2007 – A year that meant so much to me is going to come to an end. It’s a year of change, a year which I have truly grown and matured. I wish time can stay still for a moment or two, long enough for me to reflect on this meaningful year of my life.
I started off this year as a
Volunteer at Tan Tock Seng Hospital Employed as a Physiotherapist assistant at the outpatient department Receiving satisfactory grades for my A levels Entering NYP Physiotherapy Touched and feel the first cadaver of my life Joined a school tour to Chiangmai University Knew my first Thailand friend Moving to Hong Kong Entering Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Physiotherapy Lived alone for 4 whole months Learned aerobic, social dance, jazz dance, yogalates Learned the Korean language Won my first swimming medal Moving on to be an on-field sport physiotherapist Did taping on my first athlete named Vincent Had my craziest examinations ever Took a flight all by myself Travelled to Penang with my lovely family Knew loads of great friends and professors!
That ended 2007.
In the new year 2008, I'm moving on to the 20th year of my life. Lots of wishes in my heart! Hope they will come true; hope that yours will come true too! Penang Trip Part 1
Finally, I met up with my secondary school clique! Although we didn't manage to get a place at Settler's cafe; we had a great feast at Aston Specialists before we went crazy at the Christmas Tree in front of Parkway Parade. Life is never boring with great friends around; especially friends that grew up with you; friends that know you so well! Merry Belated Christmas!
Stayed at home and surfed the net on Christmas Day. Watched X'mas videos and felt really great! People around the world enjoy X'mas so so much!
At night, my brother and I cooked our SPECIAL X'MAS MEAL! Success! Served with red wine. x1000 niCe!
Me making the Mashed Potato! Brother cooking the mushroom to make the white sauce for spagetti! ^^
The traumatizing, exhausting, arduous week has finally come to an end. Life has never been so difficult as a student in my past 19 years of life. The expectation was just simply exorbitant. Our department should have expected us to be an extraordinary being or have expected us not to do very well. 4 exams in a row seem normal to a student who has already survived through his or her A levels exams. Yet, my experience now is so different from the past. Study break and tips are non-existence. The contents of the subjects are unimaginably extreme. How could our seniors have survived this great wave in seminar one? The difference lies in the one addition subject for us – Generic Anatomy (a compilation of things that one has to study in medicine school.)! This might be a factor that put us into a higher level of exhaustion and lead us to a point of collapse. Our accumulated tiredness throughout the months, adding on the stress this few weeks, our bodies have seriously reached a point of fatigue.
Yet, I am still in front of desk, reading through my textbook that is of 1209 pages; trying to memorize muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, fascia, joints that are of such great importance for us. The day to return home seems so near and yet so far.
Life recently has been sickening. My brain has not been concentrating for the past hours; I have been thinking a lot of things. Things that can get me out of this miserable week: to celebrate and get crazy with friends, to stroll on the beach with my family, swimming in Penang with my brother, to find a guy for me to love and lean on. Daddy said that I should blog when I am bored, when I am down; so here I am writing this, to get myself out of frustration. I am actually studying Functional Anatomy now, something that I enjoyed extremely; but now seems to be the wrong time. I simply need a break, a really long break, long enough to get myself out of the traumatized state.
Back to study. Do concentrate. I can’t afford to not do well for the subject I like. Am I expecting too much out of myself?
P.S. Broke my recording of sleeping time before exams. Stayed up for the night for Generic Anatomy Exam.(slept for 1.5 hrs)
One of my classmates noticed that there are tips for other departments taking the same subject; they decided to hold a referendum on the exam. Here is the details! :D
Somethings to destress during exam period. Everyone is studying so hard. 5 more exams to come. Jia you!
Exam Timetable
Tue: PPTP(prinicple of physio practice) theory pp Wed: Physiology Written exam (40 MCQ + 4 essays) Thurs: PPTP practical exam (Ambulation, transfer, MMT/ROM/ex of UL and trunk) Fri: Generic Anatomy (100 MCQ + 100 fill in the blanks) Nxt Tue: Functional Anatomy (MCQ + 5 problem based essay qns) Nxt Thurs: Functional Anatomy Lab Exam (100 Qns) Nxt Friday:Back to Tanah Merah Kechil.:D
Great stress! Huge amount of energy, brain power, determination and resilience needed. The worst is yet to come.
This is sooo cute!!! I learnt how to draw Doraemon since I was Primary 6!!!! It's like one of my symbol!
Another version of the word F**K! Soo fun! Well, it can use for easy learning of English!
Last lesson of PPTP, ending with the trunk! We have finally learnt the exercises, ROM, MMT of the whole body! Practical exam on Thurs!!! :P. Everyone is so not paying attention. I feel that Shirley should be more strict like Dora. Student, afterall, needs some control. :D
I wanna go sing now!!!!!
The following are the keywords for the chapter on Nervous System for Generic Anatomy. Understand and know how to spell them all. There are 13 more chapters to go. PT students, JIA YOU lo!
The Nervous System
1) Locomotion, conduction, reflexes (involuntary) 2) Medullary cone:S1-S2 3) Cauda equine: L5-S2 4) Denticulate ligament 5) Ventral, dorsal, lateral horn, central canal, gray commissure 6) Ventral, dorsal, lateral column (funiculi) 7) Dorsal root ganglion: somtosensory neuron 8) Ascending tract: 9) Dorsal column: Cuneate fasisculus, Gracile fasisculus; 10) Ventral,Dorsal spinocerebellar tracts; 11) Anterolateral system: spinothalamic tract, spinovesticular tract 12) Descending tract: 13) Lateral, ventral corticospinal tract 14) Lateral, medial reticulospinal tract 15) Lateral, medial vestibulospinal tract 16) Nerves - endoneurium –perineurium- epineurium 17) 31 pairs of spinal nerves 18) Proximal branches: dorsal, ventral roots 19) Distal branches: dorsal, ventral ramus; meningeal branches 20) Ventral rami branches/ anastomoses: Cervical, brachial, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal plexus 21) Reflex arch: 22) Somatic receptors- afferent n. fibres-integrating centre- efferent n. fibres- skeletal muscle 23) Paraplegia 24) Quadriplegia 25) Hemiplegia 26) Cerebrum: longitudinal fissure; frontal, parietal, occipital lobe; Central,lateral sulcus; gyri; cerebellar hemisphere 27) Insula – corresponding function? 28) Rostral/ caudal 29) Brainstem 30) Gray matter: Superficial, cortex, nuclei, dendrites, synapse, neurons cell bodies 31) White matter: Deep, bundles of axons(tract), myelinated 32) Periosteal, meningeal layer; dural sinus: tranverse, superior sagittal sinus; falx cerebri, tectorium cerebelli, falx cerebelli; arachnoid matter, pia matter 33) Basal nuclei – motor learning- deep n lateral to the thalamus 34) Brain centres : (Can Pass Gp) Caudate nucleus, Putamen, Globus pallidus 35) Limbic system: Cingulate gyrus, Amygdala, Hippocampus – emotion, learning, gratification,aversion 36) Post central gyrus: Primary somesthetic area 37) Pre central gyrus: primary motor area 38) Central lateralization: Diff function on each hemisphere; categorical hemisphere; representational hemisphere 39) Brainstem: Diencephalon- midbrain- pons- medulla oblongata 40) Diencephalon- thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus 41) Cerebellum: white matter (arbor vitae), vermis, gyri(folia), purkinjie fibres(balance), deep nuclei, superior/inferior cerebellar peduncles 42) Alzheimer disease: memory loss, degenerate of the celebral gyrus, hippocampus 43) Parkinson’s disease: paralysis agitans, loss of motor function, degenerative substantia nigra (dopamine releasing cell) 44) Visceral reflex- detect- stretch, damage tissue, temperature, blood chemicals, internal stimuli 45) Autonomic reflex arc: Baroreceptors- through glossopharyngeal n. to medulla oblongata- vagus transmit s to the ganglion of hear – decrease heart rate etc. 46) Neural pathway of ANS: preganglionic neuron ( soma in brainstem, spinal cord), postganglionic neuron (soma in the ganglion to target cells) 47) Nerves exiting ganglia: spinal nerve route- sympathetic nerve root- splanchnic n. root (pass sympathetic & collateral ganglion)
P.S. HAPPY BRITHDAY BROTHER GOAT!!!!!!
Hope you find your dream girl soon!!! GPA 4.0! See you soon! :D JIA YOU FOR EXAMS n PROJECTS!
Hahahahahaha! This song is the song you sang during your A STAR ceremony! I thought of you nodding your head on the stage. hahahaha.
My Jazz Dance teacher combining all the dance steps she taught us the previous lessons! Perfect moves.I can't really do the last few parts smoothly though! You can find me in background too! Yesterday was the last lesson. SOB!
Cleared Movement Science (biomechanics) and Science and Technology and environment in China (electives) Exams today! Yea!
Bought a jacket for myself.
Last lesson of Yogalates too.
Semester coming to an end soon. Gonna miss it alots. Yet, I can't wait to return to Singapore! 16 more days! 6 more exams to conquer! Jia you la, everybody!
"Self-shot" photo @ Kowloon Station with Daddy! Went shopping with him last Saturday, searching for shirts with collar and pocket! Finally, after several hours, we found some POLO CLUB T-shirts that matched his description.
On a mini-bus in HK. A meter was installed to take note of the speed such as to prevent the driver from speeding. Some signs that I found real interesting. You can imagine the amount of frustration that lead to the development of such beautifully written signs.
My favourite 3 dishes + 1 soup meal. HK20.Seldom do I eat so much @ night.
Went to Uncle Wong 's sch Open Day. Some cute random shots of him. :D It's like I am a Paparazzo. haha. He didn't know I was there. @ the beginning. During some prize presentation. @ the opening ceremony of the 探索教室！ 探索教室!!! Real cool! How I wish this was my room!!!! @ Midnight 0000! Only time when everyone is back @ hostel! :D:D:D Nicely captured!
The link to the school: http://www.plklfs.edu.hk/pages/intro/intro.asp
Seriously lack of time. I shouldn't be blogging.Weekend burnt- onfield for basketball competition. Next week is the deadline for one undone report plus 1 tests and 2 exams!!! How dead am I going to be? ahhh!
These are some concepts that has been lingering in my minds for quite some time. It was not until I picked up a book from the library that I finally realised the immerse stress that our knee is undergoing each day.I have summarised the facts as followed. Exam coming next Wednesday.
2 Biomechanical functions of the knee
1) Aids in knee extension by producing anterior displacement of the quadriceps tendon throughout the entire range of motion, thereby lengthening the lever arm of the quadriceps muscle force. 2) Allows a wider distribution of compressive stress on the femur by increasing the area of contact between the patella tendon and the femur. The contribution of the patella to the length of the quadriceps muscle force lever arm varies from full flexion to full extension of the knee. At full flexion: Patella is in the intercondylar groove, it produces little displacement of the quadriceps tendon, and it contributes the least to the length of the quadriceps muscle force lever arm (10% of the total length).
As knee is extended (up to 45 degrees), Patella rises from the intercondylar groove, producing significant displacement of the tendon. (lengthen the lever arm up to about 30%)
Knee extension beyond 45 degrees, Length of the lever arm is diminished slightly. With this decrease in its lever arm, the quadriceps muscle force must increase for the torque about the knee to remain the same.
Studies show that the quadriceps force required to increase the knee the last 15 degree increased by approximately 60%.
If patella is removed from a knee, The patellar tendon lies closer to the center of motion of the tibiofemoral joint than in an intact knee. Acting with a shorter lever arm, the quadriceps muscle must produce even more force than is normally required in order for a certain torque about the knee to be maintained during the last 45 degrees of extension. This increase in force may be beyond the capacity of some patients, particularly those who have intra-articular disease.
Quadriceps muscle lever (represented by broken line) in a normal knee from which the patella has been removed. The lever arm is the perpendicular distance between the force exerted by the quadriceps muscle through the patellar tendon and the instant centre of the tibiofemoral joint for the last 2 degress of extension.
Statics and Dynamics of the PATELLOFEMORAL JOINT
In general, the greater the muscle force, the greater the joint reaction force. In this joint, the quadriceps muscle force increases with knee flexion.
During relaxed upright standing, Minimal quadriceps muscle force are required to counterbalance the small flexion moments about the patellofemoral joint because the centre of gravity of the body above the knee is almost directly above the centre of rotation of this joint.
During knee flexion, The centre of gravity shifts farther away from the centre of rotation, thereby greatly increasing the flexion moments to be counterbalanced by the quads muscle force. As the quads muscle force rises, so does the patellofemoral joint reaction force.
Level walking requires little knee flexion, the reaction force was low. The peak value, in the middle of stance phase when flexion is the greatest, was one half the body weight.
During stairs climbing and descent, at the point when knee flexion reached a maximum of about 60 degrees, the peak value for joint reaction force equaled 3.3 times the body weight.
When knee is extended, the lower part of patella rests against the femur. As the knee is flexed to 90 degrees, the contact surface between the two surface between the patella and femur shifts cranially and its size increases. This increase in contact surface with knee flexion to some extent compensated for the large patellofemoral joint.
For a tendon rupture of weight lifer lifting a barbell of 175g: The torque on the knee joint was 550 Nm and the quads muscle force was 10,300N at the instant of tendon rupture when knee was flexed to 90 degrees!!!
Therefore, patients with patellofemoral joint derangements experience increased pain when performing activities that requires large amount of knee flexion.
Q: Quadriceps tendon P:Patella tendon J:Patellofemoral joint Throughout the knee bend the patellofemoral joint reaction force remained higher than the quadriceps.
Some other facts: During the different phases of walking: 1) Heel Strike : *Hip Abductors, Extensors : 4x Bodyweight 2)Push off: *Hip Adductors, Flexors : 7x Bodyweight
Most stable position for the hip: Abduction,lateral rotation,extension (frog leg position)
The two main moments acting around the centre of motion of the tibiofemoral jt (solid dot) are designated on the free body diagram of the lower leg during stair climbing. Since the lower leg is in equilibrium, the extending moment produced by the patellar tendon force P times its lever arm (b) counterbalances the flexing moment prodcued by the ground reaction force W times its lever arm (a). The weight of the lower limb is disregarded.
Joint reaction force in terms of body weight transmitted through the tibial plateau during walking, one gait cycle (12 subjects). The muscle forces producing the peak magnitudes of this force are designated.
With thanks to Margareta Nordin - Basic Biomechanics of the Musculoskeletal system.
(合)i'll beat you down 猎狩终极目标没有人能够阻挡 陷阱就在我前方我拼了命的跑 呼吸害怕心跳不管你ready or not 未来绝不能摆汤 i said i'll beat chu down …
yes sir!.............
Update for today:
Finished studying the chapter for cardiovascular system, clear all my messed up concept! Yet, I am still half way through with the sickening report.STARS training room was quiet until our basketball player, Vincent, came crashing in, requesting for sweets and started his random chats. :D Did my first taping on him --a real person-in-need. Thanks Vincent for being my guinea pig. :D
0830pm today is my favourite time of the week. JaaaaaaaZZZZeeeeee Dance!!!! Feel the move, the power!!!! Ended at around 10sth before I started chatting with Mummy over Skype.
I believe that quotes are very powerful words that had really affected my life one way of another. It keeps you moving when you are down. It keeps you moving again when you are losing momemtum. It keeps your life going. It makes you realise how lucky and blessed you are in this messed-up world. Words that come from people you love and trust are even more powerful; but in drastic moment when no one is here to offer a helping hand - a motivational quote really does help! Here are some quotes to keep us prepared for the incoming exams, clinicals or difficulties in life. They are my personal favourites. Overcome all difficulties we face! Life is beautiful.
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination. Tommy Lasorda
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done. Vince Lombardi
Within each of us is a hidden store of determination. Determination to keep us in the race when all seems lost. Roger Dawson
Those who don't understand determination call determination stubbornness or too driven. To be determined is to see it through! Catherine Pulsifer
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Ayn Rand
You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals. Edmund Hillary
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. Stephen A. Brennan
When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life. Greg Anderson
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. Seneca
If you have a goal in life that takes a lot of energy, that requires a lot of work, that incurs a great deal of interest and that is a challenge to you, you will always look forward to waking up to see what the new day brings. Susan Polis Schultz
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. Auguste Rodin
Giving of yourself, learning to be tolerant, giving recognition and approval to others, remaining flexible enough to mature and learn - yields happiness, harmony, contentment and productivity. These are the qualities of a rich life, the bounteous harvest of getting along with people. Jack C Yewell
Sunday 17th Nov 2007 I actually went for my first election in my whole life! The Hong Kong Distrinct Election! Wow! I am finally free to vote! Is that a sign of maturation? :) Being politically apathetic, I voted for someone without much knowledge of who he was. At least, I know his name is 林浩杨 and that he does not participate in activities that involved with mainland China！Anyway, my Aunt said that he was better than the other although both was not her ideal choice. Oh Well.
Before that, I paid a visit to my Aunt's place and had a homey dinner.Suptumous meal.:) The one wrapped in a lotus leaf was one of dishes invented by Aunt Bonnie.I must really give credits to all the dishes she created. All of them tasted delicious including some beef I ate today. Fishes,pork,prawn,eggs... ... Bravo! :P I am lack of adjectives for food. I will definitely need to check out my dictionary some days. :P
I also managed to get a shot of my 2 years old cousin, Malvis, sleeping that day. He got into some temper after waking up, wanting Mummy to hug him. Sometimes, I wonder whether one should accustom to the need of a child. It's a real controversial issue in today's world. Babies in the modern world are scare and precious. Do we listen to the professionals? Or do we listen to old and experienced? Hmm.
Monday 18th Nov 2007 Dragged myself to school and survived through a two hours before returning to the hostel around 1pm. After that, I read up my notes on the cardiovascular system and took a nap before heading for Yo Park for K BOX and Buffet. It was something we planned 3 weeks ago after our mid-term.The great day had finally arrived. :D They actually gave us a 8 people room for the 4 of us! Look at the size of the TV; it makes K BOX back home(SG) seems so inferior. An incomplete picture with the 4 mad girls. The other complete pictures are with them!!! Food and more food. Plus free flow of drinks - punch,coffee,soup,tea ++++ Only HK88 in total for each person.
A video. :D
Doraemon song I sang. :p
Tuesday 19th Nov 2007 Went to Uncle's school open day. Photos to be uploaded... ...
A shot taken when I was studying Generic Anatomy - a subject taken by all nursing and rehabilitation science students. Previously, this subject was not taken by Physiotherpy students, our department decided to try it out on our batch to find out its usefullness. It basically is a simplified version of Human Anatomy which requires us to finish the whole Anatomy including all the systems in our body in One Semester.Well,it is basically ignored by us PTs because we are going to study all the things in great details in Functional Anatomy.
As I have mentioned before, a full set of bones are assigned to us and the picture above shows the skull bone.It really does facilitate my learning!
Saturday,November 12, 2007 Korean Class. Went to Tai Koo to meet up Daddy's Third Aunt. Aquarium below her house! Here is some Nemo Fishes.
Sunday, November 11, 2007 Physiotherpay Class Action Project
This is a community-based project that allows me to observe older adults. I'll need to obersve how these individuals function in a given environment. The functional status of an individual can be affected by different physical or psychosocial factors. The 4 general components to an individual's funcational status includes 1) Physical Factors - activities if daily living, walking, climbing stairs 2) Mental Function - intelligence, conginitive abilities, memory 3) Emotional Function - motivation, ability to adapt, coping with life such as stress, anxiety, satisfaction 4) Social Function - interactions with family and community and any economic consideration
I personally find this very meaningful, it allows me to see things that I never could have take notice of. For instance, we can know the cognitive status of a person by looking at the calenders on the wall, the clock etc. This is also my first time trying to understand so deeply about human facial expression and the way they act and talk.
0900- Gathering area @ Aberdeen.
Gals I see almost everyday without fail.:)
The Goodies Bags given by the Association for the elderly we are going to visit. It contains the ancient kind of calender with the big numbers on it.
Before that, we were briefed on the procedures for the home visit, the things we should record and convert and the exercies that we should teach them. Here is a video of KEN KEN and HAY HAY demonstrating on the things we should say when we approach the elderly.
1100am - Travel to Lee Tung Estate
The POPO in the front is the first elderly that I met! (Details held confidential, to be revealed later) Notice the walls between us, that's the width of the house.
I went to two other homes after lunch. I really felt pity for one paticular POPO. It seems that she has been cursed by all tragedies in the world. At the time when I was talking to her, she cried for several time. It saddened me for quite some time but at the time, it made me realised how blessed I am and recognised the need of being filial.
Her tragic life started when she lost her husband after 6 years of marriage.When she was around 30 years old, her vision started to get blur and she couldn't see at night. It was until around 50 years old that she began totally blind. Due to the lack of education and training, she was not able to work and go outdoor from then onwards. She was not taught to ambulate as a blind individual and hence has been locked in the house for this 30 over years (currrently 82). The only place that she visits very often is the hospital as she has problems all over her body.The following is her medical conditions:
1) Surgical removal of the uterus and the ovary done 2) Ulcers in stomach causing her great discomfort in taking antibiotics 3) Stroke on the right side of the body 4) Arthritis of joints throughout the body. Joints swollen, causing chronic pain. 5) In the recent month, skin infection on the skin. Conditions worsen as wound deepens and increase in surface area.
Just this month, there is a nurse that visits her everyday to bring her to the clinic to change her wound. This is the time where she can buy a packet of food that could last for her 2 meals ahead. Ironically, she is staying with her son and family; however, they are not providing them with the daily needs or even a meal. In addition, the government is also threatening to cut her monthly sum given to her due to the fact that she is staying with her family. One really cannot imagine the consequences.
We had a sharing session after that.
Thursday,November 13, 2007 Commerce of my Jazz Dance! Feeling sexy? Feel my power? Two words - simply cool.
Wednesday,November 14, 2007 One of our Biomechanics Tutorial. Freddei on a ECG - Testing on muscle activity on both side of the limbs with different movement initiated.
Commence of Yogalates @ 0700pm. A form of relaxation. Over--stretched my muscles though.
Thursday,November 15, 2007 Kowloon Hospital - Buddy attachment. Hydrotherapy pool of KH. CPR on Adults. CPR on Babies. My 2.5 months of First Aid lessons had finally ended this week! :) Can't wait to finish the exam coming next next week. It was also the finale for my social dance. Ended up dancing Waltz will 0945pm.
Friday - today. Anatomy Lab- completed the whole body at last, leaving with the cervical region. PPTP- Finished ROM n MMT of upper limb. STARS till 1030pm.
Some weeks back, my room mate and I actually cooked! :) A picture to remember the fun and joy.
I have a lot of hesitation recently when it comes to planning of activities that involve human interaction. I find comfort locking myself in the hostel, reading my notes and shutting myself from all form of communication with the outside world (except from MSN). Am I suffering from some of kind of mental illness or what? Maybe, the things that I need to study are piling up and there is way too little time for me to clear it. Dreaming and surfing the Internet are things that causing me to lose concentration. My weekends this week are already burnt! There is outdoor classroom on Sunday for the whole day and on Saturday; there is Korean class and an obligation to visit my Third Aunt’s place. The mere thinking of it simply makes me sick. Weekends are supposedly for us to procrastinate, sit down, sleep and rot through it. Isn’t it? Maybe, I am not at the right age in doing so. Every minute of me is so precious that it should not be wasted. Everything done should come with a reason and it should be constructive. In just one lecture, there can be over 50 bombarding words thrown into your face, wanting you to not just recognize them but to remember them. “You pay this amount of money, you get what you deserve to get!” This is Dr. William’s favourite quote. Well, I am really speechless on that. Basically, the lecturer tells you truly that one slide should require 45 minutes of your studying time, and there are a total of 50 over slides! That’s university. The good thing is; it allows you ample of time to sleep till 10am for some days of the week. :P
Yesterday morning, Dora, our lecturer returned us our marking sheet for our first PPTP (Principle of physiotherapy practical)’s practical. I obtained an A for both parts of the exam. The first part was on the measurement of the range for ankle inversion, I was so careful in the set up that the whole process actually took 7.04s and due to the fact the I didn’t do a Passive Range of Motion on the uninvolved side of the leg (in practical, people seldom do it too, but it’s exam), my distinction flew away. The other part was exercise prescription, I was lucky and got a really simple question, it required me to increase the strength of knee extensors during free active exercises! Yet, I touched the left leg and said it was the right by a slip of my mouth; distinction flew away again! The surprising thing was that I actually didn’t recognize the trick movement of the patient incorrectly; you really do not have to follow the book on it! I am really prepared to dump my Clarkson book away. :P
Skipped the useless Physiology lecture in the afternoon and went home for self- study. After I was about to settled down, I found ants crawling from my room mate’s table towards the window frame and hence spent quite some time cleaning and wiping up everything again. Hope those tiny creatures don’t appear again! I will squash them to death. Irritating creatures trying to conquer my room; I am always here to defend and fight till the end. :P
Yesterday was also the day I finally got my Clinical Uniform ready! It’s a simple shirt plus a skirt. I thought it looks okay compared to the pants I need to wear during the days as a physiotherapist assistant. At least, I don’t look like a cleaner.
Here is a picture we(Karen, me, Grace) took on the way to Aberdeen’s centre for an outdoor classroom activity. There we were each assigned to one elderly and we were told to interview his or her health status physically and psychologically using the Vitality Plus Scale and later,test their balance using the Berg’s Balance Test. The following is some general information about the 81 years old POPO I interact with.
Handgrip: 10.0kg Elbow flex-ext x10 times: 16.87s Sit to Stand x 5 times: 11.00s Resting Pulse: 58beats/min Pulse after exercise: 68 beats/min
We also did lots of theraband exercises and some mini dances, with oldies song in the background. Happy day. (last Friday)
Physio gal students plus our lecturer, DORA on the extreme right. :D
Can't wait for Waltz on Thursday and Yogalates and Jazz starting next week. Dancing seriously makes me happy, it's really worth spending time on it.
The Basketball team I am supporting every Friday till 10pm!
< One of my random meals in HK. How can I not gain weight?
Although many stuffs might come crashing into my face, I believe I am still in control to sort it out. Stay cool. I am cool. A+ for finals. Hope so. There are people that can get 100 marks for genetic exam in John Hopkins University and my brother can get 96; so what's the big deal getting 90 and above. Trash exams and strive! :P
Song of the week
It's really touching although it's not really possible. It makes me think of the possible people that I could have loved so dearly. Have I found one? Could I have one?
For a moment,I am feeling liberated from my mid-term tests although final exams are just one month away. Just came back from my practical, feeling great for a moment or two until I found out that I answered a bonus question wrongly. That means that the chance of pulling up my previous test had reduced. I hate it when minor things in life actually had the power to affect your whole emotion. Maybe, I was setting quite a high expectation; I was actually aiming for a GPA of 3.9 or above. Other subjects are doing well; I just need to continue to keep up with the good work. Here, I need to congratulate my brother on '爆四'ing (Scoring a maximum GPA of 4.0). I finally realized the difficulties in doing so. It's so pressurizing.
November is a month for me to upgrade my brain CPU. Finishing the whole of Anatomy and the different systems in our body. Memorizing plus more memorizing. Finals will be all application questions. That's mean I would need to start linking stuffs from Physiology, Biomechanics and Anatomy.
Plus 2 lab reports and 1 outfield report.
Jia you!
I got to go to open lab later at night. Long since I went there for self study, all those exams are causing me to pile up lots of works.
November- no tests and exams- an enjoyable time for studying. Mad studying.
Joining Yogalates(a combination of Yoga and Pilates) too! :)
Over with Traditional Chinese Medicine, moving on to the development of science and technology. :)
Learnt Waltz for the first time today! It makes you float around like a ghost. Love it. haha.
When a shit thing happened in your life, nothing seems to excite you for long. At times when you are busy or engaged in fun activities, you might be withdrawn from that shit feeling for a moment or two, but when you are settled down, you thought of it always. It looms you, especially when you think it’s caused by your very own action. It haunts you. It lingers on your mind. That’s the reason I called it ‘shit’. Shit enough for my brother to say, “You are seriously 1x asshole.” Maybe, things never go as soothing as I want it to be. Inexperience, laziness and assumption are killers that make our life screw up in a way that you could never imagine. Well, to some, this shit thing might seem super unimportant; I am not diagnosed with cancer, neither have I failed some major exam, cheated by some guy, set a house on fire or go bankrupt due to gambling. Basically, I have just booked a plane that crashed with my exam. Yet, it’s not that simple, there is a whole story to tell. I don’t feel so shit for such a minute problem. 3 weeks before today, Mummy asked me to start to book tickets to return to Singapore during my Christmas holiday. I thought it was a little early but did as followed as she was definitely more experienced than me about plane bookings. I booked through a travel agent as I haven’t got my VISA card ready due to another stupid reason. (I thought it was unnecessary and hence procrastinated my application.) Everything was actually settled within a week, Mummy transferred money to me and I transferred it to the Four Season Agent HangSeng’s Bank Account. Yet, I thought that after I had transferred the money, my booking for the e-ticket would immediately be processed. In real fact, I need to contact the agent personally to confirm the air ticket. At the time of my realization, the agent told me that the plane on the 21th Dec (original booking date) was fully booked and asked me whether I can change it to 20th Dec. I replied with no worried as I thought that exams end on the 18th Dec (as printed on the exam timetable). This week, my Anatomy teacher told me that Anatomy Lab is also on the 20th Dec and will be commencing at nine am. My flight is at 11am. Shit. That’s the shit thing I am still thinking about. The agent fooled me that 21th Dec is fully booked, there are still seats available online! What the… …
Happy things. Learnt rock n roll this Thursday with a super funny parthner. Went to Aberdeen Centre for outdoor classroom. Did a Berg Balance test on the elderly and did exercises with them. Got an A+ for Anatomy mid-term test and passed my Traditional Chinese Medicine! Last lesson for aerobic dance; dance steps were jumpy and energetic. Love it.
Hope that I can successfully changed my tickets this coming morning. Luckily, this shit things never built up to more shitty things. God bless.
Time flies before I realized that I have been back for almost 2 months. Nothing seems to have changed. To me, maybe, life without Mummy and Daddy wasn’t as comfortable as ever, the feeling of staying alone isn’t that bad either. Maybe, it’s basically because I’m still not alone. I have millions of support from my family, relatives, professors and even friends locally and abroad. Each played a different role in keeping me wholesome, unique, secure and safe. First, I am still not financially independent; Daddy is providing me more than enough money for my daily life and my school fees are all paid for without any unnecessary worries. Technology has enabled me to keep in contact with all my beloved family members in Singapore and the US. I am seriously blessed by this lovely family that never ever runs out of topics to discuss about. Daddy is getting cuter by each day and Mummy is able to make life happier and busier. No worries for them. Secondly, random chats with friends make me happy. We thought back about old times and complaint on common topics like how our JC teachers fooled us that university students have a better life than JC students. Teachers are all friendly and approachable. We have tea sessions which make us bond like close friends. Here, I am given the opportunities to try out lots of activities, from dancing to being be an on-field physiotherapy. Many things actually make me happy. Tests and exams might seem trivial to me for a moment or two when I think about life. In the middle of the night, it might be more meaningful blogging or sleeping rather than studying about how neurons in our body actually work. It’s how you think that affect your emotion, how you want your life to go, how you balance your life that makes you who you are. Right? I have gone all the way Tuen Man today to support for our basketball team; at first when I was called, I felt that it was such a waste of time. Yet, after the match and after they won and after I see their smiles on their faces and how they approach us; I felt happy, contented. Life is that simple, isn’t it? Today morning was my Generic Examination which consisted of 90 questions, so far, I knew I have got 4 wrong due to ‘low MQ’. I have read the answer somewhere and basically forgot about it. I will never ever forget that oropharynx is made up of stratified squamous epithelial and not pseudostratified squamous epithelial.
Life is simple. Live through it.
All universities students have their own struggle, I am struggling with Anatomy, Brother is struggling to get into some programme at Harvard and friends are struggling with lab reports. Who is not busy?
All adults have their own troubles. Getting a job, getting a house, a wife,children,pension… … or even universal suffrage.
My 5 years old cousin is going for lots of interview to fight for a place in primary school. Life is easy?
We just try to obtain fun in life without forgetting our responsibility.
Uncle Dennis and Gordon bought me an Ipod Touch for my commencement as an university student. Thanks a lot. Add to my list of motivation to work hard. Everyone I know rocks. They fulfill my life.
Being in a different place interacting with many different people seriously widened my horizon on things. People of different genres often have criticisms about eachother. They tend to find fault among themselves and make eachother into a joke in order to find entertainment in themselves. Yet, that's life. We need the elements of joy, melancholy and frustration all at the same time in order to make our life perfect. Many often asked me the differences between Singapore and HK's educational system. Do I study even harder in Singapore compared to Hong Kong? I always tell them, primary school system in Singapore is definitely much slacker, seldom could one see children with piles of homework stacking up; they are always running around freely on standard foot-ball size fields. I couldn't make a comparision with universities because I wasn't in there before. So? I basically can't answer their question. Yet, comparing Physiotherapy course across 3 countries, including Singapore, Chiangmai and Hong Kong; the pace in HK is indeed much more intense. Despite that, students here are really active in extra-curriculum activities; which is often conducted at night.
The following is a slight comparison between HK and SG's modules for Semester One in Physiotherapy.
1) We have our own set of bones for Anatomy to bring home and Anatomy lab is opened for three nights for cadavers' exploration. There are quiz questions for us to complete. This greatly induces independent learning. Seniors are often stationed in those open labs to solve your question. Clinical Anatomy books and altas are there provided in the lab and bookstand are stituated on top of each of the 10 cadavers. This enabled us to read the text and locate the parts while exploring the bodies.
2) For Prinicipal of Practice in PT, notes are really well-organised; it states all the thing you need to prepare for each lessons. In just 3 weeks, we finished the MMT(muscle manual testing) and measurement of the ROM (range of motion) for the lower limb and moving on to the usage of equipments for excercises like the reciprocal pulley and sling. We were already exposed to the clinical assesment form and had a role play on how you go about assessing a patient. For example, how you can finish the MMT and ROM test without moving the patient into a different position each time. Moreover, our teacher likes to criticize the method in our Clarkson book and stimulate us in thinking of better ways in assessing the patients. Recently, we were told to go home and practise drawing different movements during stickman (there is a standard guide for stickman too!) so that we can draw it fast for patients when it comes to exercise perscription in clinicals.
3)For Movement Science (like Biomechanics and Kinesiology), we were exposed to all different kinds of equipments that are used in research to teach us about body movement. Things include the strain gauge and piezoelectric technology that used to view our ground reaction force in the study of human walking, the VICON machine to measure movement of the joints and the EquiTest system that test on our sensory organisation.
4) Con-currently, we have a subject called Generic Anatomy where we are given a whole general picture of Anatomy. Therefore, in some sense, we already have an idea of the structure of the whole body and hence you could find me studying the skull bones when I am actually doing on the lower limbs in Functional Anatomy.
5) As for Physiology, we have been touching on the nervous system for 3 consecutive weeks. hmm... More to go.
6) For my elective, I have chosen Traditional Chinese Medicine and Technology in China and is now struggling to understand things like Acupuncture Meridian that doesn't even exist in Anatomy. It's real interesting though. Just hope that I can get through the test next next week.
Lately, I have been attending the gym almost every mid-night. Well, I basically love the feeling of being healthy. It produces the hormone endorphins, remember? ^^
Aerobic dance started this Wednesday and it was seriously fun. It gave me the opportunity to jump about, unlike social dance that need me to control the movement, I felt a sense of freedom. At the end, there are cooling down exercises that lengthens my muscles. Bravo. Maybe, this shows that I am not at all graceful. (or everyone already knows that? haha.)The teacher looks werid with muscles and a big golden-framed spectacles but he is good in teaching. So, who cares?
This saturday was also the commercement of my Korean class. And the teacher was seriously funny and hence induced me to become funny too. I kept turning out with non-sensible answers that the teacher came forward to shake his hand with me. There are never wrong answers in a language class he said. Well, many of things he said actually stimulate me to think a lot. He told us that students shouldn't copy down notes because one will feel relief that he or she had everything down and your brain will not try to remember it. And that he despises American culture cause they do not even have a language of their own; their language originated from Rome. With a typical Korean look with squash eyes and muscular body, his humour and thinking added on to his charm. I am going to miss his lesson due to Anatomy make-up. Arr.
Tests are starting next week and I might be able to blog no more. Many activities had started and my nights are all occupied. Here is my schedule, just in case you couldn't find me. (Specially to Mummy,Daddy,Uncle Gordon and Aunt Bonnie who is always concerned about my whereabout)
Monday: Lesson Time (0830-1730) Anatomy Lab (1800-2100)
Tuesday:Lesson Time (1330-1430) STAR (Sport Training and Rehab) Gym Duty (1830-2100 :alternate Tue)
Wednesday:Lesson Time (1830- 1430) Aerobic Dance (1900- 2030)
Thursday:First Aid class (1300-1600) Social dance (2030-2130)
Friday:Lesson Time (0830-1730) STAR (attached to Basketball) (19:30-21:30)
Yestersday was Polyu Info day. Repeated the same thing for thousand of times. Many who were very interested in our course was shocked by our intake score. Work hard and join us yea! Physio is fun! It's actually not that hard to get in.
Song of the week.
Artist: Richard Marx and Donna Lewis Song: At the Beginning
Life is a road And I want to keep going Love is a river I wanna keep flowing Life is a road Now and forever Wonderful journey
GOGOGOGOGOGOOGOGOGOGOGO! Strive in Life! Have Resilience in everything you do and started out with!!! Love is all around.
Mid Autumn was quite special this year due to the fact that I am now situated in HK without the company of my family members. Though there was no moon, my mood was not dampened; it was my first time celebrating this day, I am definitely full of ideas to make it fun! In the afternoon, I went to school for an one hour lecture and borrowed some Chinese Medicine books. Later, I rushed back to read up on some Anatomy and settled off to my Third's Aunt place. An ordinary dinner we had - Fish, Chicken and my Aunt's fav. winter melon soup. On my way back to the hostel, I bought candles and the joyous part of my day began.
This is the stuffs we did. :D Played with laterns in the room and took millions of photos. We tried all kind of position to create extraordinary effects. ^^
The rabbit was actually bought by my room mate for decoration outside the room. Yet, we found entertainment playing with it! A normal shot.
The moon cake that I have been eating for 3 mornings! Treat from my room mate. ^^ Bird's nest mooncake.
A video I took. Happy Mooncake Festival in HK! How you want your life to be largely depends on how you handle it. I have great fun!
Yesterday, I spent my whole day studying Anatomy and Principle in Physiotherapy Practice. Exhausting but I also gained a sense of satisfaction. I also went to the HALL gym for the first time. Freezing cold.
Following is a song to motivate all students in this world. To move on and strive. Never give up! I feel that this is really meaningful. ^^ CHIONG CHIONG CHIONG. Jia you to all univeristy students that are having their tests soon. Good Luck. 衝出去(幪面超人'龍騎'主題曲) 作詞：和田耕平 作曲：王仲傑 編曲：Edward Chan/Charles Lee＠Novasonic
