So this is a major pro point to doing medicine in " Indonesia etc"?

Ps. There's discrimination everywhere. It's how one deals with it.

If I am not mistaken, they term this as "embracing diversity", an add-on to "human rights" perhaps. This is also practiced in universities, residential halls and colleges and is included in their respective handbooks. This is one of the "advantages" of an overseas education I suppose, especially for malaysians...open up ears, eyes and minds a little, hopefully in a good way.

I have no words......

I suppose there's no point in talking about dignity anymore...clearly that has been "surpassed".
Visiting the doctor for a consult is going to be our worst nightmare!!

Like!

From youngyew in recom.com thread "choosing a good medical school" : -

"The notion of the "best" doctor is a vague one. Medicine is such a huge and varied field nowadays, there's no one who knows how to do everything under the sun. The regular general practitioners in the clinic probably do not know the appearance of a brain tumor under the microscope, but the top brain surgeons probably don't remember the dosage of antibiotics for a urinary tract infection.

As pointed out by a few people here, there are some basic characters, knowledge and skills that all doctors should have. All freshly graduated doctors should know how to approach and initiate basic management for patients presenting with a chest pain. All doctors should know how to put in an intravenous drip or take bloods. All doctors should know that when a patient suddenly has difficulty speaking and have a one-sided weakness, that person has a stroke. All doctors should know how to do CPR.

Unfortunately, we have heard so many cases of "doctors" failing these simple tests. This is commonly attributed to studying in institutions where teaching culture is not strong, and hospital exposure during medical student years are non-existent. It doesn't take universities and hospitals with world-leading researchers to let you hone your skills inserting intravenous drips, and to teach you how to approach patients with a chest pain. It takes medical schools with proper structured, supportive teaching and uncompromised assessment system to make a safe and competent junior doctor.

Big and famous universities probably do not produce much better doctors than medium and modest universities. Yes one can always be assured of a certain level of teaching quality when it comes to "famous" universities, as they are usually well-funded, closely scrutinized, and inherit a time-tested tradition of excellence. Because of the positive-feedback effect (a good university attracts good students, good students make a university even better, and so on), students in a famous university will be surrounded by peers with strong academic aptitude and learning drive. These are all merits of studying medicine in top universities.

However, smaller and less famous universities are not necessarily disadvantaged by the flip side of the same argument. If a university provides good teaching facility and resource, maintains a high level of integrity and does not compromise its admission and graduation standard for financial gains, it would still be able to produce very competent doctors on par with those from the bigger, more famous universities. In fact, many people find themselves enjoying the smaller, more personal teaching that is only available on the new, medium-sized medical schools.

One may ask, "What if you want to become a top brain surgeon? Don't you want to learn from the best top brain surgeons?" The answer to that is a more convincing "yes", but medical schools do not produce brain surgeons, they produce junior doctors. After one graduates from the medical school, the postgraduate career becomes less and less influenced by the medical school they went to as they progress in their career. When someone applies to enter a specialty training program, they will be judged more by the reference given by the previous senior doctors they worked with than which university they went to.

At the end of the day, when you are choosing a medical school, just go for an established medical school known for its reliability, quality and honesty. It doesn't really matter you go to UM, UKM, or USM (amongst others), as long as you are in a proper school, and you go through the process with the right attitude, you will become a competent doctor ready to embark on a wonderful career. Just don't go for universities with no teaching or no hospital exposures. "

This post has been edited by podrunner: May 11 2012, 11:07 AM

Reading through some of his comments in the forum, that's what he meant, that there are lots of good small med schools...

I believe he graduated from Uni Melbourne's undergraduate med program.

---

Added on May 11, 2012, 2:04 pmI agree. His postings have always been consistently well thought out.

This post has been edited by podrunner: May 11 2012, 02:04 PM

"A career in medicine requires true grit.
And so, if one expects a walk in the park, then that person is going to be sorely disappointed." - Vagus

---

Added on May 13, 2012, 1:02 pmA Daily Express Forum article, by "Fair Play", dated 13 May 2012

An interesting excerpt: "..It is a fact that Mara paid millions to Irish and Indonesian medical colleges in donations to get their students in..."

Surprising to note this tidbit about Irish medical colleges.

Could not find any online link so hope this jpeg will do.



This post has been edited by podrunner: May 13 2012, 01:02 PM

Are you tracking all the UK medic offers?

Only northern island is part of the UK, and there's only one med school there, QUB. I think Perdana has tie ups with RCSI.

There's some info floating in the web that the 5 US universities from the Top 10 THE unis for critical courses, will be removed from MOE's scholarship list for critical courses. Announcement soon, apparently. It actually took them this long!

This post has been edited by podrunner: May 18 2012, 09:45 PM

Can someone educate me about "Family Medicine"? It sounds quite "general", yet it's a specialty in USA and I believe in Canada as well.

If still determined to study in UK, he can apply again for 2013. I suppose he can try all the Oz unis you have mentioned. Sit for the ISAT as soon as possible. The better options in Australia? Since money a non-issue, he can opt for grad entry at ANU, UMelb and USyd. But this would mean doing a course like BioMed first.

You mentioned his "other attributes so so". Oxbridge looks beyond academic criteria and one's form on interview day.

Academically speaking, it is easier to get into UK because as it has been established, it is much easier to get AAA than an ATAR of 99+. Interview wise Australian unis may be a bit more lenient as Australian unis tend to have a larger quota for international students.

Australian unis also don't require a personal statement, which has been known to either make or break an application with the UK universities.

Exactly the point that PS and UKCAT / BMAT are equally, or for some universities, more important than AS results to "see if you have what we are looking for in medical students" . The interview then determines if the applicant is consistent with PS, plus body language etc. Assuming all boxes are checked up to this point, then academic capability comes in, thus conditional offers. Conditional offers = yes we are of the opinion that you are a good fit for our medical program, provided you meet the academic requirements. So we cannot in essence, "quantify". I think it was Elsielam who said, "we only need just that one offer".

Am glad the process is over, especially when A levels was not done.

Ps. Ask friend to send an email to QUBelfast. You never know, as they may be in clearing for medicine. Someone with 4 rejections last year, somehow managed to get an offer from QUBELFAST in August.

Hmmmm...that is quite co-incidental! This applicant went through an agent, apparently. Glad that he/they got in!

Sorry, eliseLam, not Elsielam.

I was told accomodation will be known end of this month (Uni halls). Still shopping for flights. What about yourself? Excited? You firmed KCL, or has my memory failed me?

You are right about the selection process.

As soon as you receive your CAS.

Didn't realize it can be requested. I was under the impression that it is part of the process for international students, ie once offers become unconditional and applicant has accepted, CAS will be sent electronically, starting from June.

This post has been edited by podrunner: May 20 2012, 12:08 AM