! :D...My 5 years was just so full of ups and downs...I've gone through failures, viva for borderline, 2 weeks of remedial classes and finally Allah gave me the BESTEST gift in my entire life which is the title "DR"...Alhamdulillah!Thank you Allah...Thank you Allah for making my 5 years of journey end with the HAPPIEST ending! ;)


Well, its the end of one chapter in my life but a whole new beginning for another chapter. I'm officially carrying a title with a whole lot of responsibility. Nothing comes easy. Getting into medical school, going through medical school, getting the "DR" title and working as a "DR" is just as tough. I hope to become a good, safe and above all a "DR" with iman and patience! ~Amin...

Lastly, CONGRATULATIONS to all MD UPM 11th batch 2006/2011 and to my friends who did not make it this time, don't despair...Allah has a reason for everything...I believe that you'll be even better doctors...It's not the number of time you fail, its the number of time you stand up that matters most...Failure is not the end of everything, its actually the beginning of BIG success ;)

Toodles!! :)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

3 Down 1 To Go

Salam...
It's been almost a month lebih since i last updated my bloggy...huhu...well am in the midst of examination week...done with theory...3 days was super fast...i really mean SUPERRRRrrr fast....2 hours,2 hours and 2 1/2 hours just flew.....theory was tough but I know my friends and I did our LEVEL BEST, the rest leave it to Allah...Tawakkal to Allah :)....Well, the next challenge is coming up pretty soon...the most fearful test as a medical student, THE CLINICALS...I know and I believe that Allah is always there for us, so LESS WORRY, KEEP MOVING FORWARD and NEVER LOOK BACK!...Chaiyok2 Sarah and my fellow friends! we've been thru all sorts of obstacles, insyaAllah we'll do  our best and i'll do my best..the rest i leave it to the ONE up there ;)

Ya Allah permudahkanlah urusanku dan teman2 seperjuanganku.Semoga kami menjadi doktor yg selamat dan beriman...~Aminn