Ohh i see. Seriously, what's the founder gotta do with the laku-ity of our degree. LOL.

Hey Jace,

Am not sure how your foundation lecturers are doing over there, but i can gurantee that the degree lecturers are not like that. Lectures posponed are quite unusual but it still happens due to certain circumstances. But all the classes will be replaced accordingly, no worries on missing out on the syllabus. Foundation wise i'm not too sure, but i think self study will be more useful cause that's what we used to do during out foundation times. Used to ponteng alot cause of the boring lectures. Hahaa.

Anyways yeah, AIMST Foundation cert is recognised in Manipal/MMMC. In fact, few of my foundation mates have decided to pursue their medical course there and they've just finished their first year there. But i find no point in transferring to Manipal as AIMST is already like a "Manipal in Malaysia". Most of the medical lecturers are originated from India, and their good at their respective fields. Besides that, we've a mix of local, Mauritius, UK, Ireland etc lecturers. Plus, why pay 80k more when you can get the same recognised MBBS degree. Haha. Just my humble opinion.

This post has been edited by csrulez: Jul 19 2008, 12:02 AM

200 for medic starting next year, 50 for BDS, 50 for pharm and unlimited for biotech. But places will be increased, just that we're not sure when. You know aimst. Haha.

And no worries of not getting into the degree programmes as long as you've fulfilled the minimum requirement, 215 for medic, 195 for dent and 175 for pharm if i've not remembered wrongly. Just that you need to compete for the earliest intake, else you'll be placed on the waiting list which you need to wait for a year for the next intake. And every year, though there are many foundation students, to be true many did not come back for aimst's degree programme. Reasons being not qualified, ran to other unis or repeating the foundation programme. Like my batch, April 06/07. Out of 240 students, only 50+ came back for medic, around 15+ for dent and 30+ for pharm. So no worries on not getting a place, just study hard, get your results and your place will be secured for sure.

Foundation exam is not tough if compared to STPM, A levels etc, what we always do during our time was last minute studies. Find it really effective but pls, don't learn. Still, have lotsa fun during your foundation, things will be no longer the same when you come to degree. Haha. Well, just follow the lecture notes, do abit of practices esp on chem and maths, you will definitely have no problem in scoring even an A+ for the final examination. Don't make it tough for yourself, trust your ability and don't listen to how the lecturer scares you. Believe in yourself. =)

Yeah, lecturers here at aimst seriously know their stuffs, no doubt on that. Today we have this inspiring talk by a well known young cardiothoracic surgeon, Eric Lim from UK. And guess what, he's actually a student of our current VC, Prof Geoffrey Smith! Just got to know that our VC's actually a Professor of Cardiac Surgery from University of Sheffield with 30 years of experience in cardiothoracic surgery and heart transplant. Plus, he was the ex-president for the Cardiothoracic Surgeons Society of Great Britain and Ireland and visiting academician for unis in the Middle East and Sweeden as well. It kind of surprised me.

Therefore, the only thing i can tell you here is that, AIMST is no doubt a great uni filled with great people. I'm glad to be here and will definitely be proud to graduate as an AIMST doctor anytime soon in the future. =)

This post has been edited by csrulez: Jul 23 2008, 11:32 PM

Yup, i admit that our own foundation prgramme has no standard at all if compared to other qualifications like STPM, A levels etc. It's probably even easier to get through if compared to the govt matrix, but the thing is at least it has prepared me well for my current degree programme. I do not find any prob in understanding anything throughout my course till now. After all, that's what a pre-u course is all about right? =)

Yeah definitely, the degree programmes are no longer like the foundation. No more honeymoon-ing. There are quite a number of dropouts especially in year one, approximately 10-20% per intake. No more last minutes.

Btw, the long awaited opening ceremony of our campus will most prolly fall on the 17th of August. Our PM, Badawi will be here to officiate the ceremony. That's the info i got from the MMC and MQA ppl during the high tea this morning. FYI.

I agree with hypermax.

Nyways, quoted from NST 2008/08/06.

" Earlier, the MIC chief announced that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would open the party's Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology in Semeling, Kedah, on Aug 17. He said the RM500 million AIMST would hold its first convocation in October this year with about 300 medical and bio-technology graduands. "

At last, i'd say. Haha.

This post has been edited by csrulez: Aug 6 2008, 05:48 PM

Erm, depends which course u're interested in. So far all the courses here are accredited by MQA (Malaysia Qualification Agency) and our med degree/ MBBS is recognised by MOH and MMC. 3 Batches are already out and the 4th has currently finished their elective postings and is waiting for interviews by JPA.

Lecturers wise, good and quite experienced. Mostly indians with a mixed of locals, a few clinical lects from uk etc. Study environment, i'd also say dat it's not bad. Due to the lack of entertainment outlets around this place and also we've got very good facillities around.

AIMST people, mind to explain further? Haha.

That's the thing. USMLE, i was thinking of taking Step 1 after my pre-clinicals year. Is it possible to do so? And yeah, i'm not sure about the international recognition of AIMST too. Probably it's a really new med school, therefore not on the list? Am really not sure about it.

This site provides list of universities recognised by MMC tho, updated on 23th of June 08.

http://mmc.gov.my/v1/docs/Jadual_Kedua.pdf

I'd say the university does play a role in creating great physicians or surgeons. Of course, it is not only the education that i playing the role. Students they themselves need to have the commitment too.

Therefore, good university + good student = good doctors. Lousy university + good student will produce students lack of clinical knowledge etc. Therefore they need to work extra hard when they come to their life as a houseman. And THAT, still does not gurantee them of becoming one skillful doctor in the future. It varies i guess.

University ranking. As long as students produced are competent, maybe not equally. It's fine. We're not competiting against who's the top surgeons anyways. Just wanna be a doctor equipped with sufficient knowledge so that we could still benefit the society in the same way. Ignore the income of the great surgeons or whatsover. Some of them work purely just to earn money and they tend to forget all the medical ethics already. I guess it really depends on how a person thinks. Again, thought varies.

Just an update for AIMST's thread. It's our unis big day tomorrow and the campus is looking really awesome tonight. The Prime Minister and his cabinets are to be here at 9.30am tomorrow morning for the official ceremony. Currently most of the delegates are already here at the campus.

News reports taken from NST and The Star.

NST : Collaboration of AIMST and Imperial College London on a joint researh to tackle tuberculosis.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Fri...icle/index_html

The Star : Abdullah to open AIMST University’s new RM500m campus
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...4026&sec=nation


Enjoy your day. And this is just an update to all the AIMST students at lowyat.net.

Yup, hopefully. It has certainly moved on quite alot since the day it was established. Something to be proud of, at last. Haha. Probably cause of the appointment of our new VC who's also a Brit cardiothoracic professor from Sheffield, Prof. Geoffrey Smith.

"New Live. New Beat." is the tagline for the opening, lets hope that the new beat continues.

Oh sorry hypermax and manfye, for the late reply.

AIMST Pharmacy, have got a few mates currently doing the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme. So far as i've heard recognition should not be a problem as the course is already accredited by MQA and waiting to be approved by the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia once the first batch has graduated. They are currently in their 3rd year now. The School of Pharmacy will be taking in the lastest Batch 4 students this September.

Facillities wise, it's excellent as most of the facillities such as the Anatomy Dissection Hall, Multidisciplinary Labs they are sharing with us the medical/dental students. Lecturers wise, if i've not mistaken most are from India but with a mix of locals. Not too sure about that though. You guys can check out the curriculum through our new websites anyways. So far, no complaints from my friends. So i guess it's quite okay.

And manfye, AIMST campus hostels do provide us with a super slow LAN internet connection. LOL. The campus is currently working on a campus wide wireless internet connection though.

Great place to concentrate and study isn't it? Luscious green valley of Gunung Jerai. Not much entertainment. That's part of the reason they set up a medical school there. LOL. Most of the time, studies are the main activity for students in campus. Haha.

Business tactics. Before u enter AIMST, be prepared with the managements. They can make you vomit blood sometimes.

Off-campus houses commonly stayed by students would be Bandar Laguna Merbok (BLM) and Lagenda Heights. Check em' out. Rental in betw 100-200 per room depending on the location and houses.

Nope no twinning programme, it's a 5 year local course which you have to do here. We have a dental hospital for clinical training and great facillities for dental students from what i've seen. Let edge85 elaborate on this.

Cadavers, we do use it for Anatomy dissection but sadly no, we do not each have one to dissect on it. Most of the cadavers are parts of bodies which are already properly dissected by the lecturer to show important structures such as nerves, vessels etc. It is usually showed by the lecturers during the dissection period where we are divided into 4 groups, students can choose their own favourite station to reside since they are 4 diff lecturers lecturing at the same time. We are allowed to touch and play with it though. Plus, the Anatomy Dissection Hall is opened to students all the time on weekdays 8 to 5 for study purposes. I guess IMU do not have these kind of facillities. Cadavers are still the best way to learn anatomy, IMHO. =)

You can't say that.

Certain countries such as US does not recognise any degrees in every other part of the world no matter how prestigious the university is, therefore u need to sit for the entrance examination such as USMLE in order to be recognised by them. Therefore for recognition, there are many other pathways to it. Such as entrance examination like USMLE and PLAB for UK.

However, AIMST is a cheaper alternative to health sciences related course such as medicine, dentistry etc. If you have the money, i'd say go for the twinning programme at IMU (around 800k-1mil if done in Aus inclusive of cost of living) or try to do it fully overseas definitely. BUT, you have to be aware that it's very tough to secure a space though unless u have really really great results as health courses are very competitive (med, dent etc) throughout the world.

Edited:
In fact, dentistry places are so much more limited if compared to medicine.

This post has been edited by csrulez: Aug 27 2008, 10:56 AM

It's a twinning programme from IMU, that's the fees you should expect. It's a 2.5 years local pre-clinical (RM390k excluding cost of living) plus 2.5-3 years (RM500k excluding cost of living) clinical programme abroad, you have no choice if you choose to twin. It's a curriculum.

No, i'm a medical student. That is why i said i'd let edge85 to eleborate on the dental programme. I've got many friends here in dentistry though, of course i know what facillities they have got.

Dental hospital provide various dental services to patients around this area, and clinical training starts on 3rd year. You need to have hands on practice on patients under close supervision of the lecturers. As for the great facillities, each of them have their own station to work in. FYI, the dental chairs can cost up to 70-80k EACH. There are many more to elaborate on, unless you take a tour here by urself.

Singapore universities choose their students based on pure merits and extracurricular inlvolvement. Even to their own citizens, they're very particular in the selection process. That is why, it's not easy to secure a place in the university unless you have got very good results for your pre-u programmes eg. GCE A levels (sat by ASEAN scholars) plus a good involvement in extracurricular activities such as participation in national debate competition etc. Plus, you've gotta compete with students all over the world as NUS is one of the prestigious uni in this region. Dentistry course esp are very competitive. Also, be prepared to face excessive amount of stress if you plan to study in SG.

And thanks jayelleenelial for the explaination. Haven seen you around for quite some time already!

This post has been edited by csrulez: Aug 27 2008, 12:24 PM

Besides income, think of the job that will suits your lifestyle and interest more for the future. You won't want to work for the sake of money for a lifetime, don't you? Job satisfaction is the most imp thing here. Get a job that you totally have interest in, else you'll lose interest even during the studies itself. Few of my seniors got that "syndrome" of losing interests in medicine in their 3rd and 4th year. Only thing i can say is that, you will definitely have no problem in terms of income if u were to choose in between dentistry and pharmacy. They are both professionals.

And yes, that's the only plus point of Malaysians. We're multilingual. Hahaa! Singapore is a great place to reside if you can deal with the stress, esp for education and career development.