Gombak!

I really enjoyed my 3-day stint at the Orang Asli Hospital in Gombak, although it was more of a cultural education than a medical one. Prior to this I had never seen that many orang asli in my life. Orang asli are an interesting group of people. Very funny, in fact, from the way they talk to their beliefs and ways of life. They are obviously very different from the urban folk and are prone to diseases we hardly come across in normal hospitals.

I spent my last day at the hospital at the infectious diseases ward, in which most of the patients there were on treatment for tuberculosis and leprosy. It was an eye-opener because none of us had seen lepers before (in fact I only remember reading a lot about them in the bible muaha and oh the movie Kingdom of Heaven where I just found out Edward Norton played the leper king wtf). I admit to being slightly paranoid about contracting those diseases myself, especially TB which is so easily transmitted. Somemore we had to take down a case history from a TB patient where we were close in contact with her. A bit scary. But she has been on treatment for 4 months now so I guess chances are we won't get the disease lah. =P

Notable quotes from our Gombak rotations:

Kwan: "Ada makan daun-daun ka? Akar-akar? Rumput?"
Orang Asli: "MAKAN RUMPUT MUNTAH LA!"
(Kwan on his orang asli patient's diet during history taking)

Kwan: "Mandi di mana? Mandi di sungai ah?"
Orang Asli: "AIR SUNGAI KOTOR LA!"
(Kwan on his orang asli patient's social history)

*to be fair to Kwan, this particular orang asli is quite urbanized la. She stays at Taman Negara in a house provided by the government. =P

Jimmy Tee: "Kak boleh nyanyi tak? Nyanyi lagu apa? Boleh nyanyi lagu orang asli tak?"
Orang Asli: "Tak ada lagu orang asli! Nyanyi lagu Melayu!"
Jimmy Tee: "Boleh nyanyi untuk kita tak? Tau tak lagu Negaraku?" *stands straight and sings Negaraku in the ward =/*

Jimmy Tee: "Kak bila sakit di kampung buat apa? Makan daun apa?"
Orang Asli: "MANA ADA MAKAN DAUN!" *rolls around bed laughing*

*we later found out that this orang asli was the same as the one Kwan interviewed. She must think we're morons or something.

Izaquan while conducting a health talk for the orang asli: "Sebelum berus gigi, kita kena ada apa?" (i.e. toothbrush, toothpaste...)
Orang Asli Teenage Rebel: "KENA ADA GIGI."

Dr Sasi: "Mak cik, nanti ada pelajar nak tanya soalan dengan mak cik, boleh?"
Orang Asli: "SAYA LAKI-LAKI!"

*Dr Sasi on confusing patient gender.

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Fun times! But you know what's the thing I will miss most about Gombak? The roti canai and dhal + sambal at the shop opposite the hospital. Glo-oh-rious.

My rotations group with Dr Sasi!

pics courtesy of Melvyn