Advancing towards clinical years!

It is confirmed! I will be starting my clinical years in less than EIGHT weeks time! 

I am still pretty stoked about this whole idea of starting my clinical years. It will be the time when I get to learn from real patients PHYSICALLY, gather all the differential diagnosis for various difficult conditions and deal with emergency situations FOR REAL instead of getting all my simulated cases from papers and books which is something I have been doing for the past two years.

Although I am stepping into third year of Medical school, there is not a single day that I do not find joy in what I am learning and doing. I am still marveled by how the human body functions, how diseases are capable of causing an avalanche of complications in the human body, how modern technology had advanced over the years to aid mankind in improving healthcare and  combat illnesses. 

I am still in awe, for every piece of knowledge related to mankind's healthcare that I have learnt, learning and will learn.

In the course of studying during my pre-clinical years, we will not only learn about the current state of Medical healthcare level, but also the methods of treatment provided to mankind during ancient years. Other than the feeling of disbelief about what modern Healthcare Medicine brings, I could not help it but to feel thankful that I am born in this time. 

Take for example, contraception, which is the act of deliberately preventing a woman from getting pregnant.

Do you know that the ancient Egyptians actually make do with diaphragms made using a mixture of crocodile dung, oil and honey? There again, one of the oldest known condoms is made of pig's intestines. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of people who will feel grateful that hmmm such mortifying means of contraception are no longer available.

This article from The Telegraph entitled : "Britain could create first 'three-parent baby' "

 caught my eyes today. As I was reading, I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad that as the article mentioned, we finally have a way to overcome mitochondrial diseases but I am worried too about all the future consequences that might arise should this new technique come to approval.

In my opinion, humanity have already paid a certain level of price to accommodate the recent advancement of Human Assisted Fertility be it IVF, sperm donors, or fertility drugs, but right now the British thought of adding ovum donors to the list? There are gazillions of pros and cons flooding my mind regarding this new technique.

This is certainly something interesting and foresee-ably debatable in a long run, just like how "Abortion" still remains as a debatable topic and have yet to come to proper consensus in many countries.

Till then, we shall see.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29 : 11

Glioblastomas

are tumors that arise from astrocytes—the star-shaped cells that make up the “glue-like,” or supportive tissue of the brain. These tumors are usually highly malignant (cancerous) because the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels.

The occurrence of glioblastoma is rare, so so so rare that in most European and North American countries, incidence is approximately 2-3 new cases per 100,000 people per year and usually by the time patients are diagnosed, they have a median survival rate of 4.5 months without treatment; 15 months with treatment.

Glioblastoma took away a dear brother in Christ yesterday, leaving behind his wife and three young sons. Felt glad for him that in a way that he had definitely fulfilled the missions God had for him on earth and is home now with our heavenly Father for eternal life, yet still felt unjust and sad for his family because it is those that are left behind whom suffers the most. They will need to go through this unbearable degree of pain of losing someone so dear and loved to them. 

Unlike the toughest physical pain, labor pains which passes and will be forgotten once it passes, it is this form of emotional pain that just etches and roots itself deep within your heart, resurfacing with every opportunity it has, just so that you will not forget, this degree of incomprehensible, indescribable pain.

With the demise of this brother, we are once reminded of God's sovereignty, how God has the ultimate control over our lives and how His plans for us might not necessarily be the plans we have for ourselves way earlier.

Coincidentally, I came across this as I was tumblr-surfing.

"Mankind still have so much to do, but so little time and effort left
to allow great things to happen."

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelations 4 : 21

Of happies and saddies,

So many things have happened of late! 

One of the greatest happies that just happened recently is this!

Krabi, Thailand

07.04.13-10.04.13

My friends and I just came back from a trip at Krabi, Thailand and it was a really amazing holiday. I have always enjoyed beach holidays, so Krabi is just perfect. 

It was a perfect getaway from all the neuroscience craziness we are all in the midst in right now(we are all Medical students) as in we have great values for food, scenery, food, entertainment, food, souvenirs and more food.

Krabi is just budget-able within a varsity student's means. It is not that touristy like Phuket, well when a place is a major tourist site, everything will be pricey and its not that there is no one else other than the fifteen of us in Krabi, there are, tonnes more Caucasians, Asians but the crowd is just nice to make you feel comfortable. 

This is our first overseas holiday together,
there will be more to come in near future, hopefully

I really really really had a great time there
and I certainly will visit Krabi again if given a chance.

Another happies will be, I AM TURNING 21 TOMORROW!

I am happy about it, not particularly euphoric, ecstatic, elated about it but well, there is just this deep sense of comfort within me that I am turning twenty-one tomorrow.

My friend once said, when you turn twenty-one, you have legally earned your right to a death sentence. That statement kinda left me dumbstruck but it reminded me once more how I am indeed an adult now I can no longer be in denial about it, I am solely accountable for my actions, and I still have so much more to learn, to see and to experience about adulthood though I cannot deny that I am enjoying that extra tinge of freedom I have right now.

I do not know, is it normal that once you have hit another milestone in your life, thoughts will start to flood through you and make you wonder what is ahead for you in another ten, twenty or thirty years time? I know it did for me, there has been a lot of reflection and thinking these couple of days, for me, about life and I am still praying to God to paint me a clearer picture about it. 

Do not get me wrong, its not that I am unhappy about how things are for me right now, I am happy about how things are for me right now. 

I have my family who love and adore me to bits though they might not be really expressive about it most of the times ahhh well that is what that happens when you are an Asian but it is also through their tiny actions and seemingly insignificant encouragement that reminds me how much they love me, and I really really really love all of them.

I have an amazing boyfriend whom self-acknowledges that his sole duty is to make me a happy princess HAHA even if that means a lot more teasing and bullying FROM ME ahhh he is all in for it, heh I love him deep down to the core too. 

I am on my way to be what I have dreamt of ever since I was what, thirteen or fourteen. I still have another three more years to go before I graduate to be a doctor, I am very very very excited about that and the current advancement of the Medical field in terms of technology and theory, they still never cease to interest and fathom me. There are still so much to explore, understand and learn about our amazing human body.

I have currently reach this juncture of life where I am contented with the people I am surrounded with. There are good friends to share with and good acquaintances to have a good laugh with.

Life is quite settled and good for me, as a twenty-one years old young adult, I could not thank God for blessing me enough.

So there you go for all my happies, well they should really be happies seeing how much I wrote about them haha so I will make my saddies real short and neat because they are hmmm saddies.

Saddies number one : I did not get to participate in our 13th General Election. In a couple blog post prior this, I mentioned how excited I am if I am able to vote for this coming 13th GE but oh well, it did not happen that way for me, so I have another FIVE more years to go before I can fulfill my duty as a Malaysian.

Saddies number two : I mentioned too in a few blog posts before this about my application to the Malaysian Medical Fellowship to be a volunteer of their mission team. About two months have passed by, some of my friends have gotten theirs and I have not received any news till now, so I guess that is it. I could not deny that I am rather disappointed and upset about it because I have taken up a lot of courage to set my mind straight to be a blessing to others. On the other hand I could plan for another holiday with my friends yay.

Basically today I wrote about the two happies and two saddies for me. What are your happies and saddies?

Shadow proves the sunshine

I noticed how my blogging pattern has a monthly cycle. I could lament on my busy schedule of being a Medical student, my endless preparation for the upcoming 34th Asian Medical Students' Conference in July which include tonnes of meetings and appointments and how I just do not feel the need to blog about anything at all and that I have no idea on topics to blog about. 

I have nothing to complain about, because this is what I want and I chose to be. I will save the reasons for me to be a health care professional for another post.

As unhappening things might seem to be for me, I have a good feeling that my end of semester break this coming July and August will be indeed a fruitful one.

First of all, in early July, I will be involved as the organizing committee of The 34th Asian Medical Students' Conference Malaysia. It is a week long conference involving 450 international delegates from 25 countries in the world. I am excited about it. Together with the rest of the team, we have spent nearly 18 months (by July) of sweat and tears to make this happen. All our hard work in preparing and organizing this conference will bear fruit in the end through a wholesome experience and knowledge gained by the delegates regarding community medicine; and through every single friendship made among people from every continent when they are all gathered here for this conference.

Then I am hoping that in early August, I can be part of the Malaysian Medical Fellowship mission team to visit either of these three countries, Sri Lanka, China and Thailand. I have just submitted my application as seen above so now all I need to do is to wait for the committee to screen through my application. 

I came to know about this organization and its program through a friend. I should say that I was quite moved after scrutinizing through its webpage three days ago. I wanted to submit my application to be a volunteer instantaneously but I held back. The fear and worries of visiting a third world country suddenly came flooding me. I have been overseas, but to developed countries such as the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Bangkok(the developed city of Thailand), Manilla. I know that I am a lucky girl because I had all the great stay, food and sightings in these comfort zone.  Rural villages at any of the countries of my choice are associated with words such as "poor", "grief-stricken", "under-developed" etc.

I prayed about this for the past few days, asking God to give me the courage to overcome my fear. I know that this mission trip will be a meaningful and blessed one, not only to me, but mainly to the less unfortunate people I will come across with during the mission trip. Plus, I really feel the need to step out of my comfort zone and if I am really doing it, by benefiting and helping others, why would not I do it?

I did just complete and submit my application about an hour ago. I am really looking forward to this.

I am glad that I have God to guide me through this right now and much later.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Philippians 4 : 13

Medical Breakthrough

There are tonnes of medical researches being carried out everyday, diverging from cancer cells, brain's immune cell, neural tube defects yada yada dida and the list goes on.

One of the great discoveries of mankind is how stem cells play an important role in human health.

I happen to came across this article today, on the Star newspaper. After reading this article, I  could never been more inspired and moved by Dr Ranjit and Dr Saw's success in using stem cells to regenerate our human body cartilage. 

Before I lost you guys, do allow me to explain. What is a cartilage?

In layman terms, cartilage is that white tough coating you will come across with every time you chow down a chicken drumstick. It is right at the end of the bones that will produce all the munching CRICK CRACK CRICK CRACK noise whenever you chew on it.

But medically,

It is a tough, elastic, fibrous connective tissue found in various parts of the body, such as the joints, outer ear, and larynx. There are three different types: hyaline cartilage, elastic cartilage, and fibrocartilage. This tissue serves to provide structure and support to the body's other tissues without being as hard or rigid as bone. It can also provide a cushioning effect in joints.
Another question you guys might ask, Why is it such a significant event to heal cartilage in the human body?

Well basically, it is because this type of permanent tissue is avascular, meaning that it is not supplied by blood vessels; instead,nutrients diffuse through the matrix. When tissues are not supplied by blood vessels, it is less likely for it to heal by itself since all the "HEALING FACTORS" could not be transported to the site of injury.

Quoting from the article,

“Cartilage basically does not heal,” Dr Hubert Kim, director of the Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, is quoted as saying in an interview on the centre’s website.

Hence, severe cartilage injury per se, particularly in athletes could mark the end of their career. This situation was applied on Datuk Lee Chong Wei when he injured his right ankle. His outstanding performance during the Olympics came to everyone's surprise despite being wrote off his chances in doing well during the competition. The main reason behind all the glory was due to his stem cell injection treatment, that allowed him to heal quickly and perfectly.

Upon reading article as such, it reminds me one of the reasons why did I step foot into the Medical field. How there is so much more to be done yet with so little time left for mankind.

Dr Ranjit and Dr Saw left me in aw alongside a question in mind.

Since such healing power is made possible in cartilage albeit being a permanent muscle, is it possible for cardiac muscles(heart muscles) to share the same fate? Thus, this will greatly improve the prognosis for patients that had heart attacks, underwent heart transplantation? In other words, would this discovery make it possible to greatly reduce the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases?

Online newspaper article for this medical breakthrough could be found here

Miracles with Stem Cell