Luce Scholar Final Report
E. Willis Nottingham III: Taiwan
Kaohsiung Medical University Internship
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Placement Description:
My placement for the Luce Scholar year was at an academic hospital attached to
Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU). This hospital/university complex is located in
Taiwan’s second largest city, Kaohsiung (pop. ~2 million) in Southern Taiwan.
This placement was arranged through KMU’s department of pediatrics. Seven
months of the ten-month scholar year were spent working in various pediatric specialties
(Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric
Hematology/Oncology, Pediatric Impatient Ward, physiology department research w/
pediatric neurologist, and Pediatric Emergency). The remaining time was spend in the
medical and surgical emergency departments as well time at beginning and end of scholar
year preparing for work and finishing outstanding reports, papers, etc.
During my months in various hospital departments my position was similar to a
senior medical student or intern doctor (equivalent of last year before graduation from
medical school). Although my direct patient care was sometimes (especially in
beginning months) limited by my language ability, I worked with medical teams as best I
could to understand patients medical problems, their plan of care, as well as become
familiar with the special cultural considerations that are important in hospital care in
Taiwan.
My responsibilities varied by the department in which I was working. This
ranged from observing patient visits in clinics, to interpreting laboratory and radiological
studies under the guidance of attending doctors, to assisting in minor procedures
including doing electrocardiograms, physical exams, placing central venous catheters,
suturing, placing urinary catheters, and performing ultrasound examinations.
During my 2 months of medical research I worked w/ Dr. Yang, an attending
doctor and professor in pediatric neurology. Under his guidance, as well as other staff in
his research lab, I planned and executed a research project investigating the effects of
regular exercise on resistance to overwhelming bacterial infection in rats.
I believe the most rewarding portion of my scholar year were the final three
months in the various parts of the emergency department: pediatrics, medical, and
surgical. This was for two key reasons. The first was by this time in my year, my
Chinese had improved to the point that I was able to interview basic patients myself and
better understand interchanges between patients, doctors, nurses, and consultants. A
second reason was having three months seeing some of the same staff on a regular basis
enabled me to get to know them and vice versa, which resulted in me being more
comfortable there and, I hope, the staff being more comfortable to have me there.
During other rotations (which changed on a monthly basis), just about the time I was
starting to know anyone, it was time to change and go to another department.
My main contacts at KMU were Ariel Wu and Dr. (Wei De) Lee. Ariel Wu is an
assistant in the office of international exchange. She was immensely helpful to me
throughout my time in Taiwan…always willing to help me with all the small day-to-day
details that were making my life difficult. This included helping me arrange my initial
stay in the student dorm, later finding a new apartment, moving, coordinating with rental
agent and Landlady (especially with a water leak problem I had), helping me write
Chinese announcements,…basically life would have been much more difficult without
her help. Dr. Lee is a chief resident doctor in the department of pediatrics. He helped
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coordinate all my rotations through the various departments. He also, on numerous
occasions, went out of his way to invite me to department functions (dinners, etc), helped
me get an appointment in the hospital when I was sick, and even took some vacation
towards the end of my scholar year so as to be able to take me (and my visiting brother)
up to some of the scenic areas in Taiwan’s mountains.
Kaohsiung:
During the first 2 months of my time in Kaohsiung, I lived at the student
dormitory at KMU. However, I decided to move as I found the living situation at the
dormitory unacceptable for several reasons. These included rules prohibiting parking my
bicycle in my room (which I wanted to do to prevent theft) as well as having friends visit
my room. With the help of the student liason at KMU’s office for international
exchange, I eventually found an excellent 1 bedroom apartment about 15 minutes from
the hospital.
As Kaohsiung’s subway system will not be ready until late 2005, I needed to
arrange other means of transportation. The bus system is not especially convenient and
the taxi’s are relatively expensive. The purchase of a car was out of my means
financially, and parking is sometimes difficult. For the above reasons, I decided to
purchase a second-hand motorcycle to use during my time in Taiwan. I also took the
drivers test at the local Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain a Taiwanese motorcycle
driver’s license (available in English). Although I was initially hesitant due to safety
concerns and inexperience, I eventually found using my motorcycle to commute to work,
Chinese class, and gym was very convenient and relatively safe (taking proper
precaustions including a safe helmet).
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Asia Foundation in Taiwan (AFIT) : (located in Taipei)
My main contact at AFIT was Alice Wu. She was immensely helpful in
coordinated any/all aspects of my scholar year, as well as help troubleshoot when
problems arose. She is diligent and resourceful (not to mention very friendly), and I
always felt better knowing if I needed help I could call her. She helped me during the
small crisis when my apartment flooded, as well as advising me in my interactions w/
landlady and rental agent.
The others at AFIT were also remarkable, though my interactions with them were
more limited. They president, Taymin Lu, opened her home to me over the holidays
when I visited Taipei as well as treated me to several nice meals with her family which
helped take the bite out of being so far from my own family during this time of the year.
Arthur Hsieh took me on a car trip around part of Northern Taiwan as an introduction
upon my arrival, as well as gave me his old cell phone to use while in Taiwan (so I didn’t
have to buy one myself, only recharge the minutes).
Although it was harder to coordinated things or see people at AFIT since they
were at the other side of the island, they were always only a phone call away.
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Language Training:
Concurrent to my work at KMU, I enrolled in Mandarin Language classes.
Initially I enrolled in a daily class at a well known and respected foreign language
institue in Kaohsiung call Wenzao (contact: Teresa Kung 07-342-6031). I attended
classes at Wenzao from September until March. In January, to celebrate the Chinese new
year, our class put on a small play as well as participated in the departments
games/celebration, which was an excellent experience. At the end of March, due to
curriculum changes and my desire for private classes to focus on medical vocabulary, I
withdrew from Wenzao and began taking private classes at the Kaohsiung branch of the
Taipei Language Institute (TLI) (07-215-2965). Using a medical textbook (written in
Chinese), a Chinese/English medical dictionary that TLI provided, as well as continuing
to use the text I had already purchased while at Wenzao, I continued to study Chinese
several times a week until the end of May.
Cultural Events:
During my time in Taiwan, I was lucky enough to observe and share in some of
the major holidays and festivals. Shortly after my arrival, I went to several barbeques
with different people from KMU to celebrate the Mid-Autumn (or Moon) Festival.
The next major holiday was Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year). As mentioned
above, my Chinese language school held a celebration at this time to introduce us to the
customs, sayings, and history of the New Year Celebration. Through the gracious
invitation of several friends both in Kaohsiung and Taipei, I was able to go to traditional
family dinners on New Years Eve, go out to temples to watch the ensuing worship of
ancestors, enjoy fireworks displays, and go to friends family’s homes in other locations in
the folloing days celebrating family. At the end of the New Year’s celebration (several
weeks) the are several major “Lantern Festivals” held in different cities in Taiwan. My
apartment was very close to the one held in Kaohsiung along the Love River. I
immensely enjoyed hearing the nightly music, seeing the light shows and fireworks, and
strolling through the crowds to admire all shapes and sizes of lanterns.
Just before I left Taiwan, I was able to see some of the exciting dragon boat races
held along the Love River. Quite a HOT time of year, but pleny of cool drinks and shade
to go around.
Miscellaneous Activities:
Among the many personal goals I set for myself during my during my Luce
scholar year, one was to train for and successfully complete an Ironman Triathlon (Day
long race consisting of 4km swim, 180km bike, 40km run). To this end I purchased a
membership at a pool facility (Easy Swimming Club: (07)313-8618) very close to the
hospital, as well as a membership at a nice gym facility (Muscle Asia: (07) 332-8182).
On a regular basis I used these facilities to prepare for the Ironman Malaysia, which took
place on Langkawi Island, February 29th, 2004. I also had my father ship my racing bike
from the United States so I could go for long rides to train. I also used this bike to
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explore the areas surrounding the city where I lived, including many daytrips, as well as
one extended trip down to the southernmost point of Taiwan and then partway up the
East coast.
After successfully completing this goal, my bike returned to the United States and
I refocused on my work at the hospital (which was demanding more as I began to work
12 hour shifts in the Emergency Department) and my language training. However, at the
invitation of the manager at Muscle Asia (Gym), I also began teaching Spinning ® (an
indoor biking exercise class) several times a week (in Chinese!). This was an excellent
opportunity not only to improve my Chinese, but also to meet new people and feel like I
was becoming more a part of the community.
Travel in Taiwan:
During my placement year in Taiwan, I tried to take advantage of any opportunity
I had to see more of the island where I was living, despite the fact that it was a relatively
expensive place to travel compared to much of Southeast Asia. Allthough my work at the
hospital, triathlon training, and occasional travel outside Taiwan kept me busy, I was able
to travel to many lovely places.
Using my weekends, I took my bike to places up to 200km away including the
beachtown of Kenting, the Southeastern city of Taidong, as well as closer enchanting
villages near the mountains including Sandimen and Maolin.
During Chinese New Years, I traveled to Taipei to visit a friend who lived there.
I was able to enjoy the special dinners of the holiday with his family, as well as visit with
some of the staff at the Asia Foundation in Taiwan. I traveled w/ this friend down the
East coast to his grandparents home for more celebrations and then to Taroko Gorge, a
beautiful national part mostly consisting of a huge marble canyon.
With friends and co-workers from the hospital I was also able to go on some
smaller trips hiking in the local mountains, going fishing, visiting museums and sampling
unique cuisine in the areas surrounding Kaohsiung.
When my young brother visited we traveled together to Taipei, Green Island (a
small island off the SE coast of Taiwan). Accompanied by a resident doctor from KMU,
we also traveled into the mountains (Ali mountain, Sun/Moon lake). Although there are
many wonderful places in Taiwan I have yet to see, I am thrilled with have much I was
able to see during my time there, improving my knowledge (and I hope my
understanding) of this island nation.
Travel Outside Taiwan:
Between rotations in different departments in the hospital (in order to minimize
any disruptions in my placement program), I was able to sample some of the amazing
places outside Taiwan in Asia. These included short trips through Hong Kong,
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, and China. I also returned to Malaysia in order to
compete in my Ironman triathlon there. At the end of the Luce Scholar wrap-up
meeting I also hope to travel to Tibet and Beijing. During this time in China, I hope to
put my newly acquired mandarin skills to work.
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