Maddox Tan: July 2018

Learning German and French from Duolingo

Now that I am done with university, I have all the time in the world to finally do stuffs that I have wanted to do when I was really busy with studies. One of them is to learn languages. Learning new language has always been my passion and for obvious reasons, I have not been able to squeeze more time out of my schedule to learn them while I was studying. The main reason I want to pick up new language is to connect with people of all places when I am travelling. When I was about to visit Germany and France last year during my elective, I took the effort to learn both German and French.

Thank god that I learnt some basic French and German as the locals there barely speak English, or not at all. Although I stuttered quite a bit because I did not use them while I was in Malaysia, the people there actually appreciated my effort to speak in their native languages. They became much friendlier and helpful when I spoke to them, be it asking for prices or directions.

After going through all the available platforms, I ended up with Duolingo. Apart from the cute and adorable graphical user interface, Duolingo offers the day streak unction which motivates me to do them every day without breaking the chain. Initially I find the languages are manageable but as I progress, I find it harder to keep up, especially the grammar part. Truth be told, never have I expected that the grammar of the languages can be so different with one another. In addition, as an English speaker, it does not really help much when it comes to pronouncing both French and German words as the intonations are not the same.

Nonetheless, Duolingo is really helpful when it comes to this as there are discussion forums for each questions. In the forums, people will also drop their comments on certain issues that they are having or simply some mistakes that they detect while going through the lessons. Furthermore, Duolingo points out the mistakes that I have made and shows me the correct answers. Besides, I can also add or invite my friends to learn languages together so that we can practise it not only theoretically but also practically with one another in order to brush up our skills.

For the past few weeks, I have been actively improving my German. Hopefully I will be able to converse or even watch videos in German soon. Just to be clear, I am not paid by Duolingo to promote it. I recommend it because I personally find it really useful to pick up new languages. Till then, cheers.

July 26, 2018
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Why Don't Newcastle University Graduates Wear Mortarboards?

#nclgrad

Image Source: https://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com

At the moment, I am eagerly waiting for my graduation ceremony day to arrive. Although the result list was released back in mid June, the graduation ceremony for Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia falls on end of October. The timing is somewhat slow, considering that the graduation ceremony in Newcastle University is held in July. While I was scrolling through the ceremony photos on Newcastle University facebook page couple of days ago, I found something odd in the photos particularly the graduates. No matter how I tried, I could not sort it out until I went to my friend's grad ceremony couple of weeks ago. Of course, the mortarboards were missing in the #NCLGRAD photos! Literally none of the graduates were wearing mortarboards/ caps other than the robes. Curiosity got the better of me, hence I went searching for answers to this rather peculiar questions on google. As it turned out, Google did not disappoint me. It had something to do with tradition.

Image Source: www.ncl.ac.uk

So the story goes like this. Once upon a time, Newcastle began as a division which then later turned into a college of Durham University. It taught mainly medical and scientific subjects at that period of time. As the Toon division outpaced the Durham in scientific research, tensions were rising between the two universities. Eventually, Newcastle became as in independent university and called the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1963. In order to celebrate the momentous event, students celebrated the freedom from Durham University by throwing their traditional hats (mortarboards) into the River Tyne. The university later became the University of Newcastle.

There you have it. Thanks to TheTab Newcastle and Newcastle University's official webpage, I got the full story of it. Well, to be honest, I do not really mind with the absence of mortarboards at all because it is kind of a hassle to wear one and the feathery robe itself is cool enough. Some of my friends actually told me that it is way better without the caps as they would mess up your hair big time. Alas, I just want to graduate and attend the grad ceremony. Can't wait. Till then, bye.

July 21, 2018
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The End of Medical School

convocation

Image Source: www.ncl.ac.uk

I have finally come to the last chapter of my undergraduate studies, the gruesome fifth (final year). It was undeniably challenging to an epic scale. During the start of the course, I was literally still in holiday mode after returning to Malaysia from the United Kingdom. Never mind that I was exhausted and suffering from jet-lagged after some 20 hours of journey, I have not touched any of the curriculum materials as I was busy doing medical electives throughout the year (which were not related to my learning objectives to certain extent). Also, the schedules for final year was not really helping at all as they were packed whereby I was in hospital five days a week, each day from as early as seven in the morning until four (sometimes five) in the evening.

There were five rotations to be done within the first three months, each was shorten to three weeks instead of four during third year. During the rotations, I realised that there were not much time to learn new knowledge. Instead, the three weeks were actually being used to solidify what I have already learnt previously. It was also stressful at times because at the end of the rotations, there would be in course exams.

After the six rotations, I did another three blocks of specialties namely, AnE, Orthopaedics and Internal Medicine, each with 6 weeks period. The blocks were not as intense as it comprised of mainly clerkship in the hospitals most of the time. In short, I was assigned to the departments to help the doctors and learn as much as I could. Of course, I had to prepare for the final examination as well while which consisted of all the things that I have learned during medical school. Oh and I have forgotten to mention about the drug prescription exam as well as the documentation exam which was in early of the year and couple of days before the written exam.

Talking about final exam, there were written and practical exam. Honestly speaking, the written was by far easier compared to practical exam. I know once I have said the former was 200 single best answer questions, people will start saying "oh that's easy" sort of phrases. Indeed, because the latter was eight stations with random patients and all sorts of medical conditions. It can be as simple as common cold or even menopause to much more complex cases such as stroke with heart attack and underlying diabetes and high blood pressure. In addition, I was only assigned 14 minutes to consult the patient and conduct a physical examination before presenting and answering questions from examiners.

After going through the ordeal, I have to wait one week for the results to be announced. Oh god, I have to admit that that was the longest week I have to endure in my life. There were restless nights, lost of appetite and lost of interest to do anything for that entire seven days. I was having zero confidence to pass this exam that I prepared myself to receive the bad news of failing and needing to meet the dean. Even on the day itself, I woke up early in the morning and prayed at the temple for quite some time to calm myself before the results were out. Instead of nine in the morning like usual, the results were released at eight. When my friends told me that I have passed the year, I thought that they were pulling my leg.

After viewing the results with my own eyeballs, I was literally beyond relieved. One can even say I was on top of the world at the moment after knowing that most of my closest friends passed together. #thankguanyinma There would be no repeating the year, no unnecessary payment and stress-free! Nonetheless, there were couple of my friends who unfortunately did not make it. I have nothing but the best wishes for them, hoping that they could stay strong and brave through another year before becoming a doctor. #pray

July 18, 2018
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Learning German and French from Duolingo

Why Don't Newcastle University Graduates Wear Mortarboards?

The End of Medical School

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