Induction, Induction

Day 2 in EDC, Sintok.

I have made up my mind that EDC is indeed a hotel.
The proof :
1. They have room service
2. They provide the newspaper in the morning.
3. The room has a phone and has a kettle.
4. They have Astro (although the channels are limited).

Today was more of a get-to-know-each-other session. It is not easy to remember 89 other names in 1 day, but we more or less did it. OK, I don't remember everyone's name after they changed their clothes and seatings later in the afternoon, but here and there, I know a few names. For me, that is a BIG achievement because I ALWAYS have problems remembering names and faces.

Most of the future HOs (housemens) here studied either in Russia or Ukraine. There are just a handful who studied in PMC. Just imagine this..there are 90 of us in this induction, and there are induction courses going on in at least 3 other places in Malaysia right now. Which means, about 350 new HOs will be starting work next month. Most of my friends underwent induction last month, and some of them in August. Let's say they have induction for HOs only 6 times a year, that would still bring the number of new housemen per year to 2100!!!! 2100 new doctors each year? ( This number is NOT a true number. I do not know how many induction courses they have per year or how many people are there in one induction course or how many doctor's graduate each year). These assumed 2100 new HOs will be posted into about 30 hospitals all over Malaysia which comes to about 70 new HOs per GH (General Hospital) per year. Quite an OK number, don't you think (I do believe the actual number is bigger though)?

Anyway, we had a few LDK (latihan dalam kumpulan) sessions today. The first few were just to help us get to know one another's name. We played a couple of games too, one of which I found rather interesting..involving a few knotted strings which we (in groups of 10) have to attach to our fingers (each person gets one end of the strings). The objective of the game is to un-knot the string without removing the part that is attached to the finger (am I making sense here?). The game involves lots of moving and swapping places and I think is quite a nice game. (The lesson we are supposed to learn from the game is that 'all problems can be solved').

We have been divided into 8 groups (which will be our group for the rest of the induction course). Tonight, we are supposed to present our group - we have to come up with a name, a motto, group ethics, a logo and a song. I never like this kind of group works, but all the camps that I go to seem to have them. Why do we need a group song? ARGH!! Anyway, my group, we finished whatever task we were given fast and are now 'lepak-ing' in our rooms. I had a peep of what the other groups are doing - some of them were drawing borders and colouring flowers..our presentation seems to be kind of simple compared to theirs. But hey, art is NOT MY THING and I think what we have done is enough (plus I am a lazy girl).

There's approximately 12 more days of induction to go. We might be getting our posting letter tomorrow, telling us which hospital we will be posted to. I am nervous. I am very nervous. Why isn't it tomorrow yet?

*I have some photos to upload..will do it tomorrow!!

Hope In Sintok

I am now in Sintok, Kedah. I only knew the existence of such a place last week when I received my induction letter. It is waaaay north, near the border of Thailand. The place I am staying in is called the Excecutive Developement Centre (EDC) which somehow is connected to UUM (Universiti Utara Malaysia). It is NOT a hostel.

My day started early. I stayed in Subang yesterday (and also the day before) cos Mel said he was driving up to Kedah and I could follow him.

Everyone we asked said that the journey from Subang to Sintok would take about 7 hours. Since we only have to register at 2.30pm today, Mel decided that we would leave at 5.30am.

We left Subang at about 5.30am and made a small stop to get Milo and sweets. By about 6am, we officially started our journey. I am actually the kind of person who almost immediately falls asleep once the car starts moving. Today, however, I almost didn't sleep. I might have dozed off a couple of times, but that's all.

Mel and Fizal took turns driving while I just enjoyed the view (which was mostly just jungles and plantations).

It was about 10am. We were entering Kedah!! We were all confused. How could we have reached Kedah so fast? They were not even driving that fast. We were supposed to meet Natrah (who lives in Kedah) and go to Sintok together, but since we were too early, Natrah invited us to 'lepak' in her house and leave later.

We were in Natrah's house before 11am. We had (an extremely late) breakfast, and after a while, lunch and left her place at about 2pm. By about 3pm, we were in the EDC. It is in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see UUM anywhere..all I see are trees and more trees. But the rooms are nice (hope I will be able to post up pictures soon) and we get to choose our own roomates!!

Puspha arrived earlier and put my name down as her roomate. And to think that we thought that we would never be roomates again after Moscow. I am kind of relieved because I don't have to worry about getting used to a new roomate, or worrying about whether I irritate my roomate. Puspha is used to me and we don't mind when we irritate one another. :P

Since today is just our first day, we didn't have much activity. We had tea, then were given a break till dinner. After dinner, we had 'taklimat kursus' - just general rules and what to expect during the 2 weeks that we are here. And after, we came back to our rooms and are now thinking
what to do to pass time.

So far, the induction is going on fine. But then again, that may be because it hasn't even started yet. I am hoping that it won't be too bad; hoping that I would have some fun.

p/s There are 100 of us here of that, 12 of them from MMA. Can I actually get to know and remember the other 88 people? With my limited people skills, it will be a bit hard. Once again, I HOPE I can make some friends here.

Hope.

I Have My Own KWSP Account!

I finally received my letter for induction and BTN yesterday. My induction will be in EDC-UUM, Kedah from the 17th Nov-30th Nov and my BTN will be in Ulu Kenas, Kuala Kangsar from the 30th Nov-4th Dec. All my friends who registered on the same day as I did got the same places, so I am quite happy that I would be able to meet them and catch up after so long!

I have 2 worries for now :
1. Which hospital I would get posted to. My 3 choices (in order) were Seremban Hospital, Melaka Hospital and Ipoh Hospital. I really hope that I will get my first choice. *fingers crossed*
2. When will I start work? 4th of December is a Thursday and MAYBE I will have to start work on the 5th. That is SO FAST!! I hope they will give us a break till the next week, but somehow, I doubt it. *toes crossed*

Anyway, today I opened my KWSP account. JJ said that it would be easier to open the account before I start work, and since Rajiv was around, I decided to do it today. We went to the KWSP office quite late, almost at 12pm, and we were quite sure that we would have to wait for hours. When we got there, they gave me a form to fill up and told me that I would need a photocopy of my IC (front and back on 1 page; thankfully JJ told me to prepare it before I went there, so that wasn't a problem). After filling up the form, they gave me a number, and it was my turn immediately. That's right. I didn't have to wait at all. In fact, almost no one was waiting, although there were many waiting chairs. Maybe we were just lucky or maybe the officers there are really efficient. Either way, I got it done!

In about 20minutes, Rajiv and I were out and after tapau-ing KFC, we headed back home.

Now we are heading out again to do some pre-induction shopping. Till later!

Extended Holiday

CB smsed me on Wednesday morning saying that a few of my friends have received their induction letter. The moment I heard that, my heart started to beat a little faster. Would I get mine too? I waited and waited. By the end of the day, many of my friends had been visited by Poslaju. The next day, I continued waiting. Then, SH (who also had not received her letter) said 'Let's try to call KKM'. I tried calling and calling and calling. They were engaged almost all the time. I gave up. SH didn't give up, and after many thousand tries, managed to get through and was told that her letter would be arriving soon, and true to their words, she received her letter yesterday.

By this time, I was sure that my induction is not going to be with them (those who have got their letters). I came to this conclusion because everyone who registered on the same day with me had not got their letters. Some tried calling, and were told that they would be in the next induction, on the 17th of November. I guess mine is on the 17th as well. Who knew 1 day would make so much difference(CB, SH and many others registered on the 4th of Aug and I registered on the 5th)?

Right now, I don't know whether I am happy or sad that I won't be part of the coming induction. I am happy because the induction is scheduled on the 28th of October, which is a day after Deepavali. If I were in this induction, then I might have had to leave my house on Deepavali day if my induction is far away and I have to register in the morning (hope my sentence makes sense to you). So, that would not have been a very nice way to spend my 1st Deepavali in Malaysia after 6 years.

However, most of my friends are going to be part of this induction, and I am missing a chance of meeting them. Thankfully, some of my friends are like me, having registered a little later, and will probably be together with me. I hope we'll be placed in the same place. *fingers crossed*

p/s this gives me a little more time to shop for clothes to wear during the induction..they have dresscodes!!