Deena Priyanka Edwards A/P Roger, A181019, 24/7/23 - 28/7/23

 

I volunteered in the Animal Vaccination Programme held at the SPCA Seberang Prai, Penang. It was my first time and I was briefed by the SPCA committee members and the veterinarians about the shelter and the vaccination programme. I helped in recording the animal details into the forms and health books provided by the veterinarian. I also helped to lift the animals from their cage and weigh them before getting their vaccination. There were 100 cats and 100 dogs vaccinated on that day. 

 

I learnt that not all animals are eligible for the vaccines. Animals with skin disease, underweight, pregnant and with flu are not vaccinated. 

I also learnt that soft skills is important even when dealing with animals. I noted the kind and caring gestures of the members in building a relationship and gaining the trust of the animals as some animals were very scared to get near to humans. 

I also learnt that having good communication skills is important as handling animals in a shelter is something new to me and I was able to do it well because I was able to communicate with the members and learn.

I feel so sad for the neglected animals. Many animals were sick with wounds on their bodies. On the other hand, I felt so happy and privileged to be a part of the programme in caring for the abandoned and sick animals. It was a great experience as the members there were friendly and they were happy to see me joining their team.

 

Difficulties I faced during the vaccination is some animals were quite fierce when I tried to lift them up to the vaccination table. Some animals were to scared and didn't allow me to get near to them. I called the other members to help as they have experience in handling such situations. I was also not sure to confirm if the animals I selected is healthy to be vaccinated and I also had some difficulty in identifying the gender of the animals as some animals have been spayed. So,  I asked the veterinarians for some guidance in checking the animals. 

 

Interesting, Useful 

My plan for the next week is to volunteer in helping to give treatment to the sick animals in the pet clinic area at the SPCA.  Many animals there with skin disease, wounds, ticks and eye infection needs treatment.

Teoh Qi Wei
A182051
24/07/2023 -  28/07/2023 (Week 1)

 

- On Monday, I have done self learning about IYRES through website

- On Tuesday, my group had a briefing by CEO of IYRES and also meeting with our prof

- On Wednesday, I have followed my group go on a tour around Kementerian Belia dan Sukan and also introduction of IYRES by HR manager

- On Thursday, there’s a meeting between my group and the CEO, HR manager and senior researcher. This meeting is about the introduction of the research papers by IYRES. We also get to know the system and website of IYRES. I also discussed with my group mates about future planning of our project. After IBN was introduced to us by the CEO, we registered ourselves on ebelia and signed up as an enumerator and volunteer on the website. We were given a lot of topics to discover through IBN so that we can come out with our interpretation 

- On Friday, we accidentally saw minister of youth and sport, Hannah Yeoh in the lobby of the building. Me and my groupmate managed to say good morning to her and she greeted us back as well. We also registered ourselves in the administrative office and got our pass. After getting our pass then we explore the facilities in the building such as library and gym as well.

I get the chance to see Hannah Yeoh, our minister of youth and sports in the lobby. It’s my first time seeing one of the ministers of Malaysia. She is very friendly and nice as she also greeted us back when we said “Good morning” to her.

Also it’s my first time to expose myself to an 8-5 office job. So it’s exciting to work in the office instead of the hospital and also be able to interact and communicate with my colleagues in the office. This widened my eyesight and allowed me to explore more future career pathways after I graduated from medical school. 

 

4. Your feelings & thoughts 

I feel very excited to attach to IYRES as this golden opportunity allows me to gain valuable experience to work in the youth support department. I feel very delightful to meet with the CEO of IYRES department and get to know the objectives and roles of IYRES

 

I am still unsure of some of the tasks that I’m going to perform throughout the 4 weeks. I am also not familiar with the potential tasks that we are going to perform in the following weeks. But I will do more readings about IYRES and also all the research materials from IYRES to cope with the difficulties.

 

Confused, excited

 

I will plan to attach to different department in IYRES and get to know the process of data collection and printing process of the research paper of IYRES

 Chan Hui Ying
 A181362
25/7/2023 - 29/7/2023 (Week 1)

On 25th July 2023, I started my elective posting by volunteering in Pusat Jagaan Pertubuhan Kebajikan Kampong Baru Mentakab. Ms Lim, the person in charge briefed me on the daily routines and health conditions of the elderly residents. Additionally, there were two caregivers assisting with the residents' care during my time there. I mainly focused on conducting health examinations for elderly residents including physical examinations and taking blood pressure and blood glucose measurements. I followed the established protocols for taking accurate readings and ensured a calm and comforting environment for elderly individuals. Besides, I also helped in maintaining the elderly's personal hygiene by making sure their rooms are tidy and pleasant and cutting their nails short and keeping them clean. 

 a. Proper Technique: I learned and practised the correct techniques for measuring blood pressure and blood glucose levels. 

b. Elderly Care: I gained insights into the specific needs of the elderly population and how to approach them with empathy and patience during medical assessments. Besides, as I’ve noticed there were some elderly residents who were on multiple medications, I also learned the importance of using pillboxes to avoid missing doses of medications. 

c. Effective communication: When working with older persons, effective communication is very important. I learned how to explain the procedures clearly and answer their questions patiently.

d. Record Keeping: It is essential to have accurate measurement records in order to track health trends and make wise medical decisions. I recorded their everyday blood pressure and blood glucose readings in a book so that the caregivers can always monitor their health conditions. 

4. Your feelings & thoughts 

My experience during week 1 was eye-opening and fulfilling. Spending my time and attention with the elderly made me feel satisfied. I was very touched and happy when seeing the smile on their faces. They were very kind and willing to share their stories and life experiences with me.  However, I also felt sad about their conditions as I realized that some of them might be lonely and in need of companionship from their family members. 

One of the difficulties I faced was dealing with the elderly who had hearing difficulties and had difficulty understanding my instructions. In order to cope with this, I spoke to them slowly and clearly. The other concern was encountering elderly individuals with limited mobility or cognitive impairments. There were some elderly residents with limited mobility due to amputation of the foot, in this case, I took extra care to make them feel comfortable and safe.

 Interesting, grateful 

My plan for next week is to contribute more to the old folks' home by carrying out clean-up activities at the old folks' home in order to promote a clean and comfortable living environment for the elderly residents. Besides, I also aim to learn more about their daily routines, personal stories, and interests to build stronger connections with them. 

 

On 24 July 2023, which was my first day of attachment to Morning Pharmacy in Kluang, there was a briefing given by my supervisor, Mr Heng who is a consultant pharmacist. He briefed me about the operation of a community pharmacy and the services that provided in the pharmacy. Besides, he also told me about the daily job scope of the pharmacists. After the briefing, I followed him going on a tour of the store of pharmacy and a warehouse. From this, I knew that there were 2 different business running by this pharmacy which was an offline shop in the pharmacy and an online shop which running by the workers in the warehouse. With this, Mr Heng brought me to the pharmacy’s warehouse to introduce about the online business. I observed the progress of online business from the process of e-commerce to the packaging of the stock. In the next few days, I started to help in the pharmacy shop. There were 2 pharmacists, 1 nursing graduate and 2 pharmacist assistants in the shop. I started to recognize and learn about the medicines and health supplements in the shop through the introduction by a pharmacist and the brochures. Besides, I started to help them by doing some works such as cleaning up the store in every morning by sweeping and mopping the floor. In summary, I learnt the operation of a community pharmacy and the basic job scope of a pharmacist in a community pharmacy.
 
3. Points to remember from week 1!

I realized that the operation of a community pharmacy was not easy. It included many areas of job scope of a pharmacist in a community pharmacy such as order stocks of medicines and as a consultant to the community to buying or consuming the medications. Besides the offline shop, a community pharmacy also ran online business to provide medicines for the online buyers. A community pharmacy was really different from a pharmacy in hospitals.

4. Your feelings & thoughts 
From the first week, I learnt a lot of pharmacological knowledges from the pharmacists. The pharmacists were so friendly and willing to teach me. I felt very happy as I had the chance to gain the experience to work with different professions such as pharmacist and nursing graduate. It was a great experience for me to learning in a community pharmacy. I hoped that I can learn more in the next week. 

5. Any difficulties/concerns? How did you cope?
In my first day of helping in pharmacy, I faced a difficulty which was the pharmacy was very busy as there were many customers at every hour. This made me afraid to bother and ask the pharmacists about some of the things that I do not know. They were very busy to serve the customers at every hour. Luckily, one of the pharmacists noticed my concern. She helped me a lot and always ask me if I had any question. She was very friendly and always teach me some pharmacological knowledge when she was free. I was so glad to meet her in my elective posting.

6. 2 words to describe elective posting progress so far
Adapting, Interesting

7. Your plan for next week (Week 2) 

In the next week, I plan to work as a retail assistant by learning to serve customers. Besides, I plan to learn the job scope of the cashier to collect payments. I will also be reading more on the details of the medicines and health supplements so that I can promote the medicines to the customers.