Tips for those considering an elective in Malta - Part I

Application Process

The application process is relatively painless.  I applied in November, for a June elective. Accommodation can be booked by the medical school for you at the application stage.  You are likely to be accommodated at the University Residence in Lija.  If you want to bring friends (including non-medical students) with you, they can stay in the residence also, just include their information with you application.  If you are arriving early in the summer, I recommend traveling with at least one other person as you may get quite bored if alone.  From late June there are likely to be lots of other elective students around to socialise with.  Full details of the application process are available on www.mmsa.org.mt

Arriving in Malta - The residence

The medical school will arrange a complimentary taxi to pick you up from the airport.  The University residence is in Lija, a 10 minute bus journey from the hospital.  The residence operates a complimentary bus service to and from the University (which is adjacent to the Mater Dei Hospital).  From time to time you are likely to need to take the public bus. There are several routes which run between Lija and the Mater Dei/University, including the 560, 580, 58 and 450.  Bed linen is provided in the residence.  Cutlery and cooking utensils can be borrowed against a deposit.  There are washing machines and ironing facilities available.  There are computers available or you can bring a laptop and use the wireless service.  The medical school will arrange for you to get a login password.  It may take a few days, but in the meantime there are temporary logins for sale at reception.  The reception also sell phone cards, which may be quite cheap when calling landlines, but are extortionate if you need to call mobiles. I have been using Skype on my laptop.   There are 7/8 bedrooms in each block.  The rooms are basic but clean.  You may be asked to share a room with someone (if you bring someone with you, you can share with them).  If you arrive in early June, there will still be lots of Erasmus students around, many of whom will have been studying in Malta for the year.  They will be finishing their exams and there will probably be some noisy partying going on.  You will need to sleep, as you will be starting in the hospital at 7.30/8.  If the noise becomes too much, ask for a change of room at reception, they are very accommodating and will do their best to help.  When you check in you will be given a map of the area.  If you arrive on a Saturday, try to go to the grocery shop, Smart as they are closed on Sundays.  The tap water in Malta, while technically drinkable is not nice, so at the very least you will need some bottled water.  Smart deliver to the residence for orders over Eur 25. Avail of the service, water is heavy!  There are some restaurants in the locality where you can eat until you find food and cooking utensils.

The Elective - getting started.

On your first day, you need to go to the medical school.  Aim to arrive there at 9ish.  There is no need to go earlier as the office will not be open.  The residence bus will drop you off outside the medical school entrance. If you have not paid the full amount for the elective, you will be taken to the bank to pay. Paying the  full amount in advance seems wise as several students had problems withdrawing money from the ATM.  The staff in the office will get you orientated.  You need to give them a deposit of Eur 20 for an ID card, which will allow you to access the wards.  They will then let you know where your consultant is likely to be found.  If the team are not on the ward, ask someone to page them.  

Zzzzzz... Part II

Another sleep deprived night.  I was hanging all day.  Our house has cleared out considerably now though so it's very quiet tonight.  Phew.  We went to Mdina and Rabat yesterday.  Mdina is a walled "city" in the centre of the island.  It was the capital before the Knights moved to Valletta.  It's very pretty and as you cab see there are some stunning views of the island.   We are going to St Julian's on Saturday to swim and watch the match.  Yay!  On Sunday we are planning on taking a cruise to Gozo and Comino, the other islands.  The general plan for Emma's last week here is to go to a few of the sandy beaches, like Golden Bay.

Come on the Lions!

Zzzzzz...

I forgot to post the link to more of my photos - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85288&id=574392885&l=0d42d4947d

I just had a 3 hour siesta.  A lot of the students in the residence are leaving in the coming days so they have been partying.  They were ridiculously loud last night.  We had to tell them to shut up a few times (well at first it was polite...).  Anyway I only got 4 hours sleep.  I really hope that it doesn't happen again tonight.  They are changing the timetable of the bus from the residence from tomorrow.  Basically it's not leaving early enough for the medical students anymore.  It seems a bit stupid because once the others go it will just be us left for the summer.  I have to get up at 6.15 to negotiate the public bus route tomorrow.  This is one instance in which a bus timetable would be useful.  As a tourist "whenever" is ok. 

Sleep allowing, we will try and do something touristy tomorrow.  St. Julians was lovely.  The sea is like bathwater.  I'd actually prefer it to be colder.  The Dubliner pub there does some very very tasty looking food so our Saturday plans for the first Lions test are set.  I might even skip breakfast so I can eat more there!

Bus with "Indiana" written on the back.  Just for Ca. Click to enlarge.

Spinola Bay, St. Julians

Week one is finished!

One down, three to go.  I had a good week.  The ward rounds are really enjoyable.  An elderly lady took quite a fancy to me this morning.  The intern translated and told me that the lady thought I looked "angelic". :)  The outpatient clinics are hard because there is nobody to translate for me during the consultation.  I can usually get the drift though.  It has forced me to focus a lot more on observing the patient for hints as to the diagnosis.  The staff in the hospital are really friendly.  The Maltese seem to have a good sense of humor.  I got my exam results today.  I'm happy with them.  I'm a final med now!  Scary.  

We are planning on heading towards St. Julians tomorrow to chill out there and watch the Lions match.  We will probably browse in the Sunday morning market in Valletta.  I need some rest tonight though.  I have to get up at 6.30 during the week so I'm quite tired.  Zzz..

On the wards..

So I went to the medical school on Monday and did admin stuff.  I started on the wards today.  It looks like the elective will be pretty relaxed.  I'd say it will mostly be ward rounds and out-patient clinics.  I doubt that I will be taking many histories, because while most people speak English, when they are sick they tend to speak in Maltese.  The team are nice.  I got to take some bloods this morning. The Mater Dei hospital is brand-spanking new and very impressive.  It is very hot here, so the air-conditioned hospital is a welcome break.   Emma and I went to Sliema this afternoon.  It's a tourist hot-spot and so has some of the tackiness that comes with it.  The waterfront is stunning though, with great views of Valletta.  I still can't get over the buses.  They are all yellow with an orange stripe.  They can be up to 60 years old.  On many of them you don't push a button to stop the bus, you pull a cord that runs along the roof.  You can actually see the piece of metal attached to the cord hit the bell at the front of the bus. They feel perfectly safe though, because  the buses never reach any great speeds on the Maltese streets.  The Maltese have an Irish attitude to road crossing, but unfortunately the driving is pretty awful so one must exercise caution!  

Arrived!

We arrived in Malta yesterday afternoon.  All of the travel arrangements went smoothly.  If our bags had been lost on the way to London we would have been in trouble!  For the first time in my life I arrived at an airport and there was somebody holding a sign with my name on it.  Malta International Airport is very much like Cork airport.  Its built along the same scale, you walk across the tarmac to your plane, 3 baggage collection points.  The University Residence is in Lija (pronounced Lee-yah).  Lija appears to be an upper middle class part of Malta.  The houses are quite large and well kept by the looks of things.  In some of the other suburbs we have passed through, we have seen very nicely restored old buildings next to  totally derelict ones.  We spent last evening getting settled in. There is a supermarket just down the road so we got a few bits and pieces there.  Then we went and had pizza in a restaurant that the guy at reception told us about.  The food was decent and it was at least Eur 10 cheaper than a similar meal for two in Ireland.  

After sleeping for 12 hours, we headed for Valletta this morning.  There isn’t really such a thing as a bus timetable, but if you know where to stand a bus is likely to come along pretty soon.  All buses travel on routes to and from Valletta anyway, so you’ll get there if you stay on the bus for long enough! The main terminus is just outside the city gate.  Its actually a giant roundabout where it appears that you can have at least 40 buses parked at any one time.  The main ticket office is a small wooden kiosk.  The drivers sell all of the tickets really, including the seven day passes.  Valletta is interesting.  It was teeming with people at about 11.  By 1.30 the locals had gone for a siesta and only the restaurants, main attractions and souvenir shops remained open.   There are lots of pretty old buildings.  The walk along the city wall gives a stunning view of the harbour.  We didn’t go into any museums of churches today.  I have 4 weeks, I don’t want to see it all in one day!  

We’ll probably spend the rest of the evening in the accommodation.  I might go for a swim.  There are lots of houses that all surround the pool. The bunk-beds are comfy, although it was so warm last night that I didn’t even use my sheet.  There are several Italian girls in our house.  We haven’t seen much of them.  I think they are going home next week.  Our room looks out on a primary school, where the Maltese were voting yesterday  (local and European).  It was the busiest polling station I have ever seen (Malta consistently has the second highest turnout in the world after Australia, where voting is compulsory). .  I got the sense that voting is a social occasion for the Maltese as there were people hanging around in the street chatting until the polls closed at 10.  Clearly the Labour Party must have won something, because there are people driving around noisily with red flags that say “Labour” hanging out of their cars for the last hour.

Elective starts tomorrow.  Agh!

Testing, one, two, testing.

From my research, it looks like I will have easy access to the internet in Malta.  I'm going to keep you all posted on my adventures through this blog.  It may also be helpful to those heading to Malta for a holiday or an elective in the future.  One day to go!