So much to write about and not enough time to write...sigh, the dilemmas of a writer.
At work I have volunteered to help the fourth year students with the upcoming electives. As I read through the curriculum, I thought back of my own experience as a medical student.
I was a student of Trinity College Dublin, and very proud of my Alma mater. I will always look back at those days with fond memories and certainly hope that my children will have the privilege to study or work there in future.
What Does Doing Electives Mean?
Electives are a compulsory module for all medical schools. The length though may vary from place to place. I had two months of elective during the year before final year.
Basically, an elective is an opportunity to go to places other than the hospitals designated to your medical school for teaching, to spend time in a specialty of your choice, in a place of your choice, for reasons you need to decide.
Where To Do Electives?
For most Malaysian students studying in Ireland, it is a good opportunity to come back home and experience the local scene as many of us aspire to one day come back and contribute. Some friends did use the opportunity to do electives in the States as they aimed to go there after graduating.
Our Irish friends usually go to third world countries for their electives. This allows them to travel plus there are usually more opportunity for hands-on procedures which is tough to come by in Ireland and other developed countries as the risk for medico-legal threat is high.
After some searching (which basically involved talking to other more senior medical students who had already undergone the process), I heard that University Malaya was a great place to do electives, plus it was about 15 minutes drive from my parents home (which was where I lived when I came back to Malaysia those days for the summer). The only disadvantage was, a fee was charged (I believe it was around RM500 for two months).
Even back then (around year 2000), everything was pretty much done online. I didn't really have friends in UMMC so I must have looked up information on their website and followed the procedure for application.
Other Things To Consider When Choosing The Right Place
If you are not doing your electives at home, then you need to think about accommodation, travelling to and from the hospital to your place of stay, and of course, meals. In general, these are not provided so you will have to take this into account when budgeting the cost.
Which Specialty To Chose?
I chose Obstetrics and Gynaecology attachment for one month and surgery for the other, both specialties I knew from the start, I would definitely not end up in. How did I know? Because I always wanted a family and I wanted to spend a lot of time with my children.
Other reasons include specialties which you do have interest do pursue in the future, or those that are not available at your usual teaching hospital/s.
Also, there would be ample opportunity to deliver babies and scrub in to assist the surgeon, or so I thought. I later found that both assumptions were not true.
A lot of Malaysian students chose the same specialties for similar reasons.
My Experience and Recommendations
While I did not get to deliver or do much procedures, I did find the teaching sessions extremely helpful. I was basically allowed to tag along with a final year group and join in the lecturers, bed side teaching, and other activities.
I even joined them for lunch, and 'lepak-ed' at their dorm, studied with them at the library, and basically lived the life of a UM-medical student for two months. I loved the experience, highly recommend it, learnt a lot and made many good friends.
Is it worth the RM500 that they charge? Absolutely.
Later on, in my previous post at another institution in Malaysia which has collaboration/s with Universities in the States, students were able to go to the US for their electives. Doing electives in the US is a bit tricky as you really need someone with connections (which means someone who knows the people there in person) to recommend you, before you are accepted. What that meant was, our lecturers who are Americans, helped get placement for students to do electives in the States. That's a great opportunity.
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