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Research Attachment at Infectious Diseases Lab, UMBI

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Research Attachment at Infectious Diseases Lab, UMBI

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1. Your name, matric number, date

TING TIEW HUNG
A182881
7/8 - 11/8 (Week 3)

2. Your progress so far

[O] = UMBI Basic Orientation Module

7/8 Mon
- Meeting with pengurusan tertinggi UMBI for introduction
- Interpreting the results of E-test to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of vancomycin and ciprofloxacin for MRSA ST6-IV strain
- Inoculating MRSA from two different transport media/swabs (left incubated for 3 days) onto brain heart infusion agar and Chromagar to confirm the bacteria's survivability (for future field work in the community)
- Cleaning the -80 C freezer to remove excessive frosts
- Sorting new antibiotic resistance data from HCTM and another hospital for a collaborated project

8/8 Tue
- Reviewing the cultures prepared yesterday and discussing with Dr for the unexpected findings on Chromagar ESBL
- [O] Serum, red blood cells & mononuclear cells processing
- [O] Biobank storage & retrieval system
- [O] CHETs briefing
- Visiting HCTM Infection Control Unit to pass the BHI agars to obtain their antibiotic resistant bacteria samples

9/8 Wed
- Reading about SCCmec type IV subtyping Multiplex PCR protocol from a research article
- Creating an Excel template to calculate the stock and final concentrations and volume for each of the 14 primers used in the multiplex PCR
- Joining Infectious Diseases & C. elegans lab meeting via Zoom (discussing about waste management and maintenance issues in the lab & book sharing by Dr about emotions at work)

10/8 Thu
- Introduced to the ESBL-producing Enterobacterales (E. coli & Kleb. pneumoniae) project (research questions, comparison between different strains and species, plasmid transformation, growth curve results, current progress and challenges etc)
- Observing the handling of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) samples (aka "superbugs" with the highest level of threat), such as stock culture preparation, DNA extraction and storage
- Crosschecking and completing the individual antibiogram +/- genotype profiles for almost 500 samples of MRSA, ESBL and CRE in Excel

11/8 Fri
- Observing the second part of stock culture preparation for CRE after overnight incubation
- Doing literature review for ESBL-producing Enterobacterales (growth curves, effects of different plasmid carriage on their phenotypes)
- UMBI Research Update Series: REAAP Und R: Eine Kollaborativ Symphonie (introduced to R language as a better tool for statistical analysis as compared to SPSS)
- UMBI Knowledge Sharing Session by Staff: Inbody 770, Left-handedness, Rare diseases at UMBI-HCTM

3. Your feelings and thoughts

Overall, I think this was another amazing and productive week at UMBI here as I had the chance to learn and observe more things beyond just MRSA, which has really broadened my perspectives about antimicrobial resistance. I also had the opportunity to learn about the roles and operation of an infection control unit, which could be part of my future career.

I felt blessed to receive continuous guidance, encouragement and kindness from my supervisor and her research team members. Her lab technologist was super generous in sharing his knowledge (he really knows his stuff well) and explaining the current progress of the ESBL project which I just got exposed to.

However, I felt kind of sad and helpless when the planned experiment was postponed to next week as the shipment of the primers was delayed for the second time. I was also not be able to proceed with the ESBL experiment as the culture did not grow.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

I learnt that when making a decision in research, we should weigh up the pros and cons for each of the available options and consider the practicality and suitability for the specific circumstances. The time and cost induced should also be justified. For example, the most appropriate DNA extraction method (some require much more expensive reagents and kits) should be decided based on the types and amount of the samples received (i.e. salt method requires higher amount of samples) as well as the requirement for the DNA concentration and purity to achieve the desired outcomes (i.e. DNA sequencing may have higher requirements).

I also learnt that when facing the same lab result, different decisions can be made according to the ultimate goal. When interpreting the minimum inhibitory value in E-test with intersection point falling between two values on the strips, it is wiser to take the higher MIC value for treatment purpose in clinical settings (to ensure the patients will receive the sufficient dose of antibiotics) whereas a lower MIC value is usually taken for certain research purposes (i.e. to evaluate the effects of resistance gene transformation into the susceptible bacteria).

I believe decision making skill is also essential whenever I wanted to dispose my waste in the ID lab as there are general waste bin (grey), biohazard bin (yellow) and another biohazard bin with blue autoclave bag (never seen before). A correct decision could protect members in the lab from dangerous pathogens. I also learnt that I should discard uncontaminated wastes (such as tissue papers used for drying hands after washing) into the general waste bin instead to save the space and waste management cost.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

My "working" hours at UMBI is 8am to 5pm with a generous 1.5-2 hours lunch break. My lab works / orientation activities usually start after 9am so I have plenty of time to do some reading and complete the smaller  tasks beforehand.

I think the time management during my EP can sometimes be quite challenging as there was no fixed daily schedule for us. On the bright side, this offers me the flexibility to (responsibly) plan my own progress and manage my free time. Often times, there would be a sudden change of plan (especially for the orientation activities) and might clash with my scheduled research activities. Hence, I had to communicate diplomatically with different people (fellow interns, PICs, supervisor and her postgraduate student) to arrange my new schedule. Thankfully, my supervisor was very understanding and willing to make adjustment according to my orientation schedule so I could join the other interns to complete my orientation.

When the planned experiments were postponed due to unavoidable circumstances or while waiting for the next step of an experiment, I would utilise my free time to read more articles to have a deeper and broader understanding about the research topics. In addition, I would also use my free time to sort the data given by my supervisor and this was quite time consuming due to the large sample sizes.

My free time after office hours and during weekends was well protected as my supervisor asked me to read articles and do the assigned tasks during office hours only :D  Due to this, my "work"-life balance during my elective posting was pretty well and I was able to rest well and then stay productive to complete the tasks in the next working day.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

- To complete the last few activities and exam in the Basic Orientation Module
- To complete literature review for ESBL and discuss with Dr
- To participate in antibiotic resistance research activities (ESBL project, MRSA SCCmec type IV subtyping and desiccation study)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Fiona Cheong Shoon Jenn

A183585

07/08/2023 - 11/08/2023

2. Your progress so far

Monday - We continued to prepare the slides for our health talk (Non-communicable diseases and stress-related health problems). We did some final editing. We also practiced our presentation as a group to ensure that everything would go smoothly during the talk. Most of our information was from Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) Malaysia and medical textbooks. During the afternoon, we had a lunch appointment with Dr Vella, the CEO of IYRES. We had a good talk on various topics, such as more information on IYRES, and other personal interests. It was a great team building session!

Tuesday - We presented a health talk to the staff of IYRES, which amounted to around 30 people in total! They were very enthusiastic and engaging throughout the talk, and they gave us great feedback towards the end! We managed to give some good answers to some of the questions that they asked us throughout the talk.

Wednesday - We were then approached by our colleagues in IYRES to help out in a Merdeka decoration competition held by KBS! (Kementerian Sukan dan Belia). The reward was RM 1000 for each department, so we were fired up to give good creative ideas! The theme given was on the May 13 1969 incident, so we had to discuss a lot on what poster ideas to come up with, as it was a sensitive theme. As we were having discussions, Prof Rosnah, our elective posting supervisor dropped by IYRES to check up on our progress, as well as give us a new task, which is in the form of a research report, which would be intended for submission to Prof Vella later on. For the contents of the report, we were required to interpret and explain the data trends thoroughly. The data are separated according to different health indicators, such as “depression free”, “stress free” etc.

Thursday - We started the Merdeka poster-making process! After deciding on an idea, we started to work towards making the idea come to life! We chose pictures to print, we cut them out, we arranged them on a polystyrene board, we glued them onto the polystyrene board according to the set arrangements, we cut out letters from another polystyrene board given to us, and many more! This was also a chance for us to get closer to our IYRES colleagues as we had to continuously consult them on what they prefer from us in the poster. We ended up joking a lot through the multiple discussions. We were almost finished with the poster, but decided to continue with the final touches tomorrow.

Friday - KBS had a health screening program, organized by Institut Jantung Negara! We participated in the program, where we got our basic health screening done! After that, we did some final touches on the poster. We then helped our IYRES colleagues in decorating the main entrance of IYRES with Merdeka decorations. Towards the end of the decorating session, we finally hung up the poster that we made! It was a satisfying moment. After lunch, we started a little bit on our research report. We used excel to create the graphs based on the data that was given to us. We continued on with other parts of the research report before deciding to call it a day and continue next week, as the deadline for the report was still quite far away.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

During health talk, our audience took our words very seriously. I felt this because they reacted really big as if we said something life-changing haha. This made me realize the importance of sharing information that is based on reliable sources only, and the importance of double confirming information, not just blindly relying on ourselves, as we may sometimes be wrong. This is so that our audience wouldn’t be taught the wrong information. Besides that, it also felt fulfilling to help people with our knowledge.

As for the poster-making, I was a bit taken aback when I heard the theme given was on the May 13 riot. But it was quite a fulfilling moment to figure out a way to still come up with an idea to inspire, without offending anybody. Through poster-making, we also got to bond with IYRES colleagues through lots of jokes and fellowship, which was a fun experience.

As for the research report, making a graph on Excel was difficult for me. Interpreting data is also difficult. I think research is such an unfamiliar thing to me that I always find it difficult. However, I always learn something new as well. At the end of the day, I feel proud of myself for overcoming and learning difficult things!

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

One relevant event in which good decision making was needed was when we had to decide on a health talk topic as a group. We had to consider a few factors before deciding on a few topics, to ensure the health talk would be a successful one. For instance, we had to choose a topic that was relevant to the audience, where the health disease involved would be of high prevalence amongst the target audience. Secondly, we had to choose a topic that we were familiar with, so that we knew what we were talking about. We also had to choose a topic where all our group members would be happy presenting, and a topic that was easy to find reliable information from medical textbooks and clinical practice guidelines. Among our group members, there had to be compromise, as different people wanted different topics to be presented on. In the end, after a long session of discussion, we managed to come up with three appropriate topics, which were non-communicable diseases (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia), cancer among the community and stress-related health diseases. In the end, our IYRES colleagues unanimously chose non-communicable diseases and stress-related health diseases for us to present. It must have been the right decision to choose those topics, as our audiences learned something new through the presentation! They felt the need to lead a healthier lifestyle after the presentation. We provided practical ways for them to carry out a healthy lifestyle, in which they were happy to learn about. Our audience kept telling us we did a great job after the talk! Through this incident, I learned that good decision-making comes from considering various relevant factors, meeting as many expectations as possible with our choice, and coming to an appropriate middle ground for certain points, in order to make the best decision!

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

In IYRES, we had a working hour of 7.30am to 4.30pm. To ensure that I reach on time, I had to force myself to sleep early despite wanting to stay up and watch shows. This is also to ensure that I function well throughout the day in IYRES, doing whatever work that I was given.

We also had a lot of group projects to get done. I managed my time by prioritizing all the tasks by importance, by doing the most important or urgent task at hand first, to ensure that all the work could be completed well, and by the deadline.

It also helped a lot for the fact that we were doing tasks as a group, because it gave me a lot more push to get work done as it wasn’t just my burden, but also the burden of my groupmates.

I also made sure to make time for resting, to ensure that I don’t feel burned out throughout this elective posting.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

Continue working on the report assigned by Prof Rosnah.

Assist in any activities held by IYRES.

Visit the National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (NCEMH), with Prof Rosnah, to be able to do better research for Mental Health topics.

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Volunteer on Institute of Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES) (Week 3)

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Volunteer on Institute of Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES) (Week 3)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Teoh Qi Wei

A182051

07/08/2023 - 11/08/2023

2. Your progress so far

On Monday, me and my group mates are still working on slides of the health talk. We are discussing how to change some medical terms into layman terms in order to let all our colleagues understand easily. We also have a few rehearsals and go through the slides one by one in order to avoid some mistakes during the presentation. During lunch hour, our CEO, Dr Vella invited us to have lunch with him at a well known indian restaurant at cyberjaya. We had a good chatting session while we were trying out south indian food at that restaurant.

On Tuesday, we have our last rehearsal before we go to present to the colleagues. After this, we managed to complete our sharing session by presenting some non communicable disease and stress related health problems. The sharing session went well and the CEO and some staff did ask some questions related to their health problems and we managed to answer their questions and clear their doubts.

On Wednesday, we were asked by our colleagues to help them out with the decoration competition of our National Day. The theme of the decoration is related to the racial riots in 1969 (incidents of 13 May 1969). We have discussed and came across an idea of putting a comparison between the racial riot on the left side and the developed status of Malaysia on the right side. Also we put a slogan “13 Mei NEVER AGAIN” to remind Malaysians the importance of peace and not to repeat the same mistake as the racial riot again. Meanwhile we also have a meeting with supervisor to discuss on the report that we need to do for elective posting

On Thursday, we continued with the decoration by gluing all the news and images of racial riots on the left side, and putting the images that illustrate the development of Malaysia. After completing the decoration, we move on to work out with the report writing assigned by the supervisor.

On Friday, we continued with fixing up the decoration of national day and finalized the design of the decoration. Then we are all working out with the report writing.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

I feel very satisfied as we managed to do a health talk and sharing session with the colleagues to empower them with the medical knowledge. It is definitely a valuable experience as this is my first time on giving a health related talk to public and the talk really help out my colleague to clear some doubts regarding their health problem

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

Making informed decisions is very crucial as research often presents challenges and roadblocks. Developing problem-solving skills helps me to address unexpected issues such as completing the tasks that we all never get exposed to before, choosing the method that we are going to use in order to complete our tasks and making decisions that keep the project on track.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

I will set a clear goal to guide my activities in IYRES. I will make sure the tasks are all kept on track and my time is well-spent. I will also identify tasks based on their importance and urgency so that I would not waste time on a less important task instead of more important tasks. Besides, our group also will set deadlines for every task in order to ensure the tasks are completed in a timely manner.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

I will try to complete the report writing that is assigned by our supervisor and start to form my storyboard and script about my video. I will also try to start doing some editing on the 8 minute video.

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Volunteering in Pusat Jagaan Pertubuhan Kebajikan Kampong Baru Mentakab (Week 3)

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Volunteering in Pusat Jagaan Pertubuhan Kebajikan Kampong Baru Mentakab (Week 3)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Chan Hui Ying

A181362

7/8/2023 - 11/8/2023

2. Your progress so far

In Week 3, I aimed to focus on promoting the physical well-being of the elderly residents through light exercise activities. With careful consideration and planning, I also organized aerobic exercise sessions that aimed to introduce a blend of physical activity and enjoyment into their daily routines. To ensure a comprehensive approach, I collaborated with some experienced dance teachers who were well in guiding exercise routines tailored to different ability levels in order to ensure it was safe and enjoyable.  These exercise sessions were aimed at improving cardiovascular health, enhancing flexibility, and boosting their overall energy levels.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

The experience of conducting the aerobic exercise sessions was incredibly fulfilling. The elderly residents' enthusiasm and active participation made the activities go well. I was so happy to see that the elderly residents not only can improve their physical health but also their emotional well-being.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision-making in your EP journey?

Throughout my elective posting at the old folks' home, the skill of decision-making played a vital role in shaping my interactions and experiences. From the initial planning stages, I had to make thoughtful decisions about which activities would be most suitable for the elderly residents. This required careful consideration of their needs, preferences, and physical limitations. For example, when organizing health check-ups, I had to decide on the appropriate health parameters to measure based on their medical histories and conditions.

Another critical component of decision-making was tailoring activities based on each resident's capabilities. I had to choose clean-up jobs based on their physical capabilities so that everyone could take part in a meaningful way while yet feeling safe and protected. I was always alert to their safety while conducting activities such as helping individuals who had mobility issues.

After volunteering at the old folks’ home, I learned the importance of decision-making skills since it will be very helpful in my future medical career. Through these experiences, I have learnt how to evaluate situations critically and make decisions in the patient’s best interests.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

I knew that managing time efficiently was very important in ensuring the smooth execution of various activities during my elective posting. Therefore, I created a structured daily schedule which allowed me to allocate specific activities within the time slots. This structured approach enabled me to stay organised and focused. Besides, I will also reflect on my daily experiences at the end of the day and this was to make sure the progress went well. My commitment to reflection at the end of each day amplified the effectiveness of my time management strategy.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

During Week 4, I plan to take the responsibility of taking care of their meals in collaboration with the caregivers. It involves preparing nutritious and wholesome meals that focus on their unique dietary requirements and restrictions.

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Volunteering Program in Institute of Youth Research Malaysia (Week 3)

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Volunteering Program in Institute of Youth Research Malaysia (Week 3)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Lee Kar Yen

A182043

7/8 -11/8/2023

2. Your progress so far

7/8/2023 - 11/8/2023

On Monday, we continued with our slides preparation for the seminar talk about non-communicable disease and stress-related health problems that will be giving to all the IYRES staff. Most of our information are from Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) and medical textbooks. During the afternoon, Dr Vella, the CEO of IYRES invited us for lunch at Chennai Spice, Cyberjaya. He talked with us about the research system in IYRES and how it works. We had a great talk together.

On Tuesday, we presented the slides to the staff and also had a QnA session with them. We tried our best to answer their questions. We were very happy as they told us that they gained new knowledge and were very satisfied.

On Wednesday, we had a meeting with Prof Rosnah and discussed about the report she assigned to us. We continued with the report’s interpretations and discussion part about indicators of the health domain such as ‘depression free’, ‘stress free’, ‘smoking cessation’ and etc.

On Thursday, we decorated the office with the theme of “Peristiwa 13 Mei” set by the KBS head quarters. As 513 is a sensitive topic, we discussed and tried to create a design that won’t trigger any issues among people. We made a backdrop showing the transition of Malaysia from the past to the current modern, safe and harmonious country. Then, we hang the backdrop and words on the wall at the entrance of IYRES. The staff praised us for our creativity and help. Everyone was very satisfied.

On Friday, we assisted in a health screening program organized by Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) together with KBS. They screened random glucose level, cholesterol and blood pressure of the staff and give advices to them.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

As we decorated the office in conjunction of Malaysia Independence Day, I feel a sense of pride in contributing to the festive atmosphere. And as I arranged the decorations that reflect Malaysia’s history, I feel a deeper thoughts of the significant of unity among people of difference races in our country.

After successfully delivering the medical related talk to the staff, I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Knowing that my friends and I have provided valuable information and potentially contributed to the well-being of the staff is highly rewarding.

Besides, I feel grateful as the staff responded positively and showed appreciation for our talk. I also feel that this is an opportunity for me to boost my self-confidence as this experience enhance my belief in my public speaking and communication skills.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

One of the time that I applied the skill of decision making is when we were asked to decorate the office with the theme of ‘Peristiwa 13 Mei’. This is a sensitive topic which people can be easily triggered if we used the wrong information or pictures. Hence, we searched for relevant pictures carefully and inserted appropriate information. I faced some challenges while deciding which information and pictures are appropriate to put. I made decision after thinking thoroughly and discussing it with my friends.

I also applied the skill during the seminar talk preparation. I have to decide what information I needed to include in the slides. As my audience are people who are non-medical professionals, so I cannot include too many medical phrase because this might confuse them. I also need to search the information from accurate and reliable sources to gain trust from the audience.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

So far, I think my time management is quite well as I am working in a government setting and it is a 8 to 5 job, I woke up early at 6am and depart at 6.45am. This is to avoid the early morning traffic jam at KL. I reached IYRES around 7.30am everyday. And also to ensure that I am able to wake up early every morning, I avoid staying up late. This is to make sure that I have enough sleep and rest so that I can drive to IYRES safely.

Apart from that, to ensure that the tasks assigned by Prof or the any other IYRES staff are completed on time, we distributed the work. We prioritized the task based on their urgency and importance, and each person focus well on their part so the work can be done effectively and able to finish it on time.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

Continue working on the report assigned by Prof Rosnah

Assist in any activities held by IYRES

Visit the National Centre of Excellent for Mental Health (NCEMH)

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Attachment to a Community Pharmacy (Week 3)

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Attachment to a Community Pharmacy (Week 3)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Kan Yi Jie

A181529

7/8/2023 – 11/8/2023

2. Your progress so far

Coming to my third week of attachment in community pharmacy, I involved myself in more areas of jobs in this week by trying to learn to be a pharmacist assistant. For example, I would help the pharmacists by assisting them in drug measuring, pills cutting and drug packaging. Besides, I also volunteer to help the customers to check and measure their blood pressure level and blood glucose level. After checking, I would explain to customers about their condition according to their blood pressure and blood glucose level. Apart from these, I became a translator to translate some sentences in Mandarin if there were customers that not able to understand English or Malay that spoke by one of the pharmacists who was Malay. In this week, I also helped the pharmacists to order some special medications from the drug suppliers which requesting by some of the customers. After the stock of medicines arrived in our pharmacy, I would call the customers one by one to inform their order status and asked them to come and take the medicines. In summary, I was involving myself in the job scope of a pharmacist in this week by learning to assist them.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

In this week, I felt that I was more able to handle the situations happening in pharmacy as I felt that my communication skills had improved with the staffs and customers. I was more comfortable to deal with the customers as well as work in the pharmacy compared to the last two weeks. For example, I was braver to ask questions from the pharmacists as well as talking to the customers compared to last week. There were also a few customers that like to talk with me and share about their family and life. I was happy to hear their stories and talk with them as most of them were living alone and there was no one to talk with. Practice makes perfect, I am sure that I can do better in next week.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

Throughout the posting, I learnt that the skill of decision making was important. This was because the pharmacy that I attached to was very busy. Therefore, there were sometimes that I need to make decisions by myself. It was impossible to bother the other person when there was in the peak hour which was the busiest time as the pharmacists were no time to answer every of my questions. With this, the pharmacists were teaching me on how to make decisions such as on the problem of managing the parcels. For example, there were many parcels that received by our pharmacy. When there was no empty place to receive those parcels, I needed to deal with the logistics partner and the warehouse staffs by myself. In this case, I needed to make decision on the problem of where the parcels should go. Luckily, I settled the problem successfully in the end.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

Throughout this journey, I was made my time to full use. In weekdays, beside the time that I worked in pharmacy, I would use my free time to study about the pharmacological knowledge and the details of the medicines which sold in the pharmacy so that I could handle better to deal with the customers. In weekends, besides completing my progress report, I would spend my time with my family and for some entertainment to release stress from work.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

For next week, I am planning to learn more about the skills to promote products to customers. Besides, I hoped that I can have the chance to take history from the patients so that they could receive a better care from us.

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Volunteering Program in Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (Week 3)

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Volunteering Program in Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (Week 3)

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Brenda Cheong Kar Wen, A180678, 7/8/2023-11/8/2023

2. Your progress so far

7/8/2023 (Monday): We continued to work with our team on the sharing session tasks given by IYRES. We continued to prepare the slides, discuss the content so that it could be easily understood by the staff in IYRES, and also did a few rehearsals to make sure everything went smoothly, according to plan. Besides, we were also treated to lunch by the CEO of IYRES. We had a wonderful talk with the CEO.

8/8/2023 (Tuesday): Before going for the medical knowledge sharing session, we had a final rehearsal to check for the flow. The medical knowledge sharing session was carried out smoothly, where we discussed NCD and some stress-related health problems with the staff in IYRES. The responses from the staff were good, as they asked a lot of questions regarding the topic that we had presented. I believe that it has successfully raised awareness about NCD among them.

9/8/2023 (Wednesday): We were given a task by IYRES to help them with the decoration project to celebrate National Day. The topic set for the department was peristiwa 13 Mei. My teammates and I had a discussion with some of the staff from IYRES about some decoration ideas. Besides, we also had a short meeting with our supervisor, Prof Rosnah to discuss about our progress so far.

10/8/2023 (Thursday): We continued to work on the decoration project. We have designed and made a backdrop according to the theme given. We also helped out with other decorations around the department. Other than that, we also worked out on report writing that was assigned by our supervisor.

11/8/2023 (Friday): We did some final touch for the decoration. Besides, we also joined a health screening project in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, where some basic health screenings, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol level measuring were done. We continued further on discussion of our report.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

The highlight of this week’s EP is that we conducted a medical knowledge sharing session with the staff in IYRES. Through this event, I realized that it was not an easy task to give a health-related sharing session with public, as we are used to using medical terms in our presentation, but the public are not really familiar with the medical terms that we used. Therefore, we need to modify some of our text and information to suit them, so that they could understand the topic that we are trying to deliver. I’m glad that the talk was conducted successfully and the staff in IYRES gained some knowledge from us. Besides, I also felt happy that we were getting more involved in IYRES. As time goes by, it’s kind of sad that it was going to be our last week in IYRES.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

I learn and apply the skill of decision making when we are given a task to conduct a medical knowledge sharing session. It wasn’t an easy task, as there were no specific titles that were given to us. We need to come up with a few suggestions of topics which are more relevant to the staff in IYRES. There were a lot of topics that were suggested by my teammates throughout the discussion, but in the end, we came up with three topics, which are NCD, cancer risk in Malaysia, and stress-related health problems. The reason why we chose these topics are because we felt that these are the common health issues that were their concern. Besides, most of the staffs there are also in the age group of high risk getting NCD and some cancers. Therefore, we wanted to raise awareness among staff in IYRES about these topics, and to encourage them to have health screening regularly as prevention is better than cure.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

Since we did our EP in a government agency, which is IYRES, under the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we need to be very punctual as punctuality is a main thing there. We need to reach IYRES by 7.30am, so that we can leave on time at 4.30pm. As KL traffic is really congested during working hours, therefore we need to plan our journey ahead to avoid being late. Besides, I also plan my activity one day before, to ensure that the daily tasks that were given to me will be done on time. This helps to prevent delay of work, and also increase my efficiency.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

I plan to enjoy my very last week in IYRES, by volunteering to help them in any tasks that were given by the staff. Besides, I will also continue to work on my report given by my supervisor. We will also be visiting the National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (NCEMH) with our supervisor, Prof Rosnah.

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Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Volunteerism Week 3

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Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Volunteerism Week 3

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1. Your name, matric number, date

Deena Priyanka Edwards A/P Roger, A181019, 7/8/23-11/8/23

2. Your progress so far

I have completed vaccination programme for animals, cleaning and treating the sick animals in the previous weeks.This week my supervisor assigned me to help the cleaners to clean the shelter. The task involves washing the kennels, bowls, filling up water in their bowls and washing the shelter area.

I have improved my communication skills with the members of the shelter and even the cleaners who were foreigners. During the first week I had difficulty to understand the foreign workers due to language barrier but now I am able to communicate with them.

I have improved my soft skills in dealing with animals.  I am braver now to enter the kennels occupied with many animals and clean it.

I have improved my time management skills by working faster and efficiently to complete the task on time satisfyingly.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

I am feeling happy as through out the past three weeks I have learnt alot on animal care.

This week I felt really satisfied as I have done something which is very important in keeping the animals and the workers in good health.  Cleaning the shelter is of paramount importance as the faeces, urine and body fluids of the animals can cause several health issues to the animals and the workers who are working closely with them.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

I brushed on my decision making skills by learning which task to prioritize according to the manpower and the significance and urgency of the task. I prioritized task related to the health of the animals more than painting the walls of the shelter as painting requires more people to complete the task and its not very significant to the health of the animals. I decided to clean the animals and their living area and to do some minor health care task for the animals to reduce the infection and disease transmission among animals and the workers. Faeces, urine and the body fluids of animals can attract flies and cause maggots attact on animals which cause them an excruciating pain. So I always think twice while planning the task with my supervisor to make sure I get to work on something that is suitable with my time management, manpower and the results of the task.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

I usually spend my mornings and afternoons in the shelter to complete the task so that I am free to spend time with my family in the evenings and nights.  I enjoyed the time I spent throughout my elective posting journey as I am doing something I really love. If I need a longer time to complete the task I would usually start the task earlier or divide the task with the volunteers and members of the shelter.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

For the last week of the elective posting, my supervisor assigned me to help with the feeding session. I would be learning about the food portions and nutrients required by the animals.

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EP WEEK 3

1. Your name, matric number, date

Chua Khai Xian

A182187

12/8/2023

2. Your progress so far

On Monday (7/8), we continued with our slides preparation for the health talk in IYRES. We did some rehearsal to make sure that we can produce a satisfying and informative sharing session.  Apart from the hectic work, we had lunch with the CEO of IYRES. It was a nice session with him.

On Tuesday (8/8), we rehearsed for one last time, practicing on giving a sharing session using malay language so that majority of the IYRES workers who are malay can understand well. Then, we gave a sharing session to the staff (around 30 people in the office) for an hour. The feedback from the health talk was great and they thought it was beneficial for them.

On Wednesday (9/8), We are told to do some decoration for Hari Kemerdekaan in the office. The theme given was peristiwa 513. This was a sensitive issue to be discussed and we had to make sure that it did not trigger any dissatisfaction from any race and at the same time  we had to include the component of 13 may into the decoration so that we fulfilled the requirement of the theme. We made a big poster where we showed the transition from 513 to the current modern malaysia. This is to show that even with the presence of tragedy in the past, we still can live in harmony with each other following the development in Malaysia. On the same day, we had a meeting with our supervisor (Prof Rosnah Sutan) and we discussed to work on writing a report that compares the health domain in the Malaysian youth index.

On Thursday (10/8), we continue to help out with the national day decoration around the office. We also continue to work out on report writing assigned by our supervisor.

On Friday (11/8): We finalized our decoration for national day. We also became a volunteer for the institut jantung negara that opened a booth in the ground floor of kementerian belia and sukan and helped with health screening where blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol level screening were provided. We also continue with our  report writing.

3. Your feelings and thoughts

After taking part in the decoration for Malaysia national day, I feel proud as a Malaysian deep inside my heart. This is because we as Malaysians are still able to live together in harmony and peace despite the tragedy that happened on 13 MEI 1969.

I feel stressed when we were told to prepare a report that analyzes and compares the health domain in Malaysia youth index which we need to support the findings by evidence from various articles. It is a master program task but my group mates and I will try our best to produce it.

I feel excited and enlightened because it was my first time giving a talk to a community level. I tried my best to avoid using medical jargon and explained using simple terms to ease their understanding on our slides. However, i believe there are more to improve such as we should explain more using malay language instead of using english most of the time. It was one of the most important experience in IYRES and I believe I will remember it for life.

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

I learn the skill of decision making when I have to decide which articles are relevant for the report writing. In fact, not all the articles' information can be trusted and used, we need to make a wise decision by reading it thoroughly and checking the source of the data before we make a decision to use the articles.

I also apply these skills when we are given two tasks at the same time. For example, when we are told to decorate for the national day and write reports. I have to decide which task is urgent and prioritize the important one. Decoration has to finish before next monday (14/8) and for the report, we need to finish before next wednesday (16/8). Thus, I decided to complete the decoration before proceeding to the next task.

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

My work at IYRES starts at 8 am and ends at 5 pm. However, if I leave at 5 pm from the office, I will be trapped in the traffic congestion for more than 1 hour between IYRES and my house. Thus, to ensure that I reduce my time being stuck in traffic congestion . I reach the office at IYRES at around 7: 30 am so that i can leave earlier at 4: 30pm. Nevertheless,I have to wake up quite early in the morning because it takes about 30 minutes to reach IYRES from my house. I schedule my time wisely and force myself to sleep earlier on the day before so that I can be more energetic and charged for the next day.

To ensure that we complete the task efficiently, I make sure that I complete my tasks before I go to rest (a short break for social media). Thus, we completed our tasks much earlier than the time given to complete the task and have more time to check everything we have done again to avoid errors.

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)

Continue with our work on the report

Volunteer to help in any tasks giving by IYRES next week

Join and visit National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (NCEMH)

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Assalamualaikum & hi everyone!
You are now in 3rd week of your EP journey! Good job on your progress so far!
Please share your experience with your friends. You can write, upload lots of pictures & videos. Do comment and give a like on your friends’ posts too =)

1. Your name, matric number, date

2. Your progress so far

3. Your feelings and thoughts

4. How did you learn and apply the skill of decision making in your EP journey?

5. How did you manage your time throughout this EP journey?

6. Your plan for next week (Week 4)