2012 SPM students - interested in medicine

[kwongkienyi]

Originally Posted by plawks

Matrics used to have 2 different streams for science students. Hayat or fizikal. Open for non-bumis.

Since the 2011/2012 matrics intake they changed the fizikal/hayat thing so there are 3 modules for science students:
Module 1: Bio, Chem, Phy, Maths
Module 2: Phy, Chem, Maths, CS
Module 3: Bio, Chem, Maths, CS

Asasi sains hayat/fizikal not open for non-bumis though.

Mind if i ask that what will we learn from the computer skill? is it like the SPM ICT subjects? if i didn't take ICT during SPM, is it possible for me to take these module?

[plawks]

Originally Posted by kwongkienyi

Mind if i ask that what will we learn from the computer skill? is it like the SPM ICT subjects? if i didn't take ICT during SPM, is it possible for me to take these module?

Can't answer since I did the 1st module. My friends who did the 2nd/3rd module didn't take ICT during SPM anyway.

CS=computer science (sains komputer) ;) not computer skills

[buttercup]

Originally Posted by gjy677

I couldn't agree more on what frostbyte13 had mentioned in his replies. I was going to reply with similar comments but I haven't got the time to do that. I think people above had answered your questions fairly well. I may be able to provide some information on life in medical school and life as a junior doctor. However, I really wish if I can interact with your son in a more interactive medium.Anyway, he still have time after his SPM to see for himself conditions in general hospitals by doing attachments in GHs.

Yeah, gjy677, that would be a lovely idea. Thanks. Just keep in touch and if at all you happen to visit Cameron Highlands, let me know. We will meet up and you can talk to my son, free steam boat lunch on me.

Did you took up matric or foundation? Are you from public u or private?

Thank you to all of you (frostbyte13, gureilla, plawks, kwongkienyi, & gjy677). It was very helpful.

frostbyte13, as per your advice my son will soon start using the fb, Recom , reading blogs and all as soon as after his SPM. Another thing , I am not sure how to go about this. I mean you were saying " hospital attachements in 2013 ASAP", how does that work? I really don't understand. Can you please explain to me. Thanks again.

( Well, you will get Cameronion scones, not trying to bribe here, just kidding) Besides if you guys really happen are here for a visit why not.

This forum is really very helpful.

[yfeng93]

Originally Posted by buttercup

The reason for starting a new thread is because here i will be talking about students who will be sitting for their SPM in 2012. ( As we all know every now and then things change and infos on certain issues posted few years ago won't be the same again such as (it seems only for the students who sat for SPM in 2011 - who will be taking matrics in 2012/2013 - non-bumi allocation is 1500).

1. My son is sitting for his SPM in 2012. He wants to do medicine. We have applied for matrics - choices Sleangor, Penang & Kedah ( after doing some research)

2. We will only know the result for matrics in May/June 2013. If we wait and don't get we will be wasting 5-6 months. If immediately after his SPM, using his trial result he applies to do foundation in Jan 2013, he can finish by end of 2013. The he may be able to start his medice in Jan at some of the u here. Is it possible and adviceable?

3. Can non-bumis apply for asasi? which u does provide asasi for non-bumi. Correct me if i am wrong, UPM and UPNM only right? UPM only offers asasi pertanian while UPNM is for tentera. That means does he has to serve the tentera even he if enrolls as pelajar awam? How do we apply to UPNM ?

4. If he wants to do foundation, which is the best and recognised university in Malaysia? Is this u recognised n oversea?( If he wants to work in overseas incase we don't get public u?)

5.Is asasi sains hayat and asasi fizikal the same? I understand that they have to take different subjects. Can both students do medicine?

I would like to thank everyone in advance for your time.

Regards,
Buttercup

Hi nice to meet you.

1.) Basically, it's a good choice for you to apply for matriculation since it's a fast track programme. Hope that i can help here. I was a matriculation graduate and do be prepared that sometimes you dont get the matriculation colleges that you have selected. In my case, i was given pahang matriculation. It was a great college with good lecturers. By all means, just go for any matriculation colleges that was offered despite being far from home. It would be a better choice to gain entry to public universities. If your son is active in his cocuriculum in matriculation, he might stand a chance getting into UM for medicine. I've got some friends who got medicine in UM, provided they scored 4 flats and 95 above for cocuriculum.

2.) You may go for it if u can afford it. But do check out for recognition from MQA for universities that offered medicine first. But a better way to study medicine would be through matriculation, as it really saves you a lot. Most private universities offer medical degree at a cost of half a million or not, a quarter of it (it's enough to buy you a house with that money

3.) Most asasi are for bumiputera. Sorry.. dont really know much about upnm and upm stuffs. However, for medical courses in UPNM, u have to undergo an interview first. It is different from other medical courses in other public universities.

4.) You can consider MUFY. It is offered by Monash University Malaysia and accredited by Malaysian Medical Council and Australian Medical Council. It allows u to work both in malaysia n australia. Another one, u can go for KBU foundation in science. They are collaborating with IMU medical courses starting this year (if i'm not mistaken) and enables KBU foundation in science students to further their studies in IMU medical courses. If your son got matriculation, he can apply medical courses in UM or UKM through UPU application process. Only medical degrees in UM and UKM are recognised by Singapore.

5.) Are you meaning sains hayat and sains fizikal in matriculation? Yes, they do take different subjects. For sains hayat, your son will be studying biology but for sains fizikal, biology is replaced by physics. Both of these asasi is eligible to take medicine, but normally UM and UKM accepts asasi sains hayat students, and USM accepts asasi fizikal students.

But for ur information, there are new systems in matriculation starting last batch 2011/12. We are differentiated into 3 modules. Module 1 (bio, phy, chem, math). Module 2 (phy, chem, math, computer science) and Module 3 (bio, chem, math, computer science). Both module 1 and 3 stand a chance to be admitted into medical courses in UM. But to play safe, it is always better to go for module 1 in matriculation. As long as your son score well in his SPM and provided he has high cocuricular marks of 80 or 90 above, dont worry, he shall stand a chance getting into matriculation.

Hope this helps. Have a nice day.

[gjy677]

Originally Posted by buttercup

Yeah, gjy677, that would be a lovely idea. Thanks. Just keep in touch and if at all you happen to visit Cameron Highlands, let me know. We will meet up and you can talk to my son, free steam boat lunch on me.

I'm delighted to hear that you stay in CH. I do hope I'll visit CH soon. I really love that place. Unfortunately, I'm quite busy at least for now and a trip to CH would give me a lot of motion sickness. Thank you for your kind invitation anyway.

Originally Posted by buttercup

Did you took up matric or foundation? Are you from public u or private?

I'm actually one of the lucky STPM leaver that was fortunate enough to secure a place in a quite popular public u.

Originally Posted by buttercup

frostbyte13, as per your advice my son will soon start using the fb, Recom , reading blogs and all as soon as after his SPM. Another thing , I am not sure how to go about this. I mean you were saying " hospital attachements in 2013 ASAP", how does that work? I really don't understand. Can you please explain to me. Thanks again.

When your son starts a fb account, feel free to tell me about it. Maybe we can connect through fb too.

By hospital attachments, I think he meant that while your son is having his holidays, try applying for a short attachment in hospitals like general hospitals or university hospitals.

Last but not the least, I'm glad to help. ^^

[frostbyte13]

^ there's your answer. Of course, the hospital attachment is on condition that your son chooses to wait for Matrikulasi results and put his studies on hiatus. Btw, you don't need to push your son to start facebook just for the sake of his future. I mean, I've had friends who never opened a facebook account until they were in college with me. Sure, they don't have enough time cause they spend it on perhaps more meaningful things like studying or reading. However, my point is that life shouldn't be so focused on studying, especially at his time now. He is going to be studying for the next half of his life ; enjoy a little while he still can. Find the balance though. Believe me, he will feel drained and regretful if studying is all on his mind. I spent a lot of my time nerding out unnecessarily (not sure if it was for personal pride or that I was scared of scoring mediocre results) when I was already more or less prepared. I sat for papers which I knew had an definite answer but all the more it did not satisfy me. Getting good results didn't take away the feeling either. For me, it's that personal affair of studying too much and not being rewarded as much ; eg study hard and the exam is a real toughie. Well, things have changed since I moved from A-level haha..

Oh yeah, sorry for the confusion over sains hayat and sains fizikal. I didn't know you were asking in regards to Matrikulasi.

By the way, about MQA and Monash Malaysia's MBBS qualification, do check with actual graduates. A lot of my friends told me there's hanky panky going around ; some say you only receive a certificate from Monash Malaysia and not Monash in Australia itself, thus grounding your credentials domestically.

[rocky2009]

my friend is studying in upnm asasi perubatan (non-bumi). there are about 50 places offered out of which about 15 are for non-bumi.

there are 2 types of students.

1 is cadet where they are given full scholarship with monthly allowance of over RM1000 but there is not much free time as they will have to attend cadet training during weekend. they also have to serve as army doctor for 10 years.

Another is civilian where foundation is partially free (hostel and tuition fees are provided and an allowance of RM2500 is given for 1 year foundation) just like matriks. for the degree i think it's around RM10000 per year for the fees and hostel.

important is to have A+ in most subjects but the most important is biology. if no A+ then don't bother to apply cos that is their requirement. If your son is called for interview then he can tell if he wants cadet or civilian. note that most who get asasi have got links to the military in some way or another.

this is what i would recommend : don't hope for government funded foundation programs. also don't hope for matrikulasi cos many non-bumis who got 4 flat did not get medicine.

decide on where he wants to study.

if local private (aimst, imu) then enrol for ausmat or sam or a-levels in jan.

if mahsa or mmmc then find out when their foundation course starts. i think sometime in march or april. better to do their foundation course as they guarantee you a medical seat as long as you meet the minimum grades.

if indonesia or russia, no need to enrol so early. can wait till results are out, go to medic-ed/tmc for foundation crash course, can fly in sept 2013. can graduate as a doctor 1 year earlier if go to indonesia.

i might not be 100% correct on the above. recommers pls correct me if i'm wrong.

[frostbyte13]

To add to that list, Manipal is also not a very bad option. 2.5 years in both Malacca and in Manipal, India itself. USM Medicine is also an option but don't put a lot of hope on it. Have no idea how did a friend of mine from A-level secured Medicine there, but she got an offer from Oxford for Biomedicine and she made the newspapers so beats me.

If your son has no problems with weather and would like to meet people, then Russia would be good. Be warned however that a friend of mine mentioned MQA likes to play red light-green light with Russian medicine graduates, even for their own JPA sponsored students. In recent years, I got word that they have decided to acknowledge their accreditation domestically but it seems in the past it was acknowledged and also not frequently. Clarify this matter again, with people actually in the medical field and those studying it. Indonesia is a better place if distance matters and culture as well. Indonesia also is like a potluck of many nationalities like our country and BM is not extremely different from their language there. Just, if he so happens to wind up in a university that frequents their own dialect, that's another story.

[gureilla]

Matrikulasi is still the best bet if u want to aim for medicine in local public universities. The chances of getting the course of your choice is definitely way higher than STPM. My friend who got into medicine in UM told me that everyone was from matrikulasi and only one is from STPM, so go figure =) If u want to do medicine overseas, you can try india, indonesia or russia for the less costly ones. Otherwise, the UK or Australia. Note that medicine in the US is only offered as a post grad course so you need a degree first before u can enroll to a medicine course in the US. Like the above stated, please check with the Malaysian Government if the course from the university is recognized, you don't want to go trough the hassle when you graduate.

[Young]

Originally Posted by shuwenteo

U.S.News provides three tips for international students interested in applying to a U.S. medical school. http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2012/07/16/3-tips-for-international-students-applying-to-us-medical-schools

America is probably the forerunner of clinical medicine and their top medical schools are among the most esteemed in the world, but I would strongly discourage anyone from Malaysia to apply there for very pragmatic reasons:

1. It will cost A LOT. To basically have any chance of getting in you will need to have done an undergraduate degree in America. That will set you back up to USD200k, depending on how much financial aid you receive. Medical school will cost at least USD300k if not more, and scholarship opportunities for international students are pretty non-existent. So unless you have RM1.5 million lying around and more than 8 years to spare studying, don't bother.

2. As an international student, you are heavily disadvantaged for admission. They favour local students for obvious reasons (funding, retaining talent, equity, etc).

3. You don't need to go to America for a good medical education. They have brilliant institutions but your training as a doctor will still be grounded in basics. All medical schools aim to produce competent doctors who have core skills and can function in a generalist/intern setting- they do not aim to produce super doctors who run about finding new cures every 2nd week. That is for postgraduate education.

Bottom-line: You're better off saving the money/time by attending medical schools in Malaysia, UK or Australasia. The quality of education you receive is pretty much the same as long as you choose your schools wisely. If you're really bent on going to the US, apply there for residency (specialty training) or gun for a PhD program. It'll be more worth your time and money that way.