i happened to chance upon this thread after googling one of my lecturer's names..

Anyway, to aong, it is not compulsory per se to have a good grasp of the Malay language for Phase One in Bukit Jalil, but you will suffer whenever there are clinic or hospital visits as the patients basically speak Malay. Pretty much like reading medicine in Russia, your studies are in English, but with the local patients, you have to learn the lingo.

Almost all non-local students rent rooms at Vista Komanwel (there are Vista Komanwel A, B and C). Renting privately is often the better choice as there is simply more flexibility and often a better rental rate. VK A is the furthest from uni (hence cheapest rates), VK B is directly opposite, and VK C is next to VK B. VK B is the most popular due to shortest walking times, but VK C has a much tighter security than VK B.

I shall defend the IMU Medical Local Programme. The Seremban students actually get a better training than those going overseas for twinning, and the hospital doctors have noted that Seremban graduates are generally of excellent standards and are well suited for treating patients here.

As of late, public security in general is pretty poor in the Klang Valley. Have to learn to be streetsmart and always watch out for yourself and your friends. Snatch thefts, robberies etc happen pretty often

oh, and for rental and stuff, search through facebook. There are groups such as this - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vista-Komanw...115926988488702

does it really matter which programme i'm from?

Anyway it's easy to get into IMU provided you fulfill the minimum academic requirements (check their website for up-to-date info) AND can afford to pay the fees. That's about it.

Hmmm. This one you have to go personally to the counselor, or to your personal mentor (if you're an IMU student, you should have a lecturer assigned to you as your mentor). For me, I asked doctors working in local hospitals. Apparently it all depends on exactly which field you want to do your postgrad in, where you want to work in the future, and of course, how much money you have/are willing to spend. $$$$$ is very important in medical studies

Oh, btw one thing. IMU MBBS local programme is not currently recognised in Singapore, if you're wondering. However, with a higher qualification e.g. MRCP/MRCS, one can work as a doctor in Singapore.

I daresay I'm qualified to comment on the new medical programme syllabus.

1. No resits if fail exams. Either repeat 1/2 semesters or out you go.
2. We do get a mock osce before the actual OSCE. (usually within a month of the exam)
3. Sems 2, 4 and 5 are the "checkpoint EOS" sems. i.e., pass sem 2 to get to sem 3; that wipes the slate clean, you start sem 3, pass sem 4 to get to sem 5 with clean slate.. Sems 1 and 3 are auto-progress semesters (you can't get kicked out for failing)
4. For those in twinning programme, results up to sem 4 only are taken into consideration for the ranking by the partner medical schools. However, failure in sem 5 is not acceptable (duhh)
5. In a nutshell, the main change to the curriculum is the timing (all content of previously Sems 1&2 now put into just sem 1), and additional clinical exposure (Sem 5 is all about clinical stuff - pre-pre-clinical phase)