A fortnight at Peking Union Medical College Hospital

My last two weeks of freedom before clinical years were spent in the amazing Peking Union Medical College Hospital with the support of Project Empadurance!

Our group of 15 students in various healthcare disciplines set off for Beijing on 30 June to experience medicine through a different cultural lens in two weeks of clinical attachment.

I had the chance to shadow the radiotherapy and ENT surgery departments as their newest acute space occupying lesion! The teams warmly welcomed my (excessive) questions and generously explained their daily workflow, introducing me to the basics of their specialties. I even had the chance to help with minor tasks in creating immobilizing aids for radiotherapy patients!

The most striking difference between PUMCH and hospitals in Hong Kong is their carefully coordinated overclocking. You wouldn’t see staff rushing around. Everything looks peaceful. Yet they can complete a radiotherapy session within 5 minutes, serving 170 patients in one day just with one machine. I was greatly surprised by the choreographed dance between patients and staff members. Just as the last patient steps out of the room, the next patient will lie down, ready for treatment. There was absolutely no downtime.

As this was my first clinical experience, I was quite emotionally unprepared to meet patients. The most memorable moment in my trip was encountering a young cervical cancer patient who was infected with HPV despite vaccination. She clearly had been suffering for a long period from the disease and treatment. Even with continuous supportive words from her family and doctors, her tears couldn’t be held back as she lined up for brachytherapy. This encounter acts as a reminder that patients are more than a CMS entry – they are humans who need love and empathy.

As our day ends, we would go out to explore cool nooks and crannies in Beijing – and my favorite spot was a small, serene Buddhist temple quite some distance from PUMCH. After a hectic day (being quizzed on things I forgot immediately after exams), the quiet rustling of leaves in the temple let me find a moment’s respite.