Health Talk

I would like to add that the quality of students have

An interview with a lecturer been improving year by year. I’m judging this based on
By S. Devandiran the attendance because last year I had several groups
who had problems with attendance, this year such
We are all aware about the recent issues concerning incompetent cases are fewer.
housemen in Malaysia, who apparently were mostly Russian/ Vol. № 02, March- April 2009
Ukrainian graduates. As a student of KSMU I have decided to Q: What would you like to say to all Malaysian
talk to some dedicated lecturers to hear their views on this mat- students regarding this issue and the fact remains
CNY Concert: Down Memory Lane Summer Practice’s Saga: From Editor’s Desk
ter. ( Unfortunately, the lecturer declined to be named). when we go back to Malaysia to practice medicine
Albums from the scene Read the chronology of all Am I Ready for Residency by
we might be looked down upon? Sherlyn Marcella -page 6-
Q : For your information, having seen a few pioneer batches INSIDE!!-page 4- related events -page 2-
of graduates, some specialists and senior doctors in Malaysia A: Firstly, all of you have to RESPECT YOURSELF.
claim that Russian medical schools are of poor quality and PLUS: Interview with a lecturer on Page 8
Do not pay attention to any of the views that some
VOLGAMES 2009:
produce under qualified doctors. As a specialist in your field superiors already have. As students and as doctors
and a lecturer of our university, what is your take on this ?
always put as much effort as you can to get as much
A: I’m not aware of the education system in Malaysia but in
Russia students would be spoon fed only till the age of 18. After
that age, learning or studying is more of an individual effort.
knowledge as possible. Even though you might think it
isn’t needed to pass exams and you would be studying
extra, but you would always have an opportunity to
KURSK CAME IN 2ND!
Lecturers are there to only guide, and the success of the student prove it in future. You must be a professional, because
in his field depend almost entirely on his own efforts. Russian this is a very big insult if someone was to say you
medical schools are very well recognized across Europe, we do
don’t have sufficient knowledge. As a professional,
keep up-to-date with new advances in medicine. Russian medical
schools may not be one of the best medical schools, but certainly you have to prevent yourself from being insulted, and
not the worst. Besides, there are no ways to force a student to don’t give up too fast and always be ready to learn and
study and perform, there are all kinds of attitudes, you see. Some accept new things. Allow me to share my own experi-
students are really dedicated and want to learn. I can guarantee ence. When I was a student, I didn’t like urology,
you that if a student doesn’t have sufficient knowledge be it in because I knew what specialist I was going to be and I
my department or others it is very unlikely for him to get was pretty sure I didn’t have to learn urology. Unfortu-
‘zachut’ and therefore unable to sit for the exam.
nately, one of the first patients that I had in my depart-
Q: How dedicated is the university in teaching international ment had an urological problem and I had to treat him.
students? Is the standard of education the same as the Rus- I was very embarrassed at that time, regretting not
sian students? paying too much attention to that subject. So study
well and good luck!
A: I would say the standard is exactly the same. All teachers are
dedicated to teach. It depends on the student’s dedication to
learn. Of course teaching Russian students is a little easier as
there is no language barrier. However, basically it isn’t a big
problem after all, as being students of 4th year, international
students could already understand and communicate satisfacto-
rily with patients. By the way, we have a syllabus to follow. The KMSA 2008/2009 Editorial Board
Anything extra would depend on the teacher and the enthusiasm
of the students. For example, in some groups, students don’t Editorial Board Director
show any interest while in some others they are poor in their Mr. Helmy Sajali
understanding and put less effort in their studies. For them of E mail: amiesajali@gmail.com
YM: amiesajali@yahoo.com
course it would be good enough if we could cover the basics.
However when I get groups who seem interested and enthusiastic
about the subject, it is my pleasure to teach them something extra Editor –In – Chief
Miss. Sherlyn Marcella
and share my experience on interesting cases. But as you can see, E mail: shaney_westlife@hotmail.com
our hospital is very busy, that is why some lecturers do not have MSN: shaney_westlife@hotmail.com
much time to teach the students, but we always try our best. If
say my patient developed an acute condition that requires imme- Columnist
Mr. Alan Na
diate attention, unfortunately I would have to attend to him first. E mail: wlshakespeare@yaho.com
In that case, students would come second. So that is why each MSN: alpha66_my@hotmail.com Medals tally on page7
student should be self motivated. Another thing that I would like
to stress is that if the students have any questions, lecturers Columnist
would be more than willing to answer. Mr. Anesh Nair
E mail: aneshnair@hotmail.com
MSN: aneshnair@hotmail.com
Q: What is your opinion on Malaysian students so far?
Events Journalist
A: Well based on my experience I think on the average Malay- Miss. Abigail Rembui Anak Jerip
E mail: miss_a2db@yahoo.com
sian students are generally satisfactory, however YM: miss_a2db@yahoo.com

SUMMER PRACTICE: Chronology of
Events
10th February 2009
The Malaysian Student Association was informed
that the university had received the official notice
regarding summer practice in Russia.
18th February 2009
A meeting with the students was held. The objective
of the meeting was to give the students a clearer
picture of what is happening, what has been done
and what is going to be done regarding this issue.
Besides, it is also an avenue for students to have
their voices heard and to have a say in the letters to
MMC and the university.
20th February 2009
A meeting with the executive committee members
was held. Upon considering all the opinions and
suggestions from the previously held meeting, a
strategy was formed. We decided on a two-pronged
approach.
The two pronged approach consist of:
Be prepared for the worst.
Writing to the university, proposing the
ideas and suggestions of the students on
the implementation of the practicals
assuming that practicals need to be done
here.
Be hopeful.
Writing to the MMC to postpone the
ruling to next year. On this matter, we
have contacted the presidents of the
other 4 recognized universities in Russia
to discuss how it is best to compose the
letter and submit to MMC. We proposed
that a letter be written, signed by all the
presidents of all the 5 recognized medical
universities in Russia as 'one voice' to
the MMC. The presidents agreed with
our suggestion at that point of time.
21st February 2009
The letter to the university was drafted and read
out to the executive committee members of MSA.
Their opinions were sought and suggestions taken
into account. Necessary changes were made.
22nd February 2009
A meeting with the entire MSA committee was held.
All members were informed about the letter to the
university and the plan to meet the dean.
26th February 2009
The letter to the MMC was drafted.
We, from the KMSA 08/09 Committee would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all parents, student associations
of RSMU, MMA, Nizhny and Volgograd, individual students and PPIM-KSC for all the hardwork and effort in the
appeals to the MMC to make this possible.
We sincerely apologize if any party is offended in the course of handling this issue.
That’s all for now. May I hope that your 2009 elective posting in Malaysia will be as fruitful as ever!
Prepare Yourself Mentally
The Kursk Malaysian Medical Student Association
28th February 2009
Anxiety naturally accompanies unfamiliar situations, would like to convey our utmost gratitude and ap-
The letter to MMC was read to the executive com-
particularly when your decisions will affect someone else's health. preciation to:
mittee members in a meeting. Their views and
opinion sought. Necessary adjustments were made.
Avoid adding more stress whenever possible. Dato' Dr Wong Sai Hou & Datin Goh Beng Lan
A common stressor is getting yelled at by a superior for their kind assistance in the appeal to postpone the
4th March 2009
because you made a mistake. It is important to recognize 2 com- elective posting ruling to next year.
Letter to MMC was sent to the presidents of student
ponents to the message.: The first is the yelling, which is mostly a
associations of all the other recognized medicals reflection of your senior's (probably somewhat dysfunctional)
universities in Russia for their review. personality; the more this is ignored, the better. The other compo-
nent is the actual message, which often contains very useful
5th March 2009 advice to avoid making the same mistake in the future. This
A meeting was held with the Dean of the Faculty of second component deserves your full attention.
Foreign students involving all affected students.
8th March 2009 Other ways to avoid needless stress are as follows:
A new consensus was achieved to write separate
letters from each university to the MMC. Believed  Try to build a good rapport with the support staff,
and never engage in petty arguments with them;
that it is a better and stronger option. Once writ-
ten, the letter would be posted to the embassy  Know your limits with difficult patients and recruit
where all the letters would be gathered and sent the help of social workers when needed;
together to the MMC by the embassy.  Build good relationships with other residents;
10th March 2009
Letter to MMC was e mailed to the Malaysian Em-  Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help from From the left: Tan Sri Ismail Merican, Datin Goh
bassy in Moscow and to the MMC. anyone (especially nurses, who are often your best
friend on a busy call night); and
Beng Lan on 16th March.
14th March 2009 Thank you!
MMC acknowledged that the e mail was received in  Do not constantly remind yourself how terrible an P/S: Dato’ Dr Wong Sai Hou and Datin Goh Beng Lan are parents of
an e mail reply. intern's life is. If you direct your thoughts to your Miss Wong Pik Yuet who is currently studying in 4th year, 2nd Semester.
Preparing to send the hardcopy of the letter to- patients and the amount of good you are doing for *The complete article can be read in the official blog of
gether with the other universities to the embassy. them, the intern year can be an incredibly rewarding Kursk Malaysian Medical Student Association at
This would substantiate the email sent earlier. experience
http://ekmsa.wordpress.com
2nd April 2009
Persatuan Perubatan Islam Malaysia, Kursk Student Chapter
(PPIM-KSC) helped us obtain a reply from the MMC.
The letter stated that the MMC was open to appeals by
students individually. And appeals would be considered in a
case-per-case basis.
Noting that, our President made a call to the MMC to ask if
it possible for the student association to write on behalf of
the students. Upon getting the confirmation, we proceeded
with the collection of names of students who would like to
return for elective postings.
Atheletics
5th April 2009 Gold Silver Bronze Total
A letter entitled PERMISSION TO DO ELECTIVE Netball
POSTINGS IN MALAYSIA containing all the names of
students wanting to do elective postings in Malaysia was
VSMU 12 6 1 19 Basketball
sent to MMC. Futsal
6th April 2009 KSMU 5 6 7 18
Tug-of-War
An e mail reply was received from the MMC from Tan Sri
Ismail Merican himself, giving approval to our requests. RSMU 3 3 1 7 Handball
NB! Due to space limitations in the newsletter, all CORRE-
Badminton
SPONDENCE with the MMC was published in our MSA
official blog at http://ekmsa.wordpress.com. MMA 2 9 6 17 Volleyball
Ping Pong
MAI 2 0 3 5
Sepak Takraw
NNMSA 1 1 7 9
Detailed results can be found on http://ekmsa.wordpress.com
Am I Ready for Residency?
by Sherlyn Marcella
An excellent advice for our fellow students who will
soon face the ‘real world’ of medical service. ~ Ex-
tracted from Medscape Med students ~.
Question
“I am starting my residency soon, and I am worried
about being prepared. What resources should I bring to
the hospital? How will I know what to do when I'm
alone during night call?”
Response from Sohil H. Patel, MD (Resident, St. Vincent's
Hospital, New York,)
Beginning your intern year is daunting. I know of few other times
when one's level of responsibility changes as dramatically as
when a medical student becomes an intern. In some respects, the
transition requires an understanding that the first time through
many new experiences, you may be slow and you may make
mistakes. There are certainly ways to minimize such mistakes
and, most importantly, to learn from them so that they are not
repeated.
Arm Your White Coat
As a subintern, I lumbered around in my short white
coat with pockets brimming full of "survival guides," including
my personal digital assistant, a pharmacopoeia, my stethoscope, a
reflex hammer, various scraps of paper and notecards with illegi-
ble notes and phone numbers, and maybe a flattened granola bar
or two. Early in my subinternship, I was called to see a patient
with abdominal pain and lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.
My thoughts immediately became as scattered as the
contents of my white coat. In fact, my first 3 thoughts were: Is this
an emergency? Should I be worried about colon cancer or angio-
dysplasia? What are those other causes of lower GI bleeding that I
memorized for the boards? As I pondered these deep questions,
my resident thankfully arrived and ordered me to check vital signs
and do an examination. Only afterward did I look through the
various resources in my white coat and find at least 3 resources
with the same algorithm for dealing with GI bleeds.
So, my first piece of advice is: know what's in your white coat!
If you buy a survival guide , read through it before
you put it in your white coat. Use only 1 survival guide, and
become very familiar with it. Likewise, use either a personal
digital assistant or a pharmacopoeia or an online pharma-
cology Website (if your hospital has enough computers),
and learn how to use whichever resource you choose.
I also found it helpful to carry a few blank note
cards. Every day, I jotted down important phone numbers,
or room codes, or simple instructions on how to get things
done in the hospital. My notes were a mess, so each night I
would rewrite them neatly on a new note card.
Other white coat essentials include a stethoscope,
a (functioning) pen light, a prescription pad, your sign-out,
and at least 2 black ink pens. For internal medicine, the
Mass General Pocket Medicine book is an excellent re-
source. If you can fit a snack somewhere in your pockets,
that always comes in handy.
Recognize Emergencies
This is probably the most important skill learned during
intern year. When a nurse calls you about a patient, particularly
early in your intern year, you should try your best to always see
the patient. See for yourself what types of calls and complaints are
emergent and which are non-emergent.
When you see a patient, the best way to determine
whether the problem is an emergency is to talk to the patient and
get a set of vital signs. Then, compare these findings with the
patient's baseline findings. These 2 simple steps will provide
critical information about a patient's neurological and cardiopul-
monary status.
Certain nursing calls and patient complaints will man-
date that you see the patient. Chest pain, shortness of breath, acute
abdominal pain, hypotension, mental status change, new neuro-
logical deficit, GI bleed, and new fever all qualify. Learn which
causes and consequences of such complaints are emergent, and
direct your history, physical examination, and management ac-
cordingly. Thus, if a patient complains of chest pain, your first
objective is to rule out a myocardial infarction, pulmonary embo-
lism, or aortic dissection. Only after doing so should you explore
whether the chest pain is actually musculoskeletal in nature.
Finally, especially early on, accept a low threshold for
calling your senior resident about all suspected emergencies.
Arm Your Brain
The more medicine you know, the more
you will enjoy and learn from your experiences
as an intern. Unfortunately, the fourth year of
medical school is a well-known cause of brain
atrophy. Thus, I found it helpful to brush up
before starting intern year. Review the most
high-yield, commonly encountered diseases in
your specialty, and know them well (including
presentation, diagnosis, and treatment). You
may also benefit from reviewing school textbooks
and study aids.
At a minimum, every new intern should
know how to read an electrocardiograph, inter-
pret an x-ray, and understand a blood gas result.
Anesh says,
A before
man and his wife were once sitting by the door of their house, and they had a roasted chicken set
them, and were about to eat it together. Then the man saw that his aged father was coming,
and hastily took the chicken and hid it, for he would not permit him to have any of it. The old man
came, took a drink, and went away. Now the son wanted to put the roasted chicken on the table again, but
when he took it up, it had become a great toad, which jumped into his face and sat there and never went
away again, and if any one wanted to take it off, it looked venomously at him as if it would jump in his
face, so that no one would venture to touch it. And the ungrateful son was forced to feed the toad every
day, or else it fed itself on his face; and thus he went about the world without knowing rest.
The above story is one of many written by the famous German author-siblings,
the Grimm brothers. About ungratefulness. Thanklessness. The above story illustrates
lack of filial piety, about a son who is ungrateful to his own father. The story is sym-
bolic of course, but I am sure the Grimm brothers wanted to point out a major setback
of society in reality, that is the inability of people to appreciate what others have done
for them, parents, relatives, friends, co-workers, colleagues, teachers, lecturers, vice-
deans, etc.
We have to admit, most of the time, we take things for granted, especially people, and especially
the closest people in our lives. We might think that our fathers’ constant nagging of not going out alone in
the night is ridiculous, but when we get beaten up by some unruly Russian teenagers on the streets, his
voice will be ringing in your ears.
Maybe some of us never really gave those close friends back at home the proper treatment they
deserve, underappreciated them, and when we came to this icy land, we realized that spending even 5
minutes with them would be heaven on earth.
It is but human nature for us to only appreciate things once they are gone. But you can change this
if you try. Appreciate and cherish the little things in life, and the people around you. We always want more
and more, but why not first take a good look at what you already have, think and only then, decide whether
you would want more or not.
Do I need to say further about being thankful for having a perfect set of limbs, for having the
ability to see, hear and speak, when there are some people who can’t even do that? This notion has been
drilled into our heads for a million times, but let this be the millionth and 1st time. Are we even thankful
for having mental sanity, when there are some people out there, schizophrenics and maniacs, who can’t
lead a normal life?
And for those of us here, shouldn’t we be thankful for being given the opportunity to study medi-
cine, to be doctors, to become future members of such a noble profession? So shouldn’t we not waste this
chance, and strive to be good medical workers?
Sometimes we just don’t realize the amount of things we already have that we have to be thankful for. If
you are one of them, take action. Thank your parents for being there every step of the way, and promise
them you will be there every step of the way forward too.
Thank your friends for lending you a shoulder to cry on in those times of need.
And last, and most definitely not the least, thank God, for it is because of Him that we have
what we have.
KURSK XI FA CAI!
by Anesh

On 28th of March 2009, Kursk Malaysian Medical Student’s Association (KMSA) had suc-
cessfully organized the Down Memory Lane Concert in conjunction with this year’s Chinese New
Year celebration. Albeit CNY was observed 2 months earlier, the spirit of CNY was preserved and
very much felt during the concert.
Taking a different approach from the concerts we’ve witnessed so far, Down Memory Lane
2009 omitted the usual emcees, lucky draws and calling out folks onto the stage. Rather, the audi-
ence was entertained by a play, which ran throughout the whole concert with other performances
seen in intervals.
The concert first kicked off with Mexmollen and Jason attempting to decipher traditional Chinese
scripts. This continued with speeches delivered by KMSA president Jeyendran Kanagarajah, Head of
the concert committee and KMSA vice-president Marcus Voo, and Dean of Faculty of International
Students Yuri Lyashev.
The heart of the whole event
commenced with a play entitled
Down Memory Lane. This play was
performed by Beatrix Hii (Xiao
Yu), Mervyn Ian (Xiang Lun),
Sherlyn Wong (Mama), Woo Qi Jie
(Papa), Arzhealzha Roping (Chun
Li) and Jack Lim (Ah Beng). The
scene kicks off at a mahjong game
in which Xiao Yu reminisces of her
miserable past. Growing up with
parents who argue and fight about
everything under the sun, she
elopes from home with her boyfriend Xiang Lun. Everything seems
fine and dandy for a few years until she meets with an accident and is
hospitalized. Taking it as a sign from God, she thinks of her parents
and through her friend Chun Li, finds out that both her parents had
died. She feels repentant for leaving them and vows to value family
from that moment on. The play then flashes back at the mahjong
game, with Xiao Yu and Xiang Lun who married each other, elated
when their son returns from abroad to celebrate CNY with them.
Other performances that were held that night included a Latin dance, band
performances by our famous home-grown Dragon 9, a serenade of “Hotel California”
and an R & B –themed dance by our Nigerian friends.
The delicious food for the night was catered by local celebrity chef Chong Foo Kwan
consisting of Teriyaki rice, vegetarian rice, and of course his signature sushi.
In conclusion, Down Memory Lane 2009 was a resounding success, and this is
owed most definitely to the students of Kursk who never fail to show their support for
activities carried out by OUR association for US. It was a night which showcased crea-
tivity, talent and culture. Indeed a memorable one it was.