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.

Trust me, if you can't write properly in a forum, you can't write properly when it matters the most. I've seen many a fresh graduate who say "I know I "simply anyhow" write on the internet, but when working I write properly one", until I read their reports which are littered with grammatical mistakes with the odd SMS language. The sad thing is they don't even realise their errors.

Any we wonder why we have unemployed graduates.

In any case, if you want to receive help, you need to be understandable to the other party who you ask for the assistance. I've seen too many people barge in, ask for help, but are unable to articulate their issues, then wonder why they're met with silence.

Its very hard to help someone when you don't understand them.

I need an advice/opinion here: If one is given chance to choose between taking MBBS in CUCMS or Taylor's which institute should he/she choose? (pro and cons would help). Thanks

CUCMS is dominated by one ethnic group in both students enrolment and lecturers and the recent issue of students quota are factors to consider while Taylors is still new.

I concur But in my defence, I would say that my inability to write properly in forum or any other message board is that I feel that if I took more than 1 minute trying to compose one question, I'm waste my time. But I'll take the advice to write better and more comprehensible in the future

So to repeat my question, what is the difference of the clinical years being done in UM,UKM or UK grad that make IPTS student can't be recognized by most countries especially by Singapore's SMC? One thing I notice is that SMC recognized China's university but not Russian. Somehow I feel that while SMC is highly regarded, it is also susceptible to political development hence being inconsistent in its accreditation criteria.

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Added on August 29, 2011, 5:19 pmAgreed as I heard that Taylor and CUCMS is being reserved for MARA student to save the higher oversea fees. You have better luck at MAHSA or AIMST.

This post has been edited by fastimes: Aug 29 2011, 05:19 PM

the sentence is still completely structurally wrong........even with renewed effort....and certainly not ielts band 8 standard.....

recognition of med schools is a completely political decision.....but some more political than others......nobody can beat msia's.....

smc are not fools......you may want to look at the admission policy of the med schools before making accusations.....if i were to make decisions about recognitions, i would put that top in requirements.....over syllabus and quality of teachers and teaching hospitals........

i am referring to already recognised med schools with additional programmes based partly or wholly outside the home country......bottom line: clinical years must be in the home country.......

Maybe we can blame it a little on the education system, where there is zero emphasis on English? I was from a chinese independent school, and if one wasn't careful, there was this tendency to think that Mandarin is the only language in the entire universe. I suppose that would be thought the same of BM in national schools.

Just my opinion!

@fastimes, SMC does not recognise all medical degrees from China, as fas as I know. Singapore regards itself as the premier medical service provider in this region, as the contribution to its economy is very significant in terms of " medical tourism". Whether or not political influence comes into the equation, it's already the standard guideline for malaysians pursuing medicine, that their degrees will be recognised by SMC. After all, if it's recognised by SMC, it will definitely be recognised by MMC. Please correct me if i am mistaken.

This post has been edited by windz93a: Aug 29 2011, 06:48 PM