dat's wat i'm thinking but u know after da spm result is out, there would be a lot of students with straight A's including da mara, sbp students so as me from the ordinary school, it's like 1/100 000 of my chances to get da scholarship so, i will apply 4 dat but now i'm trying to find other way so dat i can back up if i fail to get da jpa/mara scholarship..

well, i'm taking spm right now, i know dat. a few of my friends from 2/3 years before manage to get da scholarship but like usual indonesia...russia... it's pretty rare 4 aus or something like dat...only sbp and mara students usully get dat.. tis is told by my friends so correct me if i'm wrong..

The fact stays, it is almost impossible to obtain any form of aid from any parties besides government bodies. Don't expect private firms to invest at least RM500k on you when they will not get any returns at all.

Petronas used to sponsor medical students, not anymore, because it is not a sound investment.

Loans, don't even bother thinking about it. You'll be in a severe financial debt when you graduate.

Yes, quite true.

Besides, eventhough you get the scholarship, you will have to spend a few years serving the government and you will only be free when you are almost 30. And some of the unis are not recognised by other countries.

Best is to pay your way through and get into a good uni, if you can afford it.

still jpa and mara is good option even though quite hard to get it...

Scholarships for medicine is very hard to get because relying on STPM results alone is no guarantee that a person would be able to complete the course in the expected time. Loans as mentioned is not advisable as it's going to take a very long time to pay back. This is the reason why countries like USA is experiencing a drop in enrollment by their own citizens. Most doctors who entered after taking loans were not able to pay back their loans or even earn close to the expenditure during the 4-5 years of medical training, in short, before they even start med school, they're already waist deep in debt.


As for working 24 hours...well it's an understatement. In the local context, supposing you start working today, from 7am and you're on call tonight, well your work day starts at 7am today untill you finish work tomorrow evening, which would be at least 5pm. Your daily schedule would depend largely on the expectations of the various heads, certain departments require that housemans make night rounds by themselves to finish off whatever work required. So a typical day, runs from 7am till 10-11pm every night. Mind you, I do mean EVERY night, INCLUSIVE of Saturdays and Sundays, there is no such thing as overtime claims because it's still part of your job and public holidays do not extend to you.

Well if that's not bad enough, you still have to smile while getting fired at by your superiors and senior nurses for any mistakes you make, and also smile and handle the demands of patients which may sometimes be unreasonable.

Several months back, an article was published in one of the local papers, that by year 2020, we would be producing MORE THAN ENOUGH doctors to meet the demands of our local government, which translates into - no more compulsory housemanship, the govt. may or may not hire you upon graduation.

One last thing about coming out around the age of 30 from govt service to venture into the private sector. You would only qualify as a General Physician, as in be able to start your own clinic, to specialise, you need further studying of at least 3-6 years depending on your interests. After you graduate, you are required to work for the govt. for another 6 months to 2 years for gazettement, so by the time you qualify as a specialist, you'd probably be around 35-40 years old?

And by the way, from what I heard, I'm pretty sure JPA and MARA aren't offering scholarships to UK [and perhaps even Aussie] anymore, I'm not sure if even SBP and MARA students can get that privilege.

Indonesia, Russia, Egypt seem to be the trend for JPA/MARA scholarships. The cost to send one student to study medicine in the UK can be used to fund about 5-6 students studying the same course in Indon/Egypt. So, yeah, they seem to have shifted to emphasize on quantity now, rather than quality.

That's the trouble with studying overseas now: Lack of scholarships to popular countries, and money in general.

medical scholarships even in aussie are hard to come by, uni of sydney, now ranked no2 in the whole of aussie, only give partial scholarships for students who get in. They select you straight out from your interview, so even if your filthy rich but you aced the interview you'd still get the scholarship.

in MAS, not to be racist or anything, but how often does a non bumi get scholarship? its so so rare, i hardly hear of any getting, maybe those who get like more than 11 A1's stand a better chance than the rest. But its selective, and i think they have to meet a ratio.

thread starter if your a bumi your chances is def better, if your indian or chinese, you have to be extremely smart+talented+very good interview and they have this bincangan session, where they wanna see who can stand out who is like the leader.

I suggest if you wanted to persue a scholarship earlier to apply for singapore, i think from there your chances to get into the best schools with scholarship is much better if you have the talent.

as for bodhi, yes med is tough im planning to take it up too, dont know what kinda of social life i'll have during house man years though, but i think its worth it all those hard work, to be bale to be a specialist, with a good pay, and a very satisfying job.

Since you mentioned Bumi's I might as well let you know also that selection into local postgraduation programmes also dependant , not to mention promotions as well.

Satisfying job well, there are frustrations and shortcomings everywhere which will just be part of your everyday life, afterall, businessman and healers thinking will never be the same.

Good pay, if you work in the private sector, definately got chance..work with govt...forget it lo,enough to pay bills, buy a new car one fine day and drive it for the rest of your life and food

Russia will not be recognized anymore..starting next year i think. So, dont try to study medicine there. My cousin was studying there, his batch was the last to be recognized by malaysia. He said that, there are plenty of students "bought" the cert and not get it by results. Consider twice. Haha
If you are considering IMU, i can it is quite a good place. There are 2 intakes in one year. 1 intake is around 250 people. I saw them sitting on the stairs and floors in the lecture hall. What i can say is, doctors are flooding already. This career is a tough 1 also,no matter during degree or working. You need to study until half dead to get good results. After graduate, you need to work 24 hours on time. For a gal who wanna choose medic, i would say it is a bad choice. You will have no time to accompany your family especially after you got child. LoL..pharmacy will be a better choice.
There is scholarship such as PTPTN. After you were accepted into the course, you can apply through the University. If you are going oversea, there will be JPA loan of around 200,000 for you to borrow. You need to pay of course, or you choose to work with the goverment for 10 years after graduate.
I am currently studying pharmacy in IMU..haha. Don't say i am siding my choose,just telling the truth.

IIRC, PTPTN is not a scholarship but a loan.

oops..
sorry..wrong 1..
but IMU got own scholarship..

A Medicine Jpa scholar here. Just try to research as much as you can. =)

my advice---> go study hard hard...then score a straight A's...then apply JPA...if not, go apply for private medical college for scholarship..(also need superb result)...
else, continue for STPM/ matrix..,score good result..apply for local Uni.

this is the solution for people who cannot afford for private medical Uni/ overseas...Like me~~hehehe

Lay off the kid... At least she's trying to get some info here...

But I agree with you a lot of people don't really know much about medicine before venturing into it, and later regret their choice.

IMU... Just finished my first phase in July... now awaiting to go overseas next year

Basically, I have to say that IMU is not one of the best equipped medical unis out there. But credit to the management for expanding its facilities and infrastructure as well as their personnel throughout recent times. I am sure if you join in the near future, you will experience better stuff than I did.

Twinning in the US is not as easy as going to other partner medical schools. You should know about the USMLE examinations if you are planning to go to US. By the way, IMU only offers twinning programmes with Thomas Jefferson Medical College. That was the only option if you choose to go to the States, unless they have included new partners after my completion of my first phase.

If you have read through the Medicine Education thread that was pinned up before, you would have known that medicine is NOT easy. In fact it is hell, well, almost. Syllabus is hell, students are competitive as hell, schedules are hell too... But learn to love it and you will survive. I am actually missing my IMU days, despite complaining and whining about it a lot before

Cash is another MAIN factor that you need to consider. Do some research, collect some info on the fees of various unis, they vary quite a lot. Discuss with your parents whether they can afford it or not. Even the fees of partner medical schools of IMU vary quite a lot. You wouldn't want to go broke halfway through your medical career. If your parents are ok with the money, then by all means go ahead to whatever uni of your choice.

Scholarships, unfortunately, are very rare. For medicine that is. JPA is obviously the best choice, but of course there arises the issue of the contracts and bonds. But that shouldn't even be a conflict. The government spends so freaking lot on medical students and they should in fact be FORCED to come back and serve the country. JPA provides hell lots for medical students. My JPA friends overseas are basically living lives of kings and queens over there (compared to self-funded students that is).

Loans... well, they are a good alternative if you are short of cash. But you'll have to slog off to repay them, unless your parents pay them for you.

Think carefully before you choose medicine. You have virtually no way out after you join the course, unless you are prepared to let the cash all go down the drain. Bear in mind one thing... You will probably never recoup the cash you spend on your medical curriculum, at least in the near future.

Good luck

edit

This post has been edited by dandan2: Dec 7 2006, 12:08 AM

it's not the financial problem...
i'm really worried that i'm not able to cope with the syllabus.
and the competition among the students may drive me crazy...

i don't know...mayb i should just let go of this idea..
it's too tough for me..i don't think i cAN handle it >.<

StarGhazzer,it's very nice to meet you here .Congratulations for successfully
completing IMU Phase 1 course .Actually,I
have just finished my STPM exams,and IMU twinning-Jefferson MC is my major
consideration now,partly b'cos of the high quality of US Medical education,
reduced cost and durations.
I would like to ask you the following Q's:

1)What're the chances of an IMU students twinned with Jefferson being able to
continue for specialist training and to secure a job in US?

2)Will it be easier for a Canadian PMS Graduates to apply for US internship
compared to graduates from other countries?

3)What's the percentage of failure in IMU USMLE 1 ?

Thanks for your future reply. Hope you'll be matched with the PMS
of your choice.

Dream on..........

Info? Much of these stuff can be found on the net with a click of the button, one doesn't even need to ask. If someone does not have the initiative to do so, one should not even bother doing medicine no matter how interested one is.

Since when is medicine in the US cheap?

Scholarships for professional degrees are rare if any at all.

If you get into a Canadian PMS, you are likely to find a job in canada because you have the canadian experience.

1. IMU students... well the competition is quite tough for those who are aiming to enter Jefferson. Usually, each batch is allocated around 3, 4 places for Jefferson, but my batch has actually 6-8 of them going for the USMLE... If I'm not mistaken, if you fail to achieve the requirements for USMLE, you will be matched to other remaining places at other overseas unis. And the matching process would be done together with your junior batches.

2. Erm... there used to be rumours saying that Canadian Grads are able to work and study in the US, but I can't be sure. Maybe you want to check with the corresponding Canadian universities to see whether it is possible or not. Well, can't help you much on North American issues coz I am not going there

3. No one knows for sure because the results are not officially announced AFAIK. But I suppose those who are in IMU and aiming to take the test would have gotten some news and rumours, probably tips as well.

If you are aiming for Jefferson because of the high standards there, by all means go ahead. But if you are aiming for REDUCED COST, seriously you will have the shock of your life. Medicine is never going to be cheap, and again, you will probably never earn back the cash you spent on your education. Fees for overseas unis will NEVER be cheap due to our weak ringgit and perpetual inflation of overseas university tuition fees. Doing a local first phase may not save you that much, but at least it saves up to 30-40% costs, maybe (and probably) even more than that.

As for duration, US is not that fast. The fastest way from IMU is to choose Dundee. Dundee only takes you 2 years, while most other overseas unis require 2.5 to 3 years (mostly 3 years). Assume that you join the first intake eg Feb/Mar 2007... you will finish ur 1st phase around 2009 July, and straight away fly to Dundee for 2 years. By 2011 you'd be graduated, without "accidents" that is. 4.5 years for a medical degree, that's kinda like UKM.

All I can say is that if you really want to go to US, focus on your ambitions and work hard to realise it. I slogged during my uni days and got my first choice uni, and I am very pleased of it. (well I am not pleased about the stupid inflation of fees ) Work hard, work smart, and you will be rewarded for your efforts. Just remember, there are no shortcuts in medicine.

Sounding harsh eh? Info about unis and courses can be found with google and mouseclicks, but personal experiences could only be found via talking to current students of graduates. I don't see any problem with fellow forum members asking for certain information, but as you put it, it's better to do some research before asking.

Scholarships for medicine are indeed rare, but scholarships for engineering courses are much more easier to find compared to medicine.

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Dec 7 2006, 11:24 AM