挫折

人生是一條不停地接受挫折的長路。

Harvard

五味雜陳的三月終於過去了，這個月以來，我一直不停在問我自己，我學到什麼了嗎？我一直試圖努力完成許多有意義的事，我一直嘗試讓自己這個月不留白，不要讓無法去Harvard成為我人生中最大的遺憾。

看到同學好友們facebook的文章、照片，感覺自己心不小心又被割傷了幾下，原本我應該在那個國度的，我該到那裡度過我的醫學生生涯很特別的一個月，但這一失足，卻讓我退回到原點，讓自己鎖在最熟悉的白色巨塔裡。

但很幸運的是，我終於開始接觸實驗室的生活，假如我未來在醫學研究上有什麼很大的突破，我想這個月對我來說真的非常非常地重要。很感謝關教授提供我很多學習的機會，也給我很多研究的點子；另外感謝蔡主任，謝謝他指引一位從事研究者該有的態度。

或許我不是最優秀的學生，但我絕不會被這次國外外放見習一事失利而擊倒，我會更努力，把握住每一個學習的機會。人生是一場路遙知馬力的馬拉松競賽，加油！

班上幹部

原本對我自己的處理一些雜事的能力還頗為自豪，但這學期當班代半段，因為太過於自信而做出一些錯誤的決定，加上自己剛好又外放，搞得現在自己有種灰頭苦臉的感覺。

我覺得我接受過的挫折還是不夠多，導致常常事情發展得不如我意，心情波折還挺大的。經過前一段感情後，我漸漸能體會到自己的另一半是需要有很高的EQ，能好好聆聽我的訴苦，和我站在同一線打拼，不然往往遇到挫折無人訴苦，感覺還真的是挺難受的 ><

明天就要抽外放籤了，我將何去何從？相信上帝能給我一個美好安排。

貪心

我怎麼總是坐這山望那山呢？

人的慾望真是無止境阿～

An Amazing Trip for GSK Taiwan Medical Student Scholarship Program in Singapore

Turning into an independent country in 1965, Singapore, a country only 710km² in size, has become a highly developed and well-known country. I have been there several times since I was a child. Every time I went there, I always found something new and amazing in this country. As a result, I am so glad to have the great opportunity to participate in the GSK Taiwan Medical Student Scholarship Program in Singapore. This trip was such a wonderful experience for me. I will always have wonderful memories of the tidy streets of Singapore, the delicious food and drinks, the cozy Fairmont hotel, the interesting and talented participants and the many lectures and visits.

This year's GSK Taiwan Medical Student Scholarship Program wanted to deliver a number of messages to us: GSK not only manufactures drugs but also focuses on new drug and vaccines development as well as charity. Therefore, one of the most important objectives was to show us what their research and developmental department was doing. Therefore, this trip included many lectures and visits. The first thing we learned was why a pharmaceutical company is interested in a certain diseases. Most of the time, it is profit-oriented, but sometimes is done for charitable reasons, such as developing a malaria vaccine for Africans. Secondly, we learned how to create hormones, antibodies and some compounds to block or depress abnormal gene expression or signal transduction. Next, we learned how to make the compound into be pills or a solution for injection. Finally, we learned the importance of sufficient clinical trial time to ensure the drug will be safe and efficacious for the patient. After the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, the drug can be sold in the long run. From these lectures, we know the whole drug development process and relative topics.

This program provided us a lot of opportunities to communicate with the doctors and researchers at GSK and to learn their research interests as well as their motivation for working in a pharmaceutical company. We also spent a lot of time sharing ideas with other participants and discussing our studies, interests and what we want to do in the future. This really helped me learn something new and different.

Besides having academic activities in the daytime, we had a relaxed and pleasurable time at night. Every supper was very delicious and contained a variety of flavors from different cuisines such as Chinese food, Thai dishes, Indian curries, and Malay cakes. We went to Clark Quay to enjoy a night club, we threw peanut shells at each other while drinking Singapore Sling (a kind of famous cocktail) in Long bar, and we took a fascinating tour to see nocturnal animals at Night Safari.

The most interesting course for me was the visit to Tuas industrial park. The lecturer was perfect because his lecture and orientation were so vivid and clear. It was very easy for me to understand why neuroscience is promising and what difficulties GSK must do their best to conquer. By the way, the laboratory was very clean and tidy and it is difficult to believe that it had already been in operation for a few years. I also liked the visit to Biopolis a lot. It was my first time to visit a drug factory. The vaccine factory was made up of a lot of pipes and machines; although there was a lecture before the visit, I was unable to tell where the pipeline was leading to.

Compared with other participants, I had had less experience in the lab. Some techniques and basic concepts required for drug development I had learned in my high school experience in the lab and biochemistry class in my second year of medical school. However, thanks to many basic science lectures, such as good clinical practice and science of drug development, I developed a more complete knowledge of the process. Due to the language barrier, I still lost some points and could not understand everything with ease. I suggest that the program could provide Powerpoint slides before the lecture; it would be much more helpful for us in learning.

By joining this program, I learned many options to choose in the future besides being a clinician. I know more about the organization of an international pharmaceutical company as well. It was very worthwhile to take this trip :)