a little off topic...

I spent 6 years in aimst... since 2003.. right after my SPM..

The first 3 years were in the old Amanjaya campus.. next 2 years in Semeling and final year in Alor Star.. Fees were cheaper then.. RM 30 000 cheaper... ha ha..

The academic staff in AIMST are really dedicated in their work and always there to guide you.. However, once you are attached to either Hospital Sungai Petani or Alor Star.. it's up to you how much you want to learn and participate.. You could be ignorant and learn nothing or participate and learn as much as possible.. I was somewhere in between.. do have my lazy days.. ha ha.. Another thing.. try not to ponteng on calls ( i did ponteng a few..)... do rounds with the MOs or Specialists.. they are usually willing to teach.. I remember Dr. Sunita teaching us how to interprate a chest x ray of a patient with pneumothorax during her evening rounds in the old SP hospital in my 3rd year and another specialist showing us an x ray of lung cavitation and drilling us for the causes... Learn how to put the ECG leads and the rate of drip from the nurses..etc

My advice to the newbies (macam orang tua..) NEVER READ FROM THE POWER POINT SLIDES... ALWAYS READ FROM GOOD TEXT BOOKS AND IF POSSIBLE MAKE YOUR OWN COMPILATION OF NOTES... IT'S TEDIOUS BUT YOU WILL DEFINITELY THANK YOURSELF LATER... THERE IS NO EASY WAY OUT...

BE LOYAL TO ONE OR TWO TEXTBOOKS ESPECIALLY THE MORE ESTABLISHED ONES... DO NOT OPT FOR TOO MANY BOOKS BECAUSE YOU WOULD GET CONFUSE AND WOULD NOT HAVE THE TIME...

DURING YOUR CLINICAL POSTINGS... YOU MAY BE SCOLDED OR SHOUTED AT.... BUT THE CLINICIANS DO THAT BECAUSE THEY CARE AND WANT YOU TO LEARN AND BE BETTER.... THERE's NOTHING PERSONAL... CLINICIANS WHO DO NOT CARE ARE THE ONES WHO IGNORE YOUR PRESENCE.... THE ONES WHO SCOLD ARE THE REAL TEACHERS.... THERE ARE ALSO MANY NICE CLINICIANS WHO ARE ALSO EXCELLENT TEACHERS...

ALL THE BEST!!! 5 years of undergraduate studies is just the end of a beginning..... nothing to be proud of...

KEEP THIS IN MIND.... STUDY FOR YOUR CAREER... NOT TO PASS EXAMS..

Bye-bye... Good day..

Super senior!

wow.. thanks for the sharing natni02.. hehe... guess us newbies better start working our socks off!! =D

wow... awesome senior !!

So,there are no notes provided by the lecturers before/during/after the lecture sessions????what are the lists of books recommended/compulsory to buy????

hey everyone, is there anyone here who will be taking Bpharm in this coming august intake??

Can anyone tell me how campus life is over there? Are clubs active? With practices (sports clubs) and events?

Also, the laundry service.. I apparently have to pay RM30 per month. How does that work? They come to collect? Do we do the ironing? Do you guys put any relatively 'expensive' clothes in?

Thanks for the help

Powerpoint notes are provided for you after the lecture. You could download it anytime thru ur class desktop or mail daily. List of books, what subject of books do you want to know?

Anatomy- Keith Moore & spend time in museum and dissection hall when you are free to identify the structures.. would be boring if you keep on memorising without seeing the actual thing..

Histology/Atlas- Just refer books in library... not worth buying

Physiology- Guyton & Hall / Ganong

Biochem/nutrition- Harper's/ Lippincot's

Genetics- read biochem books or refer books in library

Pathhology- Robbins/ Underwood

Microbiology/ Immunology- can't remember author but the book published by Lange

Pharmacology- Katzung (personally I hated Tripati although its preferred by most of my classmates)

Epidemiology- ?? read class notes.. ha ha.. but the book which is highly recommended would be Beaglehole (WHO)

Biostatistics- can't really remember... think it was written by someone named Daly.... book is availab le in the library

Ethics- A book titled Sociology in Medicine.. need not buy.. just refer..


Clinical years..

Medicine- Davidson's (main text) / Harrison's (reference)/ Oxford hand book (only after you have read the main textbooks).. also read malaysian Clinical practice guidelines especially on Diabetes and Hypertension (long cases discussion are based on these in 5th year... expected to know the details of management..) Also learn how to read ECG- ECG made easy.. read this book.. there is another book with similar title by an Indian author... choose the one written by the Mat Salleh...

Surgery- Bailey & love / Manipal Manual of Surgery (personally did not use this much.. but there are topics here which are not available in Bailey)

Paediatrics- Nelson's/ Sunflower to understand the subject.. Malaysian Paeds protocol to learn the management especially in 5th year (clinical questions based on protocol)

Obstetrics & Gynaecology- Personally used the book authored by Sivanerastnam??? Could be found in the library.. It's authored by clinicians from Malaysia and India.. think it was called Essentials of Obs and Gynae.. Another good book would be by Impey...

Also illustrated Obs & Gynae (personally did not use this)..

Ten teachers (not much information).. To learn how to interprate CTG.. there is a book called CTG made easy.. available in Alor Star Hospital's library... Just photostate on the spot as you are not allowed to borrow..

Also read protocols which are written by clinicians in Kedah.. available from seniors or from the hospital but remember to return them after use... There is a book by a clinician from USM.. cannot remember title... It's more on management of cases.. good if you are in 5th year..

Orthopaedics- Appley's (text) Macrae/ UM book (clinical)... UM book has some errors in it.. namely the Mac Murray's test... do discuss with your teachers..

ENT- dingra (good book.. easy to read and understand)

Ophthalmo- could not remember the author.. but published by Lange.. available in the library..

Psychiatry- the Oxford notes on Psychiatry..

Accident & Emergency- read the flow charts in oxford handbook.. The most important thing is to be able to perform the basic life support and advanced life support..

Radiology- can't remember title.. but authored by arnold... available in library..

Dermatology- Davidson's/ Harrison's/ Nelson's... they have chapters on dermatology but not much pictures.. so refer books on OSCE for the pictures..

Clinical skills/Physical examination- I personally prefer Macleod's (other than sections on medicine & surgery.. also available are sections on Obs/Gynae, orthopaedics, paeds, opthalmo, ENT... etc)

other books recommended to help brush up clinical skills are Browse (for surgery) and Talley/ O' Connor (for medicine)..

I HOPE I HAVE NOT MISSED OUT ANYTHING..... REMEMBER TO USE THE TEXTBOOKS AS YOUR MAIN REFERENCE... NOT POWER POINT LECTURE NOTES...

BEFORE PURCHASING BOOKS GO THROUGH THEM FIRST AND SEE IF THEY SUIT YOU... A BOOK WHICH IS GOOD FOR SOMEONE MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOU... DO NOT INVEST IN TOO MANY BOOKS.... PICK OUT THE BEST AND BE LOYAL TO THEM...

Good luck...

P/S- If I am not mistaken.. The text books recommended for AIMST students by the university are listed in the YEAR BOOKs... do go through the list.... Another thing... tips would be 'flying around' as exams approach.. DO NOT RELY ON THEM... MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE INACCURATE..... IF YOU HAVE BEEN READING... THERE WOULD BE NO PROBLEM IN PASSING THE EXAM..


This post has been edited by natni02: Jul 27 2009, 10:29 AM

wow, this is a complete list. thanks very much natni02.

so when is it we start using the textbooks? when to start buying? where's the best to purchase books? roughly a book cost how much?

If possible all the subjects so that i can search for the books now n the price in the market though.......anyway,thx for the info earlier.........

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Added on July 27, 2009, 1:39 pmWow,wat a long list.....anyway,didn't expect the whole complete list lol....btw,thank you so much..it's very helpful indeed.......thanx super senior........

This post has been edited by charmhy18: Jul 27 2009, 01:40 PM

you may need the books... particularly anatomy, physiology and biochem almost immediately once the classes starts... you could get pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, etc later on... during your second semester...

each book costs around RM 100... even the smaller ones... so it is a bit expensive... but its good investment...

In Kamal Bookstore... you could get books RM 10-RM 30 less than in the university bookstore/ Top rank Bookstore... SO IF YOU ARE GETTING 3 BOOKS FROM KAMAL.... YOU SAVE around RM 100 (free promotion for the bookstore).... with the extra RM 100 you may get something else.. go for holidays... go for a movie... go makan-makan... go to CS for pizza... go to Alor Star to see the 'great' MUZIUM PADI... etc

Personally... I think the 1st year was the thoughest.... You may be overwhelmed by the amount of information which you may need to read and understand... A one hour class may not be sufficient to 'cover' the entire topic... So lots of time is needed for self study in order to catch-up..... ( failure rate during the 1st year is always the highest)

The first 2 years is important as a solid foundation... so do well here and with hardwork... the next 3 clinical years would be fun and interesting..

P/S- do invest in a medical dictionary.. costs around RM 100 for a pocket version.... you need to know and get used to the medical terms.. its your transition from a layman to a doctor..

Sorry for the long replies... I have so much free time now... There is simply nothing to do..

This post has been edited by natni02: Jul 27 2009, 03:06 PM

Woo......thnks for the useful info......indeed it's really really helpful.......hehe....

anyone here had pictures of inside AIMST's hostel ?

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Added on July 27, 2009, 7:37 pmjust wanna know how the room and all looks like...

This post has been edited by Razaelx: Jul 27 2009, 07:37 PM

i got a web address, maybe can help a lil bit. but i dunno tat i shud post or not.
the site got some medical books and biotech oso.

first n foremost, thanks for your super helpful info! =D,,
eerm...just a figure.. so do the books all round up to around 2k? and is it too late to get it only after we enter... or is it advisable to get the books ready now, b4 the actual class starts? =)
and also, does ..edition of a medicbook matters?

nobody is going to tell you to open your books...nobody is going to publicly ask you questions in the lecture hall...at least not in the first month lol...it's not high school my dear...

by the way, i would like to ask those staying in the hostel provided, is it near to the campus? travel mode from hostel to campus?

besides that, are food provided during the weekend?

about laundry, losing clothes, is it common? need to label?

and is it necessary to get broadband? can we access to internet in the hostel?

You do not need to spend up to 2k for your books. Buy those which is appropriate first. You could always get the other when you need it in the future, you'll only be using it as reference.

hallo seniors. may i know how about dentistry? Which reference books that are needed?thz you..