Dalam kesibukan persediaan untuk peperiksaan minggu hadapan, sempat pula saya menulis ye? Mungkin kerana setelah mengulangkaji beberapa module (terutamanya module-module berkenaan Health Pshychology dan Health and Diseases in the Society) terpanggil saya untuk berkongsi ‘reflection’ dan pandangan peribadi saya tentang jurusan saya ini.

Jurusan perubatan seringkali dikaitkan dengan ‘belajar bagai nak gila’, ‘susah’ dan ‘orang kaki buku je boleh amek Medic nih’. Tidak saya nafikan bahawa jurusan perubatan (sebagaimana jurusan lain juga) memerlukan komitmen yang tinggi dari segi pembacaan dan pembelajaran conventional, namun jurusan ini tidaklah pada pandangan saya sesusah jurusan Fizik atau kejuruteraan.

Seperti kata professor saya semasa ucapannya dalam ‘Introweek’ hamper 2 tahun yang lalu, jurusan perubatan ini secara kasarnya tampak sukar kerana jumlah fakta dan ilmu yang perlu dikhadam dan diingat terlalu banyak, bukanlah kerana ianya sekompleks jurusan lain yang memerlukan pengiraan kompleks dan sukar (saya memang amat lemah dalam bab kira-mengira kompleks ini). Pada mulanya saya juga amat ‘sceptical’ dengan kata-kata professor tersebut kerana sudah biasa disogokkan dengan mind-set bahawa perubatan ini susah dan mencabar.

Namun, setelah hampir 2 tahun menuntut, kini saya faham dan akui kebenaran kata-kata professor tersebut. Tidaklah sukar mana fungsi 12 Cranial Nerves andai kita benar-benar faham dan ingat peranan mereka. Jika seseorang itu mempunyai minat yang tinggi, dengan izin Allah ianya bukanlah sesuatu yang sukar namun secara peribadi, it is a journey in knowing and realizing Allah’s mercy and power.

Saya berikan satu contoh. Di dalam telinga kita, ada dua muscle yang mengawal vibration tympanic membrane (lay term: eardrum). Jika kita diexpose kepada bunyi yang kuat, the two muscles will constrict to prevent excessive vibration (which if they don’t will of course could damage the ear drum). One of the muscle, the Tensor Tympani is innervated by the Facial Nerve (Cranial Nerve V) while the other, Stapedius, is innervated by the nerve to Stapediue (Cranial Nerve VII).

Sudah peningkah? Tarik nafas. InsyaAllah ini bukanlah apa-apa yang kompleks.

Just take it as the 2 muslces which do the same function is innervated by different nerves. Apa implikasinya? Well, di sinilah saya dapat lihat kasih saying Allah. Facial Nerve ini sebenarnya mudah ‘tercedera’. Bayangkan jika kedua-dua muscle tersebut hanya mendapat supply dari Facial Nerve, nescaya pekaklah sesiapa yang mempunyai infection. Namun Allah Maha Mengetahui dan Maha Mengasihi, one of the muscles is innervated by another muscle and if one muscle in weak, there is another muscle that can compensate. (untuk mendapatkan maklumat lebih tepat, sila rujuk online ya.)

Oh panjang pula saya berceloteh, tak sentuh lagi point utama yang saya mahu kongsikan.

As a conclusion on what I have written up till now, Medicine is challenging, but it is not difficult. If you are interested and you pray and work hard, insyaAllah it is a worthwhile journey.

Saya kira di tanah air, Medicine is associated with students who are excellent in their studies. Saya akui ianya penting namun pandangan peribadi saya, mereka yang tidak berminat dengan human relationship (bukan relationship lelaki-perempuan ya. Hubungan antara manusia in general maksud saya) tidak akan menjadi doktor yang baik.

Mungkin mereka akan menjadi doktor yang hebat, mengemukakan teori-teori hebat. Namun mereka akan mendapati kesuakaran dalam cara mereka bergaul dengan pesakit, menenangkan pesakit, mengingatkan pesakit kepada ujian Yang Maha Esa dan lain-lain.

Medicine is not only about the hardcore science. It is about our art in dealing with people as well.

Sebagai contoh, dalam satu module yang saya pelajari, banyak respons dari pesakit yang mengatakan bahawa mereka rasa lebih elok apabila doktor melayan mereka dengan baik, mahu mendengar concern mereka dan lain-lain. Ingat, untuk pesakit membuat keputusan untuk melangkahkan kaki ke klinik, pesakit tersebut telah melalui banyak proses pertimbangan. For them it is a very big issue to consult a doctor on a lump that they found on the neck.

Bayangkan jika doktor yang mereka jumpa bagai acuh tak acuh terhadap concern mereka (mungkin dalam pemikiran mereka, they’re greatest fear: adakah ini cancer?). Sudah tentu mereka tidak akan berada dalam emotional setting yang baik dan ini mungkin akan mempengaruhi healing process pesakit tersebut.

Di Barat, mereka amat pentingkan hubungan dengan pesakit dan keselesaan pesakit walaupun mereka tidak percaya bahawa it will make any difference (scientifically) in the healing process (they have conducted studies on this). Untuk kita yang berpegang kepada agama Allah, yang mana kita tahu kesihatan itu bukanlah hanya fizikal tetapi juga kesihatan rohani, emosi dan jasmani, sudah tentu kita patut lebih appreciate dan praktikkan menjaga hubungan dengan pesakit ini.

Saya tidak pasti bagaimana scenario di Malaysia. Namun pengalaman saya bukanlah pengalaman yang manis. Terkilan saya akan sikap seorang doktor di Malaysia yang bertanyakan soalah (taking history) dengan cara acuh tak acuh, tidak sensitif akan concerns and fears pesakit dan tidak menjaga confidentiality pesakit. Obviously the said doctor knew her stuff because I can tell from her questioning what differential diagnosis she has in mind, tapi communication skills yang dipamerkan amatlah mengecewakan.

Bayangkan jika pesakitnya bukan orang Islam. Adakah itu satu contoh dakwah yang baik?

(O Prophet), it was thanks to Allah’s mercy that you were gentle to them. Had you been rough, hard-hearted, they would surely have scattered away from you.
3:159

Fikir-fikirkanlah.

Of course, apa-apa yang telah saya tulis up till now hanyalah pandangan peribadi saya. Banyak kekurangan yang perlu diperbaiki, apatah lagi saya masih menuntut dan belum lagi menjadi seorang doktor.

Namun begitu saya benar-benar merasakan jika kita mahu menjadi seorang doktor, intelektualiti itu penting namun ia perlu disusuli dengan peribadi halus dan communication skills yang baik.

Untuk mereka yang bakal menjadi doktor (sebenarnya tidak kira siapa) seperti saya, marilah kita sama-sama memperbaiki akhlak, memperbetulkan niat dan develop our communication skills. We might become a good doctor if we know our stuff (the basic science) but we’ll be an excellent doctor in which insyaAllah Allah will be pleased with us if we know our stuff and also have a good conduct.

Wallahu’alam

Apa-apa yang telah ditulis hanyalah pandangan peribadi penulis. No patients or animals are harmed in the making of this article.

[1] Psycho tips membeli hadiah

Copied and pasted from Nabilah Hani’s blog. Thank you dearest Nabilah for the reminder *smiles*

(picture by me. Alhamdulillah finally found a way to give the polaroid look *smiles happily*)

LET THIS TRUE STORY SERVE AS A WARNING
To the men : warn your loved ones!
To the women : remember this!

About a month ago there was a woman standing by the Mega Mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in. The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women.The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat. She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat.

A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said, ‘ I notice you ‘ re changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you? ‘ The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off.
The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car. She was a little surprised and asked him why his car was on the other side.

He explained that he had met an old friend in the mall whom he hadn ‘ t seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while; he got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and his car was clear around on the other side of the mall. The woman hated to tell him ‘ no ‘ because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy.

Then she remembered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for the ride to his car.She told him that she ‘ d be happy to drive him to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She said she would only be a few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be. She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left. They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station.

The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it to the man). What they found was rope, duct tape and knives.When the police checked her ‘ flat ‘ tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simply been let out. It was obvious what the man ‘ s motive was, and obvious that he had carefully thought it out in advance.

The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been had she waited in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat. Or if she ‘ d gone against her judgment and given him a lift.

I ‘ d like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only; but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it….better safe than sorry.

* * *

Again, thank you to dearest Nabilah for sharing this information with us. My final paper is tomorrow so if it is not too troublesome, please pray for my succcess insyaAllah. Oyasuminasai! (good night!)

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate,

“Who is it that will give Allah a beautiful loan? A loan that Allah will repay after increasing it many times and grant him a generous reward”

Al-Hadid 57:11

InsyaAllah this summer I will be participating in a relief mission to the region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

The Indonesia (Yogyakarta) Relief Mission Team would like to make plea for donations to make this mission a success. The donations will be used to purchase relief-aid necessities and will be donated to the target group in Yogyakarta. Besides that, the donation will also be used to purchase items needed for the mission activities (ie: mobile clinics, sunathon)

We would really appreciate the kindness of those who would like to contribute for this mission. For those who are not in the best position to donate in monetary values, we also appreciate that you could pray for the success of this mission.

More information can be found in the paperwork that can be downloaded here.

If you want to make a donation, you can do so to my account:

Name : Aqilah

Sort-code : 40-28-06

Account Number : 63834018

Referance : IMAM JOGJA

Every cents, pennies, quids, yens, euros are greatly appreciated.

Take this opportunity to do good insyaAllah. You never know how a single penny from you might change another’s person life, might determine another person’s life or death.

May Allah bless and reward your kind and pure intentions with the greatest of all rewards insyaAllah. Thank you!

this cute kitten hopes that you will consider donating. (picture of this good-natured and natural poser kitten was taken in Alhambra, Granada by yours truly)

p/s: In case you are wondering, each team members are required to gather a certain amount of donation, thus why I am using my account here.

INDONESIA (YOGYAKARTA) RELIEF MISSION 2009

1. BACKGROUND

The Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (IMAM) was established in Malaysia in 1990 and acts as a professional organisation that comprises of medics, paramedics and medical students, who carry out Islamic oriented medical work. Members have participated actively in medical and welfare services in war torn Iraq , Bosnia , Chechnya , Maluku and more recently in Afghanistan , Iran , Sudan and Cambodia . In unison with the Federation of Islamic Medical Association (FIMA) and MERCY Malaysia , medical aid and relief has been targeted to various areas of calamity.

A branch was then established in United Kingdom with the aim of gathering practising Malaysian medical professionals and students in United Kingdom & Ireland under one roof. Exclusively for the students, a student chapter was set up in both United Kingdom & Ireland offering various medical related activities and programmes.

2. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of IMAM Indonesia Relief Mission 2009 is to provide aid in terms of basic necessity to the needy among the community in Yogyakarta , as well as providing a platform for medical students to get acquainted with precious medical skills and the experience of relief works. Besides that, this mission is also set to provide medical relief such as providing healthcare and increase health awareness, to cater to the needs of the community. The details of the mission are:

a) Date: 9^th to 16^th July 2009

b) Participant: 13 Malaysian medical students in UK and Ireland

c) Venue: Yogyakarta

d) Nature of the mission: Medical and social relief

3)OBJECTIVES

3.1 For the target group

3.1.1 To provide free basic humanitarian and medical services with emphasis on women and children

3.1.2 To increase medical awareness on issues such as personal health care, sexually-transmitted diseases and basic hygiene.

3.2 For student volunteers

3.2.1 To introduce students to the field of relief work

3.2.2 To allow students to experience real life problems and issues and tackle them appropriately

3.2.3 To provide a training ground for students to work under pressure and working in teams

3.2.4 To fulfil the elective requirements of clinical year students

Where is Yogyakarta?

It is the smallest province of Indonesia (excluding Jakarta). It is located on the island of Java. It is the only province in Indonesia that is still formally governed by a precolonial Sultanate: the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat.

Yogyakarta is located in south-central Java. It is surrounded by the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah) and the Indian Ocean in the south.

The province of Yogyakarta bore the brunt of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 27 May 2006 which killed 5,782 people and left some 36,299 persons injured. More than 135,000 houses are damaged, and 600,000 people are homeless. The earthquake extensively damaged the local region of Bantul, and its surrounding hinterland. The most significant number of deaths occurred in this region.

(source: Wikipedia)

[1]Yogyakarta Earthquake 1

[2] Yogyakarta earthquake 2

[3] Yogyakarta earthquake 3

“It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”

Albert Einstein

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate,

“To protect you, that’s why I was born
You’ll be amazed at how I stay by your side
Watching your sleeping face, in my chest beats a lion heart“

-Lion Heart by SMAP (Tohoshinki cover)

A Picture for Ibu

Lavender as found from my searches in the world wide web means devotion.
Devotion (noun)
1.the act of devoting
2. the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal

Imagine fighting a seemingly endless battle. A battle that consumes every single fibre of your being. The battle requires everything from you, physical, mental and emotional. You don’t know if you will win or survive this battle yet you put your heart, mind and soul in it.

You feel helpless, very once in a while you wanted to scream in agony due to the excruciating pain. You feel like you are being tore into half and yet you do not hate the person responsible for it.

You recite the zikr, remembering your Creator, asking Him for help as you know you can never win this battle alone.

Suddenly you had an urge to bear down and you push with all your strength. Every muscle in your body; your diaphragm, your abdominal muscles works in synchrony. They are a part of you and they too, like you wanted to meet this person that you’ve waited to meet for a long time.

“I want to meet you,”

“Will you love me when we finally meet?”

The time ticks away but you feel like time has frozen. Everything is suspended. The only thing that you are aware of is the unbearable pain and the strong desire to meet the special person soon.

And suddenly the bustling room is filled with a cry.

“You’re finally here”

You cannot wait and you pushed harder. Suddenly you felt empty and you know that you’ll be meeting the person soon. The cries continued to resonate throughout the room.

You thought the battle was over. You thought you can now embrace the special angel that you’ve waited for so long.

“I’ve been waiting so long just to meet you. I’m here, come to me,”

However the occupants of the room are still in panic.

“Mrs Fatima, please continue pushing” the nurse told you with a panic tone.

You feel drained, you don’t think you can fight anymore. You want to be left alone with the person you’ve wanted to meet.

“Mrs Fatima, the battle is not over yet!”

You’re tired. You wanted to close your eyes and sleep. Maybe when you wake up everything will be over and you’ll be able to embrace him.

“Mrs Fatima!” You heard the urgency in the call and you still heard the cries from that person.

You’re tired yet you know that you’ll have to end it. With all your might, you use all of your strength and finally…it came to an end.

An hour later, you’re in your room, gazing adoringly at the sleeping form in your arms, with the man of your life smiling adoringly at his now two special women in his life.

Inspired from learning about labour last week. After the baby is born, the battle is not yet over for the mother as she has to expel the placenta from her uterus or else she might bleed till death. I can’t explain why but the fact that the battle is not yet over after the baby has already been safely born touches my heart. The mother is still not safe despite her delivering her baby safely. Such is the unconditional love of our mother who always prioritise us rather than her wellbeing since our first day in this earth.

WHO deserves my love and care most in the world? A man asked the Prophet Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace. “Your mother,” the Prophet replied on the spot. “And who else?” “Your mother,” the Prophet repeated. “And then who?” insisted the man. “Your mother,” the Prophet said a third time. “And then?” “Then your father.”

Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.

The opening quote is from a song sung by SMAP (Ibu would love this since she is a big Kimura Takuya fan) . Although it is a typical love song, I feel the three lines above somehow reflects the feeling of a mother.

Though this post is late by a day, or two depending on which side of the world you’re at I would like to take this opportunity to wish my dearest Ibu.

For Ibu who has devoted her life, her every being for the sake of us. We can never thank you enough.

Happy Mother’s Day to the most beautiful woman in the universe.

[1] Motherhood in Islam