Impressive National Health Service in Glasgow

After staying for almost 11 months in Glasgow, it was only recently that I got exceptionally impressed with the National Health Service (NHS) that was provided to not just their own citizens, but to overseas students as well.

On the first week of arrival in Glasgow, we were required to register with the local NHS. With the registration we will be able to call in for appointments with our doctor anytime. Initially, I wasn't very impressed with their system as we had to make an advance appointment before meeting the doctor. What make things difficult was, their appointment slots are ALWAYS almost full, and only left with a few weird slots for you to make an appointment. So, if you were not available during the particular slots, you will have to delay your appointment. This could delay up to a month, which by the time you get your appointment, the symptoms that you are having might have subsided.

Recently, I made appointments with the doctor, the dentist and the optician. Apart from the doctor, the dentist and optician service was impressive. We could simply go to any of the dental clinics (with appointment of course, but less busy) and get your teeth checked up. If a treatment is required, you will be asked to make another appointment. However they will first let you know the total cost of the treatment and asked if you are eligible for NHS or not. If yes, you could fill in the HC1 form and apply for a exemption certificate, which thereafter all your dental fees are covered by the NHS. Or you could pay first, and make a claim afterward.

As for the optician, the service was superb. I was toying the idea of having a pair of contact lenses. Hence, I went up the glasses shop that provides NHS service, made an appointment (which was quick) and had my eye checked for free! And the eyesight check includes not just the normal eye power check, but includes photographing the eye to check for any other health problems.

Opticians here use very extraordinarily advanced equipments to check for the eye power, eye tension, eye muscle and eye nerves. The eye nerves checking process was blinding indeed, as they will shine bright lights to check for any occlusions or abnormality in the nerves of the eye, but the outcome was very satisfying. The eye tension test was a little different as they drip a few drops of dye into my eye to check for the tension. I do not know how they analyse the eye tension, but it sure was interesting. The optician was very professional in her job. I was told that opticians in Scotland has taken over the role for checking the health through the eyes. This was done so that doctors could focus on what they really need to do. This system however, has yet to be implemented in England but they may follow suit soon.

After the checking, I was told that I could wear toric lenses, but it will cost me 15 pounds a month. Toric lenses requires special orders and hence more expensive compared to normal contact lenses. These toric lenses will be given as a trial pair for a month before I decide whether to continue or don't continue with the contact lenses. However, if i decided to quit, I would have to pay 20 pounds administrative fees. Otherwise, I can continue and enjoy the free toric lenses.

What was impressive was the near flawless service, thorough checking and their professionalism. And all these are covered under NHS. That is the best thing. :)

Life is fragile

Second piece of death news of someone that is related to me in a way or another...

Everyday we hear news of death... but we are not affected unless the person is someone that we know.

I wasn't affected until I found out which daniel it was. It is Daniel Teoh. Gasped. I know him. Though not very close, but he is someone we will always greet each other and chat when we bump into each other in IMU. One of the few BPharmers that I know. He is a bubbly, happy, friendly, helpful guy.

The piece of news made me look into life even more deeply. And it confirm once again what i have learnt that life is unpredictable, nothing is permanent but death is certain. These are some of the truth that we have to accept once born into life. When there we come, there'll be day we'll be gone. It's just the time factor.

Everything changes every seconds. We don't know what will happen next. All we could do is to cherish all we have now esp the people we are close to and never take things for granted. Hence my previous post.

It's indeed sad and grieving to know someone we know passed away. But life has to go on. There's no point fighting against the fact of life and blaming god for the cruelty of death. Life is just a physical phase of a person. When the physical part of it is lost, the memory of him is still alive. The memory is something we could keep in our hearts. Life goes on but we remember him. We learn from him that we need to appreciate life and the time we have now.

May he rest in peace and be born into a better plane of life.


Jen

Jokes you make in an exam

We were chatting over our exam questions about how we did and how we answered our questions during lunch yesterday and this was what happened.

One question asked us to briefly describe the properties and uses of each of the following polymers

Sodium polystyrene sulphonate
Gum tragacanth
Locust bean Gum

After thinking very hard about what is locust bean gum... This is what my friend wrote in her exam paper:

"Locust bean gum is a gum that is extracted from a locust bean."


Another question asked us to write in context of oral dosage forms write short notes on:

Tablet packaging
Sustained released formulations
Soft gelatin capsules


One friend of mine could not recall what soft gelatin capsule is and wrote this as her answer paper:

"Soft gelatin capsule is softer than hard gelatin capsules"


"...."



These are real answers made in exams by some of my batchmates under extreme conditions. I think the examiner will have a 'fun' time marking our papers.


Jen


*edited*

Time to pick up again...

Just finished our FMT 2 exam this morning. There's only one type of face among ALL the students when they were leaving the exam hall: a disappointed face. Some were near to crying. Some cried. Many were speechless. Not few were complaining. The scene was depressing.

I was depressed myself and I wanted to condemn and complain as much as everyone else is doing. (we only came here for two months, 8 weeks to be exact, and we are already sitting for final degree exam, with no study breaks, full crash course from 9-5 everyday without fail, study the same amount of things those homestudents studied for in 6 months to a year with placements experience, and us here, lacking of rest, sleep, and the questions were so indirect and we are expected to perform bla bla bla?! That is abit too much right? Am i not?)

But I think it is not very so helpful to complain so much as this IS the fact and nothing will change.

I shall PICK myself up again and start another round of madness in getting closer to my goals.

To friends that had a bad time in exam hall today, leave the disappoinments and dwellings to the 3rd of sept and we shall continue our battle to strive our best in our next papers : FMT 1 + PP3 Exemption Exam.

Ganbatte guys.


p.s: newest news of the pp3 class test 2 results: in the name of consistency, those who were deducted 20 maks for not informing the prescriber for minor interaction of drugs ( which by right is not necessary), are now deducted an extra of 10 mraks to make it 30 so that it is the same as others. Therefore, those who were pleading not only did not gain any extra marks, but was being deducted further.

This is what we call 'fun'. You get surprises, lots of them everyday.


Jen

08 08 08 08 08 08 !!!!!!

Two more minutes to the historical, once in a lifetime moment, 08 08 08 08 08 08 in my place, Glasgow!!!

What was I doing at:

08 08 08 08 08 08 (AM) Glasgow time : Sleeping soundly.

08 08 08 08 08 08 (AM) Malaysia time : Studying FMT 1 NMR spectrometry.

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) Glasgow time : Typing this post!!!
Taking picture of my alarm clock!!

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) Malaysia time : Getting back my PP3 Class Test 2 Results!GOSH!

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) China time : OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY!!!

I am extremely extremely extremely PROUD of China. The opening ceremony was extremely extremely extremely impressive and awesome!!! Well done China! :D

Simple things

Six continuous hours of lecture in a day isn't really that exciting when you are having dysmenorrhoea, sleep deprived and all you wish to do is to be at cineworld watching The Dark Knights. I am glad at least charming Ian Miller* is there to keep us awake with his usual formal and decent jokes otherwise to feast our eyes on. 

What makes my day was a slip saying I have a parcel to be collected at the village office (VO). After my torturous lectures, I trotted happily to collect my first parcel while counting the date today, thinking hard what could it be. It's only the 6th, not 10th of August!

So here's my first parcel:





Tadaa!





Two copies of the newest version of OTC Directory 2008/2009! Happy! They are so freaking efficient! I have only sent in my order last week and the books are here today. Wow.

To those who wish to order a copy of the OTC (within UK only), send a self-addressed stamped envelope (A5 envelope with postage paid to the value of 0.69 pounds for ONE copy or A4 envelope with postage paid to the value of 0.99 pounds for TWO copies) to OTC Directory, PAGB, Vernon House, Sicilian Avenue, London, WC1A 2QS.

I'm glad I did not put any expectations when I am collecting this parcel (I did thought it was something else). Haha, anyways, here's the address if you want to surprise me! ;)





The Dark Knight trailer here! :D 


Jen

*Ian Miller is our charming PP3 lecturer. All of us love him. ;) 

Staying Strong

Life is beautiful yet life can be very challenging.

One after another obstacle, one after another disappointment.

It seems endless but not hopeless. In times like this, it is best to keep our mind clear with our goals, stay positive and work stepwise towards them, persevering along the way.

The path may seem long and you may seem want to give up half way, but believe me, keep stretching yourself a little more each time and keep on believing in your dreams and goals. With blessings, you will finally reach where you want to be.

Have my best wishes and blessings, and we will work towards there together.

Remember, there are always sunshine and rainbows after the rain. :)



Jen


P.s: Words for myself as well as friends who needs them. May all be well and happy.

Aftermath of PP3 Class Tests

Two hours of Brain Damage.

Mental Exhaustion.

Emotional Turbulences.

Nerve Wrecking.

Extreme Tremor.

Extreme Ataxia.

Totally Stunt.

All Numb.


Jen