I know of a few singaporeans who, even after having completed A levels, are undertaking an intensive foundation course to get into MBBS next year. A handful of MUFY (Melbourne) students have already been given conditional offers. The thing is for Monash, they're also looking at your ISAT, and interviews, ON TOP of ATAR 99 (for those NOT doing MUFY) at least. Then there are the students from HK, and China, even though PRCs apparently fail at interview level. The competition is stiff and real, nobody talks about Bs here...it's A+, and high A+s at that...and this is only ATAR. They may like your money but they're not budging on their standards.

Erm, nice discussion going on here. I actually from STPM and I avoided UK because it is something I could not afford ( I heard it is RM1 million plus cost of living?).

But still,I still wanted to know any incident or example you guys can quote of IPTS being 'the rotten apple' as you some of you guys work in hospital. There is zero information noted in newspaper or blogs. If someone can show how bad the grads is, maybe something can be change in the administration.

Btw, I guess no one gonna reply on stationary needed for the first year . I still clueless on how many paper I need...

what do you want to know?.....

as a general comment, any institution of higher learning that base their admission NOT on merit but on ethnicity, is a racist establishment, and not worth fussing about........

go to any of the top 100 unis in the world, go to their website front page, and read their underlying philosophy/mission/vision etc......what do you see?......they all avow the BEST education to all on merit, irrespective of their attributes like gender, ethnicity, creed, religion, etc........many have clearly stated non-discriminatory policy statements.......

and uitm?.....

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Added on August 28, 2011, 6:24 pmto my knowledge, all ipts med schools (even aimst) have some proximity to a decent town where they do sell paper, so i am not sure what's the obsession with stationary needs......

This post has been edited by limeuu: Aug 28 2011, 06:24 PM

Lol, what do you expect. I for one think it would be fill with minority if not because of the policy. It's politic. Btw, limeuu do you work in Singapore or Malaysia? (private??)

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Added on August 28, 2011, 6:28 pmAh thanks limeuu, I already packing up all my stuff but I'm left with buying stationary as I did not know how many paper and note-taking needed to write all those stuff.How do you guys take note in lecture? Write everything on the slide? but I might left something out as I'm a slow writer....

Maybe 10 testpad would do

This post has been edited by fastimes: Aug 28 2011, 06:28 PM

i know it is politics.....i have no problem if they make a policy of quotas......like the past......

but i take offence when they have an easy pre-u pathway into ipta, and claim admission is based on merit......

that is hypocrisy.....

just a thought, but maybe you can record the lectures? invest in a dictaphone or something?

Am sure you can get stationery near your college, and it's not like you're never leaving college grounds for weeks on end. Good luck, and all the best.

Like I said, demand outstrips supply, hence the luxury that Australian medical schools can afford in selecting their students...though I must agree that most applicants are self-selective as well.

This might not concern you just yet, but Australia currently has a policy of placing ALL local (read Australian citizen/PR) graduates first before international medical students can be considered for internship positions. Do you know how wretched it feels like when a local student who had to repeat an entire year is guaranteed employment while you're left hanging despite paying the exorbitant fees and having better grades than other local students. Now, before anyone starts bashing me for forgetting my place as an international student, I'd like to highlight the fact that this scenario was never explicitly discussed with previous generations of international medical students as the medical student tsunami only took off in the last 2 or 3 years. I'd assume that international students would know better about this situation, but looking at a few forum threads on pagingdr, I still see deluded replies such as "will change/apply for PR while in medical school"...I kid you not. In my uni at least, they have started calling final year students pre-interns; how ridiculous would it be for pre-interns to not continue on as interns the following year. Anyway, it's up to you to decide what you want to do, it's your money after all, but had I known this a couple of years back, I would have seriously considered studying elsewhere.

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Added on August 28, 2011, 7:33 pmGet an ipad if you can afford it...it saves you the trouble of printing out your notes/journal articles - there are a few really useful pdf readers on the App store. Plus you can also find a number of good anatomy apps for the ipad - Elsevier is working on a full Netter's atlas of anatomy for the ipad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9yQWKxv-OA

The ability to zoom in and out of articles seamlessly makes reading journal articles so much easier, unless you enjoy squinting at the tiny letters

This post has been edited by Huskies: Aug 28 2011, 07:33 PM

+1
but then how would you judge the programme itself?
from what i've heard, there are non-bumi lecturers also, the policy is one thing, but how would you judge the academicians there?

the uitm programme is new, so it remains to be seen about the quality......however, based on the very nature of the place, and the type of students that usually ends up in uitm, i think all the issues about sub-optimal student selection and b and c grade students will apply........

+1 (I think LNY should introduce a "like" and "dislike" button.. )

Nothing like getting a dose or two of reality from limeuu!

This post has been edited by podrunner: Aug 28 2011, 09:46 PM

The amount of stationary you need for first year depends on how much notetaking you do. I generally prefer writing on lecture slides while I know friends who write their own notes/transfer information from slides to paper.

For me, 4 years down, I am still using the very same testpad I bought in year 1. No need to mention the untouched box of Pilot G2 pen refills.

I totally agree with the Australian situation. It is ridiculous that someone who devoted 5/6 years in a foreign country for a medical degree is not even left with the option of getting recognised in the country after he/she graduates. Only way one can 'convert' to PR status while studying is if you get in and marry an Australian ASAP. LOL.

@ limeuu, what's your take on this brewing australian problem? Would you discourage students from going to Australia from now on? Let's not go the "marry an aussie" route. What about the current situation in the UK now, on internship/housemanship after graduation?

so far, all graduates i know in oz have been able to get housejobs, so i think it is not as bad as people imagined........

as for the 'right' to stay back, you don't.....it is clearly stated in all offer letters that there is NO guarantee of an offer of a housejob at graduation.....

i believe most states have/are in the process of increasing their housemanship positions to accommodate the increase in number of medical students over the last 10 years of new med schools and increased intakes....

but it's a risk you take accepting a offer in oz.....

as for uk, the 2 fy's are guaranteed (ie, it is part of the tier 4 student visa) at this point, so you will definitely have a housejob and 1st year sho job, unless of course you choose to do it elsewhere..........beyond fy 2, you will need to apply for entry into the specialist rotation, and whether you get your choices or not depends on many factors.....again, i only know one doctor who failed to get a rotation, but luckily he got a tier 1 visa (now discontinued) and he was able to stay back doing locum jobs, and got into a rotation the next year.......people who left wanted to leave......mostly to spore, and a couple to oz.........

Ah thanks I guess I should worried much about testpads

Tempted to buy iPad as I can use my money from a part-time job but I'm considering Nook Color which only price at USD250 which I can save money than buying expensive med books. On UK, I heard that many medical grad in UK have no problem whatsoever in getting internship although I'm not sure what happen when its over. I do know one Cambridge medical student who still working there after so many year, but then again he's from Cambridge

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Added on August 28, 2011, 10:54 pmBtw, limeuu how can you be a doctor and spend so much time in time forum anyway? Isnt doctor work non-stop 24/7

This post has been edited by fastimes: Aug 28 2011, 10:54 PM

thanks limeuu for your input. Your contribution to this forum is valued, and most appreciated.

Looks like the increasing fees for med courses in Oz and the appreciating currency will make more Malaysians to look elsewhere for their medical studies. The graduate admission requirement has also limited the choices available.

Other than UK which is currently cheaper than what Oz charges, I think US will most probably be the next best choice. The not so good prospects of both these economies will to a certain extent wont result in much increases in fees in the near future due to the relative weakness of their currencies but this does not discount any hike in fees.

As pointed out by limeuu on the impending tie-ups of IMU with Jeffersons and Miami, further discussions on medical studies in the US will be much appreciated.

That's interesting. I didn't know you could bypass American system of accepting only graduates into medical faculty. But after some research on IMU-PMS and SMC accredition, I wonder why SMC recognized medical degree which twinning with a recognized one in the last two year of medicine program (3+2). This is despite full 5 year IMU not recognized.

Is the last 2 year really make a difference in the ability of the future doctor or is it SMC way of letting some doctor bypassing the stringent accreditation? (I heard Singapore health minister complained of a lack of doctor about 3 months ago in TV and why they depend on foreign doctor)

your english is atrocious, how can you function as a future doctor?.....

smc's rule is simple.....the clinical years must be done in the country of award of degree, to be recognised.......and indeed, the most important part of a medical programme is the clinical part.....

note that because of this rule, pmc-irish degrees and monash msia are NOT recognised.....

Chill out limeuu, I'm pretty sure my English is all fine (band 8 in IELTS) but yes I dont really like to type properly Btw, limeuu, I'm pretty sure you're from SMC recognized uni, so what about the clinical that you do differ so much from normal IPTS?

Sorry if I sound aggresive etc., I just want to know what I'm lacking so I could improve when I graduated in 5 years time.

Valid but not new points. There's always that risk. Personally am not even sure where I will be next year, am just trying my best to get into a medical school in Oz or UK, along with many others in the same boat.