I wrote this on my last night in Klang…
Back in November 2004, 5 of us inquisitive soul embarked on our journey to Klang one fine afternoon. Our mission: to scout out the new territory where we will be imprisoned for the next 10 months. We went with a mixture of apprehension, yet with a tinge of excitement, not knowing what was in store for us. We were chatting non-stop all the way there, everyone talking across each other; God knows who was listening to who.
As the car pulled up at the parking lot of the Klang hospital hostel, our chatter faded. After taking a peek at the hospital itself, the stench, crowdedness and mess made us sink into depression. We then took a tour around the hostel compound, checking out the rooms and surroundings, trying hard to be optimistic. I was wondering to myself, “How on earth will I survive in this place?”
The journey back to KL was filled with silence. No one uttered a word as I drove back on the Federal Highway. CN- was too overwhelemed and exhausted by it all that she slept at the back seat, most of the way. The silence was deafening as each of us stared out of the window, lost in their own thoughts.
11 months down the road, it is finally time to leave this place. Time sure flies. It felt like it was just yesterday when we moved into this place. 5 postings, 1 CRP with 3 sets of 1-week holidays intersperced in between, it was indeed time to depart from this place which we have somehow grew to love. Something less busy than KL. Something closer to home.
Ironic as it is, I don’t want to leave this place. A place filled with hills, namely Horse Hill, King Hill and Tall Hill.
Horse Hill - where we spent our Primary Care Medicine posting (health clinic)
King Hill - where we watched our movies
Tall Hill - where we had our lunch and dinners
Well, Klang posting wasn’t all a bed of roses. Clinical is indeed more interesting than pre-clinical, yet the stress and load of studies also increased exponentially. I had many happy times, frustrating times, times where I just wanted to pack my bags and just quit. Much laughter and fun, much tears shed.
However, somehow, I’ve made it through and it IS time to move on back. Just after I’ve took so long to finally settle in here. Once again, my cheese has been moved and I’ve got to start looking for more cheese in a old-new environment.
Sigh…this is my last night in Klang’s hostel and I miss Klang already.
It’s been raining for the past few days; even the clouds are mourning our departure from this place
4.00 am, 21 Oct 2005
26.0 degrees Celcius
Actually the Klang posting is a wonderful experience. For once far from the maddening crowd of Pj and KL. The ambience is actually not too bad, little attractions (rather distractions) with condusive environ to study at night. The building may be a bit run down but which govt-owned building is not ? The hostel is habitable with plenty of privacy. Problem is most of the students have too much free time on their hands and the mind tends to wonder drifting to MidValley and 1-U. Food wise there are many gastronomical outlets which are relatively cheap; name it and you have it. Many complained about the lack of library facilities but they are again not too bad. You just need to stick to your own “bible” and need only to refer once in a while to the larger reference; but then again how often you really need to do that? Except perhaps preparing for PBL, which many lecturers thought was a waste of time and effort to travel to Klang just for that. Clinical cases are aplenty with lots of good physical signs. Students would actually have benefitted more and better prepared if they had a 6 week crash course in basic clinical signs, history taking etc before they are sent to Klang.
Comment by drxujun — October 23, 2005 @ IST 14:13
yup, klang is cool
i really enjoyed my posting there. we actually had a 6 week crash course before going to klang. sigh…i miss klang…
Comment by j e l l i o ' — October 27, 2005 @ IST 17:21