The Sunday Star on April 25, 2010 quoted that the Ministry of Health plans to train 170 orthodontists in 5 years to overcome the shortage of such specialists.
Orthodontics is a dental speciality that concerns itself with genetic variations and developmental aberrations in the dento-facial area, which is the growth and development of the face, jaws and teeth.
Currently there are only 117 orthodontists nationwide and 61% of them serve in the private sector. Thirty-three are in the public sector, including four in Sarawak, 10 in the universities and three in the Defence Ministry.
Private sector practitioners will be invited to work in strategic locations in the country to provide orthodontic care pending the increase in the number serving the public sector..
The ideal ratio is one orthodontist to a population of 100,000 people but currently, it was one orthodontist to 250,000 people. It was observed that the lack of trainers and training centres also contributed to the low number of orthodontists in the country.
The Government would also consider sending people to train in countries like Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India or Hong Kong if it could not get enough trainers and places for them locally.
For budding dentists, if you are interested to pursue your career further, the government is willing to sponsor your training in order to achieve the optimum orthodontists to population ratio.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Beef Stews
My daughter, Nurul called me up today while I was in the bus travelling from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, asking for a stew recipe. I told her to look up my blog.Since she was already on the way to the supermarket, she had no way of referring to my blog.
I had posted a chicken stew recipe for beginners back in 2008.
I looked up my recipe book (the one I have had since my student days) and will now post 2 recipes for reference.
1.MIDWEST STEW
Ingredients:
500g beef chunks. I would use lean beef as I hate the taste of beef fat.
2 tablespoon cooking oil
2 quarts (1.14 litres) beef broth, made by boiling tough cuts of meat together with the bones, and keeping the liquid known as broth; the boiled meat can be used in stews or made into meatballs)
4 carrots, quartered
4 turnips, peeled and quartered
4 potatoes, quartered
1 can tomatoes or 1 kg fresh tomatoes mixed with 1/4 can liquid cream (Use fresh milk if you cannot get cream)
1/2 bunch celery, chopped
1/2 bunch parsley
4 bay leaves (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
4 medium onions, halved
Method:
Heat a saucepan and brown beef on both sides with the cooking oil.
Heat a large saucepan and heat beef broth, add carrots, turnips, potatoes, onions, celery stalk pieces.Place tomatoes in the centre and pour in the liquid cream.
Add bay leaves and seasoning.Cover and simmer for 2 hours. You may add in the celery leaves and parsley half an hour before the 2 hours is up. The stew is eaten with bread and salad. You may add a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt, to the stew if you like.
2) HARVEST STEW
The second stew recipe is simpler.
Ingredients:
500g beef stew meat.
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooked lima beans
1 cup young corn
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup cooked tomatoes
1 cup elbow macaroni
1 sprig parsley
5 cups water
Method:
Cut beef into cubes. You can also buy ready cut cube meat at the supermarket that is meant for making 'rendang'. Brown the meat in cooking oil in a heavy saucepan. Add salt and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir to blend. Taste and season with pepper or any other seasoning you prefer. Serves 4-6.
If you do not want the vegetables to be overcooked, you may add them in sequence with the tougher ones first. Mushrooms, tomatoes and parsley would be last to be added. Add more water if necessary.
Best eaten by itself.
I had posted a chicken stew recipe for beginners back in 2008.
I looked up my recipe book (the one I have had since my student days) and will now post 2 recipes for reference.
1.MIDWEST STEW
Ingredients:
500g beef chunks. I would use lean beef as I hate the taste of beef fat.
2 tablespoon cooking oil
2 quarts (1.14 litres) beef broth, made by boiling tough cuts of meat together with the bones, and keeping the liquid known as broth; the boiled meat can be used in stews or made into meatballs)
4 carrots, quartered
4 turnips, peeled and quartered
4 potatoes, quartered
1 can tomatoes or 1 kg fresh tomatoes mixed with 1/4 can liquid cream (Use fresh milk if you cannot get cream)
1/2 bunch celery, chopped
1/2 bunch parsley
4 bay leaves (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
4 medium onions, halved
Method:
Heat a saucepan and brown beef on both sides with the cooking oil.
Heat a large saucepan and heat beef broth, add carrots, turnips, potatoes, onions, celery stalk pieces.Place tomatoes in the centre and pour in the liquid cream.
Add bay leaves and seasoning.Cover and simmer for 2 hours. You may add in the celery leaves and parsley half an hour before the 2 hours is up. The stew is eaten with bread and salad. You may add a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt, to the stew if you like.
2) HARVEST STEW
The second stew recipe is simpler.
Ingredients:
500g beef stew meat.
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooked lima beans
1 cup young corn
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup cooked tomatoes
1 cup elbow macaroni
1 sprig parsley
5 cups water
Method:
Cut beef into cubes. You can also buy ready cut cube meat at the supermarket that is meant for making 'rendang'. Brown the meat in cooking oil in a heavy saucepan. Add salt and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir to blend. Taste and season with pepper or any other seasoning you prefer. Serves 4-6.
If you do not want the vegetables to be overcooked, you may add them in sequence with the tougher ones first. Mushrooms, tomatoes and parsley would be last to be added. Add more water if necessary.
Best eaten by itself.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Cancer Among Malaysians (Statistics)
The Star on Wednesday gave the following statistics based on the National Cancer Registry Report 2006 for Malaysia. These stats could be useful to some as prevention is always better than cure. Or early detection helps save lifes..
Common cancer affecting men: those affecting the large bowel, lung, nasopharynx, prostate and liver.
Common cancer affecting women: breast cancer, followed by large bowel, cervix, ovarian and thyroid.
Almost 32,000 new cancer cases were expected to be detected this year (2010) with females making up 53.7% of them, said the Minister of Health, Liow Tiong Lai. The stats shows more women being diagnosed for cancer is nothing new. Women are more sensitive of changes in their bodies and thus, more women go for check-ups than men. Men, on the other hand, often have to be coerced by their female partners or family members to go for check-ups.
It was quoted that “Based on the latest National Cancer Registry Report 2006, cancer incidence for males was 99.8 per 100,000 population and for females it was 120 per 100,000 people.Cancer prevalence is highest among the Chinese (161 per 100,000 population), followed by Indians (93) and Malays (72). Again these stats have to be taken with a pinch of salt. More Chinese are reported to be afflicted by cancer because more Chinese seek treatment at the hospitals compared to other races.The rest may not enter the system, hence they are not part of the stats.
It was also reported that in childhood cancer, leukemia was the most common (35.6%) , followed by cancer of the brain and nervous system (10.1%) and bone cancer (8.3%). About 500 cases of childhood cancer is expected this year(2010). Cancer incidence in 2006 among children (0 to 14 years) was 4.5 per 100,000 people,”
The Minister warned that obesity could be the leading factor leading to cancer.
Here are some precautions we can take.
To those who smoke, please quit now. You not only poison yourself but you endanger those around you as well. Those you are overweight, please try to reduce your weight and lead a healthy lifestyle.
By being healthy you maintain your immune system at optimum levels and this helps fight against illnesses as I understand some form of cancer is caused by viruses and bacteria.
Stay way from direct sunlight. If you cannot escape the sun, use sunblock creams.
Watch your diet. Eat wholesome foods, full of fibre as fibre can help rid your body of toxins. Drink plenty of natural water as water is a natural cleanser.
If a family member falls ill of cancer, especially breast cancer, other members of the family are advised to go for cancer screening.
It helps to be sensitive to small physical changes in our body parts and functions as routine checks and early detection are always the things to do.
The above are only the little things we can do on a personal level to help us stay away from cancer. We cannot control our environment on a macroscopic level. We have to leave this to the organizations capable of doing so.
Common cancer affecting men: those affecting the large bowel, lung, nasopharynx, prostate and liver.
Common cancer affecting women: breast cancer, followed by large bowel, cervix, ovarian and thyroid.
Almost 32,000 new cancer cases were expected to be detected this year (2010) with females making up 53.7% of them, said the Minister of Health, Liow Tiong Lai. The stats shows more women being diagnosed for cancer is nothing new. Women are more sensitive of changes in their bodies and thus, more women go for check-ups than men. Men, on the other hand, often have to be coerced by their female partners or family members to go for check-ups.
It was quoted that “Based on the latest National Cancer Registry Report 2006, cancer incidence for males was 99.8 per 100,000 population and for females it was 120 per 100,000 people.Cancer prevalence is highest among the Chinese (161 per 100,000 population), followed by Indians (93) and Malays (72). Again these stats have to be taken with a pinch of salt. More Chinese are reported to be afflicted by cancer because more Chinese seek treatment at the hospitals compared to other races.The rest may not enter the system, hence they are not part of the stats.
It was also reported that in childhood cancer, leukemia was the most common (35.6%) , followed by cancer of the brain and nervous system (10.1%) and bone cancer (8.3%). About 500 cases of childhood cancer is expected this year(2010). Cancer incidence in 2006 among children (0 to 14 years) was 4.5 per 100,000 people,”
The Minister warned that obesity could be the leading factor leading to cancer.
Here are some precautions we can take.
To those who smoke, please quit now. You not only poison yourself but you endanger those around you as well. Those you are overweight, please try to reduce your weight and lead a healthy lifestyle.
By being healthy you maintain your immune system at optimum levels and this helps fight against illnesses as I understand some form of cancer is caused by viruses and bacteria.
Stay way from direct sunlight. If you cannot escape the sun, use sunblock creams.
Watch your diet. Eat wholesome foods, full of fibre as fibre can help rid your body of toxins. Drink plenty of natural water as water is a natural cleanser.
If a family member falls ill of cancer, especially breast cancer, other members of the family are advised to go for cancer screening.
It helps to be sensitive to small physical changes in our body parts and functions as routine checks and early detection are always the things to do.
The above are only the little things we can do on a personal level to help us stay away from cancer. We cannot control our environment on a macroscopic level. We have to leave this to the organizations capable of doing so.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
More Neurologists Please
The Star12042010 quoted the Malaysian Health Minister, Liow Tiong Lai as saying that there were only 52 neurologists in Malaysia to treat about 20,000 patients suffering from Parkinson disease. It also mentioned that at least 112 are needed now. As he was at a Malaysian Parkinson's Day dinner, he gave the impression that neurologists only treated patients suffering from Parkinson disease. He did not mention Alzheimer's, Autism, Brain disorders and all kinds of diseases affecting the brain and central nervous system (Spine) that needed the attention of the neurologist.
Wikipedia definition of Neurology:
Neurology (from Greek , neuron, "nerve"; and - , -logia) is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue, such as muscle.[1] The corresponding surgical specialty is neurosurgery. A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders. Pediatric neurologists treat neurological disease in children. Neurologists may also be involved in clinical research, clinical trials, as well as basic research and translational research.
At one time, every bright child wanted to be a brain surgeon. A brain surgeon is also called a neurosurgeon. Malaysia needs needs more brain surgeons as there are only 5 at present.
So all budding medical students out there, perhaps you should consider specialising as a neurologist or neurosurgeon after you have passed your first degree. It could be a rewarding and lucrative career.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Some meals I cooked some time back
It has been some time since I last updated my blog. Many things have happened since November, 2009.
My eldest daughter, Nurul is still busy chasing Aedes mosquitoes as the threat of Dengue fever is worse than H1N1.I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about her work. Keep it up, dear.
My second daughter, Zayye is back on her 'on-calls' after her wedding and honeymoon in Paris. She too is very busy. When not attending to patients, she is attending courses or studying for her 'PACES' exams.
My son, Ikmal is now touring the UK and Dublin after visiting Paris. He is on a 3 week vacation after his third year final exams.
My other son, Afif, I presume is busy studying for his second year exams after spending the weekend before Easter, also in Paris. When not studying, Afif travels around the UK attending get-togethers and games.
That leaves my daughter, Zaty who is jealous why her siblings love Paris so much. She has just returned after spending the weekend at Coffs Harbour, situated midway between Brisbane and Sydney in Australia. Though she has been gone for about 2 months, I feel that she has gone for much longer than that. Guess I am missing my brood.
The end of last year we were so busy preparing for Zayye's wedding and Zaty's departure for Australia after that. Nowadays, things have rather settled down although we are attending wedding receptions nearly every week.
Below are some picture I snapped just to remind myself that I still cook. I was too busy to upload them earlier that I cannot recall when I cooked them. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.
I will post more recipes later.
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