After four months of inactivity in managing my blog, I am finally back to with updates! I have been enjoying myself in the UK for a bit, travelling and meeting as many places and people as I could throughout the four months. Having said that, I did not have time to come up with a post at all (or I was rather lazy and procrastinating all day every day). Let's get back to the topic. What have I done for the medical electives in the UK?

I have chosen to do two separate electives where each of them consisted of four weeks in the Royal Sunderland Hospital (which is about 40 minutes away from Newcastle via the metro). True that, I lived in Newcastle instead of Sunderland itself after listening to the advice given by my seniors that there was not much going on in Sunderland during weekends. I literally dug a hole for myself as I had to endure almost two hours of journey  every single day. Nonetheless I did not regret my choice at all because I found myself living comfortably and I managed to explore most of the places in Newcastle during my leisure time.

Elective 1

Under the supervision of Mr Michael Potts who is a brilliant Accident and Emergency consultant, I worked in the A&E department for the first four weeks. Other than staying in the Adult A&E, I also managed to spend couple of days in Child A&E, and the Pallion (outpatient clinic). Interesting enough, Mr Potts also dealt with hand surgeries as he went for training and courses for it. With a bit of luck, I got to assist him in the operation theatres for several surgeries such as carpal tunnel syndrome as well as Dupuytren's contracture. Mr Potts would meet me once or twice a week to check on my progress and answered my queries. Through his guidance, I understood the way NHS system and the local protocols used in the hospital.

Elective 2

After the A&E, I did a four-week elective in the Orthopaedic department with Mr Balaji Purushothaman. He is perhaps one of the most skillful spinal surgeons I have ever seen ( not that I have met a lot of them). Through the four weeks, I attended his clinic sessions, surgeries and talked to the post operation patients to check on their well being. I have to say that I experienced much better exposure while I was in the UK compared to Malaysia as I was given the opportunity to assist my consultant while he was doing the surgeries! Apart from spine surgeries, I also got to observe other orthopedic cases ranging from neck down to the toes.

Overall, it was quite an amazing experience for me to get a first-hand experience on the healthcare system in the UK after reading their curriculum for the past four years! Aside from doing my electives, I also got the opportunity to travel around UK and few European countries before I head back to Malaysia to start my final year in medical school! I will save the travel part for next time. Till then, bye! :)