Career Advice For Doctors

People often ask me for career guidance and career advice. Sometimes, I wonder why.

Here is my story...

My return to clinical practice has been rather sudden. Well, not really.

I had last practiced medicine in a hospital setting in Ireland in 2006. My last post was as a senior house officer in paediatrics. I hated paediatrics. I almost died during that 6 months posting and I told myself, I was never going back.

I am not saying that paediatrics is an awful specialty, it is just that the experience confirmed what I already sort of knew beforehand, I knew that I did not want to be a paediatrician.

The reason why I took up that post was because of the opportunity. At that point in time, my ultimate career choice would have been emergency medicine.

I enjoyed working in the emergency department much more than any where else in the hospital, but I would get a bit worked up whenever a paediatric patient came through the door, even though this was a very unlikely situation in Ireland where healthcare for adults and children are segregated.

Even so, when working in a smaller hospital like St Columcilles in Loughlinstown, we did encounter a few children and even (*horrors*) babies. So I thought it was a good idea to spend some time in paediatrics, learning the basics. It was a nightmare, but it was also very valuable experience.

I remember being depressed the first few weeks, even crying in front of my husband in the evenings. He would ask what was wrong, and I told him I hated paediatrics. But he advised me to keep at it and that I will learn a thing or two from the posting. He was right. Looking back, I am glad that I did not quit.

Taking a break from practising medicine to lecturing physiology, at that time in 2007, seemed like one of the best decisions in my life. It was so nice to have a normal nine to five job, no weekends, no on-calls, no unsocial hours. No sick patients to attend to, no emergencies or life-threatening situations that needed to be managed, just lectures that in theory could always be rescheduled if necessary.

It was difficult though, because it was the first time I lived in Kota Bharu. It took me awhile to get used to the place, perhaps around 6 months, before I could genuinely be happy again.

I am not saying Kota Bharu is horrible, but like paediatrics, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Of course as muslims, we must always believe in blessings in disguise. Had I known what KB was like beforehand, I would have never said yes to my hubby's proposal of pursuing his training in USM.

So there we were in KB with no extended family support as neither of us were Kelantanese. The kids were still small, my eldest was four and the second was 2.5 years old.

We had a new maid from Indonesia. I had no real experience with Indonesian maids as my late sister in law was the one baby-sitting our children back in Dublin. My hubby was busy with his MMED or plastics masters program. The decision to join the physiology department might not have made sense to others, but it did to me.

Luckily, I came back from Ireland with the MRCP, so I joined USM as a medical lecturer. Life consisted of preparing and giving lectures, conducting problem-based learning sessions and simulated clinical skills teaching at the clinical skills lab. Lunch break was a full two hours. I could go home and fetch the kids back from kindy, then return to the office in the afternoon. It was such a contrast to practising full time.

After a year or so our daughter was born. Our maid also decided to end her contract to return to Indonesia so we hired a new one.

I had promised the then Dean Prof Aziz Baba, that I would pursue a PhD in physiology if he let me join the physiology department. It didn't materialise because about two years later, as planned, we moved back to KL for hubby's training in HKL. I was the happiest girl in the world. Tears ran down my cheeks and I felt that I was finally back where I belonged. I even secretly promised myself I would everything possible to remain here and not go back to KB.

I took unpaid leave to accompany my spouse. We had bought a condo in KL a year or two beforehand in preparation for this period in hubby's training. Kids settled in a kindy nearby. The condo was a stones throw from HKL. After six months, my late dad passed away. We decided to move back to PJ to keep my mum company and sell off the condo.

I had already started lecturing part time in USIM as they were short of staff and even had a vacancy, but due to the 'gentlemens agreement' between deans of medical schools, I could not be offered the post. I had to let go of my USM post first.

I guess it was a blessing in disguise again as I started to look elsewhere for a job. This was the second time in my life I had 'nothing to do' and after two months, I was starting to go crazy. (The first experience was right after graduating while waiting for work to start).

I attended an interview with SEGi and was offered a job as a physiology lecturer. I called up a friend to ask her opinion about SEGi as she had worked there before. Instead, I found out about an opening in Taylors and passed my friend my CV.

Taylors University had a better offer and I took it up. I resigned from my USM post.

I have a lot of good things to say about Taylors University as an employer and in many ways I did enjoy the two years I spent there. I also had the opportunity to pursue my MBA, something I had always wanted to do ever since graduating from medical school, with 50% employee fee discount.

While we were in KB, I ventured into a business opportunity but things did not work as planned. I realised I needed to learn more about business and enrolled for MBA right after hubby completed his MMED.

I will write about the MBA in another blog post.

In Taylors, I was the physiology lecturer of a new medical school. The campus was brand new and award-winning. It was a stones throw away from my mums house in PJ. Work was similar to that in USM but the pay better and lecturers had to only spend 5 hours on site. We had 40 days annual leave, annual bonus and increments, life was generally good.

Our eldest son started primary school that same year in 2010 and I was grateful to have a mum to supervise the maid while I was at work. Hubby though, only came back during the weekends.

Another blessing in disguise, I can relate to single parents. I understand their struggles because at one time, I faced them too.

Having children in primary school was something that I needed getting used to. I wished I was better prepared but I am thankful for the experience all the same.

Working as a physiology lecturer again allowed me time to spend with my children, send them to Kumon and swimming classes, even though I had a hired a van to fetch them from school. I am so grateful for being able to work and spend time with my kids.

Two years later I decided to return to clinical practice. I joined an organisation which will remain unnamed. The patients were mostly customers, who came for health screening, I was back to working full days and even weekends. Thankfully, we did not work nights.

In the beginning, I was required to travel to their center in Cheras, which was about half an hours drive one way from PJ. I left home early, often while it was still dark, in order to get shaded parking. I loved the training for ultrasonography that went on for about one and a half months, although it was a stressful period due to the travelling. That was my first experience with the infamous Klang Valley traffic jam.

After six months, I left because there were things that I was not happy with that myself and colleagues had tried to change but couldn't.

I had taken two breaks from my MBA course and with encouragement from my hubby, decided it was time to complete the course. For the dissertation, I decided to look at the general practice clinic as a potential future business venture, and as part of my research, I worked in a few different practices seeing real patients, mostly, I would say about 85-90% had upper respiratory tract infection or acute gastroenteritis needing a medical certificate to get time off work. It was not a very intellectually stimulating experience but again, I learnt a lot. I also completed my MBA just before our 4th child was born.

I decided, both from gut feeling and from my own research, that it was not an opportune time to open a general practice clinic.

I came across a vacancy in Perdana University and applied while I was pregnant and working on my dissertation write up. I attended an unofficial interview a few days before delivery. When my baby was six months, I started working full time again, but this time as an assistant professor in internal medicine.

Teaching has always been one of my interests and it was great to do that again. I missed teaching. I did not miss hospital medicine.

Not much has changed since I last left. Patients were still non-compliant to medication, reluctant to stop smoking nor exercise. There were a few new medications and some small changes to the management of certain conditions but overall, everything else was the same.

What was new though, was commuting daily from PJ to KL. I had never worked in the heart of KL before. Oh my God, the traffic was insane. Luckily we did have some flexibility in working hours to be able to avoid the worst of it. It was a great privilege to work with American colleagues in medical academia and to have HKL as our teaching hospital. I learnt so much during the few months I was there. I have a lot of good things to say about Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine. I am a believer in the advantages of a graduate medical program due to first hand experience.

While I was busy at my new job, our eldest child sat for his UPSR last year. Our first experience and a lot to learn from as well. Another subject for a separate blog post.

I then found out that there is a private university with as their teaching hospital based in Kelantan. It took me some time to decide to apply. The boys were getting bigger and in need of their father.

As it turns out, I am now back in KB as an associate professor in internal medicine, teaching in the hospitals here.

In Kelantan, compared to KL, we have to state the source of water that patients consume in the history, due to the risk of leptospirosis. The patients are mostly Malay, and speak Kelantanese, so I often need my local students to do some translating. In KL there were patients of various races and many non-nationals too. A lot of Nepalese patients were admitted with acute coronary syndrome.

Currently, I only work 20 hours per week as per contract agreement. When the dust has settled, I plan to pursue further training in dialysis management for our new business venture. We also have a few other business ventures in the planning stage.

My maid is the same maid as seven years ago when my daughter was born, after my second Indonesian maid. The first Indonesian maid returned home after finishing her contract as her children had started school. We know her much better now and trust her to take care of the kids when we are not around. The kids (the two older ones) are now big enough to be able to tell us if anything is wrong. So even though we have no extended family support here, we can cope. I am also not a stranger to KB.

In contrast to patients in Ireland, they are not that different except for:
Fever and rash signifies dengue rather than meningitis, although meningitis could still be one of the differential.
Fever in an unwell patient much always make one think of dengue.
Fever and potential exposure makes leptospirosis high on the differential list.
Thalassaemia is common, though almost as unheard of in Ireland as cystic fibrosis or inflammatory bowel disease is in Malaysia.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is so rampant that there were always newly diagnosed patients in Ward 26, HKL, who were placed at the last cubicle with the bed facing the window. No isolation, no positive pressure ventilation, patient may not wear the N95 mask all the time.

In a nutshell, there is no simple career advice.

I come across a few different types of people through out my life.

The first type is the one who knows what they want, and go out and get it. My husband is like that. He made his mind up early on that he wanted to become a surgeon. His first job as an intern was in plastic surgery and he fell in love with that. The rest is history.

The second type is like me, we are not really sure what we want.We have some idea of what we like and what we don't like but the rest is mostly a grey are. We need to go out and explore things, try new things to see what works and what doesn't, and in the process, hopefully, discover the path that was meant for us.

For women, more than men, family is an important factor to consider when making career choices. I choose to work and have a family, I don't want to sacrifice either one. The challenge lies in finding the right balance, equilibrium.

The Unofficial Guide for Medical Electives

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.

Teh Tarik Madu dan Sup Kepala Ikan Warung Pak Mat Pulau Pisang

Semalam, akhirnya, saya bersama keluarga dapat menikmati teh tarik madu di Warung Pak Mat, Pulau Pisang seperti yang di recommend oleh kawan lama dari MRSM dulu-dulu.

Mula-mula dengar teh tarik madu, takde la rasa teringin pun nak minum, walaupun saya ni boleh kata peminat teh tarik separa tegar. Tapi bila tengok kawan upload gambar teh tarik madu dalam group watsapp, terus rasa wajib mencuba minuman ni walaupun hanya sekali. Sedap tak sedap, lain cerita.

Ni contoh gambar teh tarik madu yang menggoda...

Saya mencari opening hours atau waktu warung Pak Mat ini beroperasi, sebab lokasinya adalah dalam setengah jam dari rumah kami, tetapi tak jumpa info di internet. Saya pun telefon nombor handphone Pak Mat yang ada dalam sebuah blog. Pak Mat yang jawab. Saya pun tanya samada kedai buka atau tidak, dia kata "Ya, buka dari 4petang hingga 12 malam". Lagi satu waktu beroperasi dari pagi hingga 4petang. Tutup hari Selasa.

No telefon Pak Mat: 013-9198131

Kami pun pergi dengan seronoknya (sayalah yang paling seronok) menggunakan Waze sebagai panduan (enter Warung Pak Mat Pulau Pisang, Kota Bharu). Jalannya sama seperti jalan menuju ke Pantai Cahaya Bulan. Guna Waze memang senang sebab gambar pun ada dalam tu. Terima kasih kepada pencipta Waze dan pengguna Waze yang tolong upload gambar luaran kedai.

Alhamdulillah, masa kami sampai gerai agak kosong, mungkin ada satu dua meja aje yang ada pelanggan. Pelayan terus memberi menu dan kami pun order teh tarik madu yang diidamkan bersama sup kepala ikan dan nasi.

Ada anak saya yang agak cerewet dan dalam bad mood malam tu, jadi suami orderkan nasi goreng ayam untuk dia. Baby nak makan bubur tapi tak ada.

Sambil tunggu makanan sampai, saya bersama anak-anak pegi jalan-jalan tengok tempat sekeliling. Waktu malam tak berapa nampak sungai tapi adalah bot dan jetty. Ada juga kedai baju dan surau berdekatan.

Teh tarik madu dan sup kepala ikan pun sampai dalam masa beberapa minit. Semua makanan dihidangkan dan servis memang efficient mungkin sebab tak ramai pelanggan masa tu.

Ni gambar sup kepala ikan yang ada juga daging dalam nya, kami makan dengan nasi. Pelayan tu suggest ambik hidangan untuk enam orang, saya rasa mungkin terlebih sikit la sebab anak-anak tengok mood, ada masa makan banyak, ada masa makan sikit.

Makanan dan minumam sedap, insya Allah kami sekeluarga akan datang lagi di lain masa, mungkin masa tu boleh cuba river cruise sekali. Seronok juga datang waktu malam sebab tak panas dan tak ramai orang. Masa bayar, suami bersembang dengan Pak Mat, rupa-rupanya waktu beroperasi malam ni baru mula, baru sebulan. Patut la tak ramai orang, mungkin ramai yang belum tahu. Suami saya pernah datang dulu bawa pelawat tempat kerja ke sana, dia kata masa tu siang dan memang sesak. Jadi sesiapa yang berminat mungkin boleh cuba waktu malam pula.

Succeeding in the Internal Medicine Posting

Internal medicine (or general medicine for UK based medical programs) if considered one of the most important rotations in the clinical years. This is because in general, internal medicine provides the base for which all other specialties branch out from. It is to a students advantage to have a strong grasp of the fundamentals in internal medicine, and this can then be applied to other areas.

Tip #1: Use your time on the wards to the maximum.

It is a waste to use the time allocated to you for ward work to read books for example. There is plenty of time (well, maybe not plenty) to read books at home or the library.

Instead, see as many patients as you can. Take as many histories as you can. Examine as many patients as possible. Look at the medical charts. Use the viewing box to look at chest x-rays, CT scans, and other films available. Make friends with the nurses and the doctors. Volunteer to help take blood and put in IV lines. There's so much more fun stuff to do than reading books on the wards!

Tip #2: Work in pairs.

In the ideal world, it would be great to partner with another medical student whose opinion you respect and is roughly the same level as you. Take turns to do the history and examine the patient, one acting as the student and the other, the examiner. Give constructive feedback when you are the 'examiner' and give the best performance when you are the 'student'. It is so much more fun than working alone, plus, you have a second pair of eyes and brains to discuss the differential diagnosis and management plan with.

There may be instances that you or your partner are unwell, the remaining partner may chose to work alone or in groups of three. I still believe groups of three is a better choice than working alone because there is that sense of 'belonging' and 'helping each other out' when a medical student works in a group. There will come a time, maybe somewhere in the final year, that through hours upon hours of clinical experience, you will feel comfortable and confident enough to work alone. Still, I recommended spending 75-80% of your time working in pairs.

If you partner with someone who is way more stronger, you may learn a lot but this may also be confidence-shattering if the exams are around the corner. Vice versa, partnering with a person whose level is much lower than yours will make you feel like you know a lot, but you may not learn anything new from the experience.

So while it may be good to have many partners of different levels, advisable to work with one or two regular ones for most of the time.



to be continued

Obtaining Australian Visa For Indonesian Maid / Cara Mendapatkan Visa Australia Untuk Pembantu Rumah Indonesia

Ada kawan2 tanya tentang
Cara nak dapatkan visa untuk maid Indon yang nak ikut holiday di Australia
Macam mana nak dapatkan visa Australia untuk orang Malaysia

Nasib baik saya dah blog pasal ni dulu, cuma update dan share je.

Cara Termurah Untuk Dapatkan Visa Untuk Melawat Australia bagi rakyat Malaysia:

Hantar emel kepada eta@australia@yahoo.com

Sediakan:
Screenshot passport page 2-3
Details tiket penerbangan

Khidmat ini direkomen oleh seorang bekas pelajar saya yang dia dapat dari group backpackers. Orang travel agent ni pun orang Malaysia. Dia akan balas email pantas, selalunya dalam 24-48jam.
Lepas dah dapat emel visa, (elektronik link dgn passport, tak yah bawa pun nanti) dia akan bagi akaun number Maybank untuk bank-in RM20/visa.

Mudah dan murah berbanding website ETA.

Untuk maid Indon pula, tak boleh buat online. Kena pegi pusat VSF di Jalan Ampang.

The Australian Visa Application Centre (AVAC):
Suite 19.06
19th Floor
Wisma MCA,
163 Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur

http://www.vfsglobal.com/australia/malaysia/

Pegi waktu pagi, tak payah buat appointment pun.

Masa kita orang pegi cuti tahun baru Cina, memang takde orang, tak payah beratur.

Bawa semua dokumen penting (ini je yang kita orang bawa):

Passport pembantu rumah Indon
Passport semua ahli keluarga yang akan cuti sekali
Pembantu rumah Indon
Kredit kad untuk buat bayaran
Gambar passport 2 keping
Tiket penerbangan termasuk tiket semua ahli keluarga yang akan jalan sekali
Hotel booking confirmation
Visa keluarga kita (yang emel diatas tu, print dan bawa sekali)


   




Ambik number, pegi kaunter. Explain dan bagi semua dokumen, dia suruh isi borang yang panjang lebar (adalah kot dalam 30-40 muka surat, banyak masa spend nak isi borang ni je).

Lepas dah isi borang, pembantu kena ikut pegawai untuk ambik info biometriks (cap ibu jari) dalam bilik dengan dia orang je. Sekejap je pun.

Lepas tu boleh balik.

Seluruh proses ni dalam 1 jam 5 minit.

Kami tak bawa gambar maid jadi kena ambik gambar kat situ, agak mahal sikit la RM20 untuk 4 keping gambar. Kalau kat PJ leh dapat RM15 je.

Orang kaunter tu kata dia akan emel bila dah siap visa tu dalam 4 minggu, tapi dapat lagi awal, 3 minggu je. Alhamdulillah.

Gambar maid Indon dengan baby masa di Perth

English Version:

So you have finally made plans to visit Australia, booked flight tickets, hotel room and read up on places of interest. Or maybe just look at pictures. Then suddenly you discover that Malaysian's have to apply for visa prior to the visit.

Great. So this is different from travelling to England, Ireland and Europe. So you write a post on facebook and your friends tell you that:

1) Your travel agent would have sorted the visa for you.

But then, you just bought your tickets online from Malindo because there was this offer...not to worry, another friend then gives you the website for the Australian embassy. Apparently the application for the visa can be done online. But it costs about AUSD20-30 per person. 

I did look at the website, and I'm not sure about other people, but I don't find this the most use-friendly website, but then again, I have never traveled anywhere that required a visa (except for Hajj) beforehand and had to sort it out myself. (Hajj visa was sorted by our travel agent, again, a topic for another, separate blog post).

2) Then your friends tell you that any travel agent could do it for you, but they will usually charge a small fee since you did not buy the tickets from them. Apparently, the travel agents have a machine that can do the visa application for 'free' (I'm sure they have paid some license of some sort to get that machine). 

I was given this email: eta.australia@yahoo.com by a student, which is a travel agent recommended by backpackers and is supposedly cheap and efficient, and so it is. 

You just have to email screenshots of passport page 2-3, flight ticket information and a few other things. Reply is prompt within 1-2 days. After they obtain the visa, it is emailed back to you, then you can pay RM20 per person to the maybank account number given. Excellent.

But wait, the above only applies to Malaysians. 

For Indonesian maids, its different. There is no online visa application, unfortunately. You have to take your Indonesian maid with you to the Visa Application Center in Jalan Ampang KL, doesn't matter if you currently reside in Kelantan.

http://www.vfsglobal.com/australia/malaysia/

Luckily for us, we had arranged a trip back to good old PJ, my kampung, during the recent CNY week off. So on Wednesday, when the PJ/KL 'apocalypse' was still pretty much ongoing, we left home early (aimed to arrive 8-8.30am), according to the website they opened around that time, they advised setting appointment, but when we went there, there wasn't much of a queue through out the whole 1 hour 5 minute experience.

We did try calling the place beforehand to find out more details but its not easy to get through. The machine answers, after several selections, finally there is an option to speak to a person, and then the line gets cut off. This happened more than once.

So we got there bright and early, parking was not a problem, neither was traffic. 

What we didn't expect was not being allowed to bring anything inside with us other than the passport and documents. Even the baby's drink was not allowed, we were told there was drinking water provided inside (which was true). So we had to put our phones and other baby stuff in a locker (we needed two lockers). Then we had to be scanned like they do at the airports and parliament. That was also not expected. The security personnel handled the situation with reasonable tact (I'm sure they get our surprised reaction all the time) with "We are just following instructions, we know this is weird".

Inside the counters were manned by Malaysians (the company is outsourced by the embassy). The counters on the left are for UK Visa application, and on the right Australian visa application. Our number was called. We explained our situation. The lady asked whether it was a tourist visa or work visa. 

Since she is our maid and going there to care for the kids, especially baby, we opted for the work visa which was slightly more expensive. It costs AUSD200 more or less. The thing is, the application may be approved or declined, either way, the payment is non-refundable. Most of the times, as long as everything is in order, there is no problem getting the visa.

So we brought the maid, her passport, payment, copy of all our flights details, all our family members passports, and that was it. The form was rather longish, but otherwise user-friendly with clear instructions, I did once or twice had to ask the lady at the counter for clarification. Our maid also had to have her picture taken (that could have been done beforehand but I did not read such requirements and no one forewarned us, so we had it done there which cost RM20), and biometrics information collected. 

That was the 10th of February. 

They said it took 3-4 weeks for the visa application to be processed. And rightly so, today, we received an email containing our maids visa.

Alhamdulillah, thank you God.

Looking forward to our next family holiday.

The Medical School Interview

Why I am writing this post

I have been invited to give a talk to aspiring high school students who are considering a career in medicine. Part of the program also involves a session where the students undergo a simulated interview as if they were applying to go for a certain medical school.

Medicine, the chosen career option for straight A students in Malaysia

What is my opinion of such programs? Yes, I wish I had attended such when I was a high school student. It might have been useful. But more so, I wish there were programs which allowed people to explore other options other than the oversold medical career. Not sure about other countries, but in Malaysia, there is a certain perception particularly amongst parents, if not the general public, that it is 'great' to have a child studying medicine.

Motivation to study Medicine

I do this quite often, whenever I chance encounter groups of medical students, I would ask them why they want to be doctors. While there are variable answers, a significant proportion (anywhere between a quarter to half) of them would describe their parent/s as important or main motivators.

There is also a subgroup I include here, where the students would say that it was a childhood dream, or that they decided from an early age (anything less than 10 years old) that they wanted to become a doctor. In those instances, I am pretty sure that the parents had something to do with the 'ambition'. How do I know? I'm a parent too. *GRIN EMOJI*

The real reason why I am writing this post

I may not be able to attend the program, hence I decided to write this blog post to share whatever knowledge and experience I have regarding 'interviews to enter medical school'.

Lets start by attempting to answer these two questions:

Why do medical schools conduct these interviews? Do all medical schools interview potential future students?

My experience with medical school interviews as a student:

When I was one of the eleven students with MARA sponsorship in Dublin, studying for the pre-university exam known the Irish Leaving Certificate in Leeson Street, there were three medical schools in Dublin that most of us were aiming for:
1) Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
2) Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (better known as RCSI)
3) University College Dublin (UCD)
Only RCSI held interviews (and it is the only medical school out of the three listed that is a private institution.
So yes, I did attend the interview that RCSI held, although my aim was TCD, only because it was (and still is) the best medical school in Ireland, and my husband (at that time future husband) was also a medical student there.

So I went to that interview not really having anything at stake (because it wasn't my first option), I didn't really prepare anything, I was also under the impression that as a private institution, the main thing was that the student had money/ability to finance their education, and that they just wanted to meet you in person beforehand to see if you are a nice person, that they can offer a place later when exam results are out.

The medical school interview, my personal experience as a student:

I think there were two interviewees, a lady and a man, both relatively old (with mostly white hair or balding), they were very friendly and it was a laid-back, calm setting.

I don't recall much otherwise regarding the interview, but I remember them asking about one of my hobbies, which is playing the piano, and I had difficulty deciding which piece was my favourite (couldn't remember the name).

Basically they had a copy of my CV (which didn't contain much at that point, I was only 18 years old), and a lot of the questions (which weren't that many) surrounded that.

Perhaps I was a bit nervous, I am not sure. My only other experience with interviews at that point was getting the MARA scholarship, which was again, something that I went through not really desiring the outcome (a story for another blog post) and hence it was a relatively non-stressful event.

When the Leaving Certificate results were out, I was ecstatic (not because I scored 590 points, all A's except for chemistry, my favourite subject), because I was offered a place to study medicine in the top medical school in Ireland, TCD, which coincidentally was also my first choice.

I know, that's not very helpful if you are a looking for information on how to prepare for the medical school interview. Wait, there's more.

I felt it was necessary to share the experience, just to show that for some institutions, the pressure is less, the interview is just an informal meeting to see that you are indeed a nice person.


The medical school interview, my personal experience as a doctor/lecturer:

Upon returning to Malaysia, I joined the University Sains Malaysia (USM) as a medical lecturer in 2007. It was somewhere along that time that USM was awarded the status Apex University and decided to interview prospective medical students (it was given some authority to pick and choose its own students due to the status, where as before that, USM would just accept any students given).

Unfortunately, I left USM to join Taylors University before being able to participate in any of the selection process. Yes, I received some feedback from friends that they were able to reject students who were basically 'forced' by parents to choose medicine, as the students revealed during the interview that they did not really want to study medicine after all. Interesting eh?

So if you haven't figured it out yet, one of the main reasons medical schools interview candidates is to choose the right ones, those who desire to study medicine for the right reasons. Only because medical is not only difficult and arduous, so is the lifetime career of medicine, and the cost, not merely financial, is a mighty one to bear. So much so a lot of people are way better off not entering the arena in the very beginning, rather than realizing later on the mistake when the costs are much higher.

As a medical lecturer in Taylors University, it was decided that the medical school, TUSOM, was the only school in the university to conduct interview as part of the student selection process. Taylors is probably well known for its business school, hospitality school and pre-university courses. The medical school was relatively new at that time.

The interview panel consists of the dean, vice dean and usually one other lecturer. Sometimes a lecturer who was non-medical, for example the communications lecturer, was also involved as an interviewer. I was so very keen and interested to participate that I volunteered myself when there was an opportunity to do so.

Each interviewer was given one section. There was actually a script which we used for the interview and it was followed reasonably rigidly. Often the dean or vice dean would start the interview with a brief introduction of the panel. Then the candidate would be invited to tell us about her/himself.

The first question had to do with the reason/underlying motivation to study medicine. There were a few options of types of questions to ask and the interviewer would chose which. The panel each has an answer sheet where they make note of the candidates answer, we are given a choice of good reasons to study medicine and a list of 'not good' reasons such as being forced to etc.

In the second part of the interview, the candidate is asked to give evidence of their interest to study medicine. For example attending basic life support course, of being a member of PBSM (Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah), doing attachments in hospitals, any reasonable hard proof that the student did not just suddenly come up with the idea of doing medicine the day before the interview.

I was often given the third and last part of the interview, which was 'the scenarios'. Here, the student is given one out of five possible scenarios, usually the concept would be that of ethics, and the student is asked what they would do in a particular situation. Here, the panel are looking at a few things:
1) The ability to answer spontaneously and think on the spot.
2) The ability to think critically.
3) How the candidate handles a bit of pressure

Usually, most candidates would have expected and may have even rehearsed answers for the two earlier parts of the interview, thus the third part would shed some light in other areas that would otherwise not have been shed. Frankly speaking, I did enjoy seeing how the candidates handled themselves.

Later on, I joined Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine as an assistant professor. They too, did interviews as part of the student selection process.

Although I did not have a chance to participate in the student selection process in my short stay there, what I gathered from the other academic staff was that the interview was a very tedious process where each candidate was interviewed by three panels separately, with each interview lasting about 30 minutes each.

To be continued.

Penang 3D Trick Art Museum!

I must thank my friends on facebook who initially 'promoted' this place (indirectly of course) by posting interesting pictures taken at the museum.

They are the facebook picture posts that make you ask "where is this place?"

Ever since then I had googled the place and read about the cool pictures that can be taken as if you are part of the scenery, also other tricks which are best left unsaid and explored in person.

I admit it, I'm not a huge fan of travelling. Why? One - it is a very stressful experience. Often time is limited and you have to keep to the schedule or you might miss the flight, the train, the trip, or mess up the schedule.

There is a huge degree of unpredictability, the weather can spoil things by raining when your supposed to visit and walk around the Giant's causeway, there can be huge queues as you wait to enter the Coliseum, there can be delays as you queue to enter EuroDisney, you may not speak the local language and ordered beef which is not halal, then you have to return the food, and so on.

Then, its travelling with kids. Yup, planes get delayed and a friend ran out of diapers, In Malaysia, we have a problem with the public toilets. Let's just say I have a phobia of public toilets although on the one hand, things have most certainly improved much the past 3 decades. I can hold for unprecedented number of hours, but not my kids.

Then last but not least, its the travelling light bit. I'm sort of the person who likes to have everything ready and be prepared for every scenario possible. So yeah, travelling light is a challenge. It's a struggle every time.

I must admit, since Baby came along, I realised we as a family had not had the chance to travel much.

Even though my husband is from Parit Buntar, which is very near Penang, and we visit there minimum twice a year, believe it or not, we only chanced a visit to the 3D Trick Art Museum in January 2016, following my husband on his business trip.

It was the kids first experience (and mine too, I believe).

From outside, it was just a shoplot, which was a bit of a disappointment. We couldnt avoid visiting on a working day because we had to wait until my husband had finished his work. We came late in the afternoon, around 4pm. There is parking in front of the museum, basically similar to parking you would get in front of any shoplot. There is also a parking area which is within walking distance where my husband went after dropping us off.

The ladies at the reception were friendly.

It's RM15 per adult and RM10 per child.

Upon entry, the children got really excited and everyone was like "take my picture, take my picture!"

There were always staff around to help suggest how to take the best pictures, although sometimes I thought it was a bit 'intrusive'.

All in all, the children enjoyed it. We had to leave our drinks outside. At the end, I bought a 'teh ais' from the stall across the road.

Yes, I would recommend this place for a family outing.