Source: www.smh.com.au
I am one of those people who never thought about the system in the universities. Aren’t they basically the same for almost all universities around Malaysia? Aren’t we all just striving to hold the degree in our hands, to graduate and have job security in the field we chose?
Being a medical student in Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS), my thoughts and perceptions on studying and working has changed. Every university or college has their own way and objectives in producing good and reliable doctors. This is something that I myself had realized after a few years studying in my university No, we don’t enter schools and universities without objectives. No, we do not study for the sake of passing the exams. And no, we aren’t aiming to complete the degree for the titles and jobs. It is more than what we ever thought of. We are living lives and as we grow older, what build us up during our youth will shape who we are in future and hereafter. After all that is not applicable for just medical students, but to everyone who still think that they are in the process of seeking knowledge to learn.
Holding tight to the university philosophy ‘Harnessing the human potentials in a comprehensive manner to produce holistic healthcare professionals who are intellectually, emotionally and spiritually-balanced is based on the principles of Islam and the obedience to the Almighty Allah’, we have been trained to be balanced in the three main aspects in becoming a quality doctor. The three main aspects are cognitive domain, psychomotor domain and affective domain. In simpler words, the knowledge wise, skills and attitudes. Most of the universities will apply the cognitive and psychomotor aspect in evaluating their students and may overlook the affective domain part. Yes, most must be wondering what the affective domain is. Is it that important, that somehow it must be evaluated in a student throughout their university’s life? With so many doctors nowadays, our generation needs to assimilate good qualities of being a doctor in order to compete and strive for job security and security in life as well as the Hereafter. Undoubtedly, attitudes and personalities differentiate you from other doctors. Knowledge can be sought, skills can be trained, but attitudes define someone individually and help a lot in bringing yourself to the whole new level of achievements of life. To practice good attitudes, one should have high sense of responsibility towards God and everything else will fall into places.
Like the majority of medical schools in Malaysia and some universities abroad, medical students are exposed to two years of pre-clinical study and three years of clinical exposure, in total 5 years duration of medical course. During the pre-clinical years, we were expected to cover all the basic sciences and theories in medicine before we could apply them clinically. Well, at the very least we should remember all facts and theories once we passed the exams. In my medical school however, we are trained to not feel the pressure of the exams anymore. We are trained to feel like studying is for the knowledge gained and to be applied once we become a doctor.
It was quite hard to adapt at first because school indirectly trains us to study for the sake of exams, but now we have to get used to the ‘block system’ where we are assessed continuously e.g.: General Anatomy, Respiratory System within a month time Exams, lab reports, group works, and quizzes throughout the course of the block. Once used to the routine, we barely feel the stress of studying medicine anymore. Our mantra becomes ‘I’m here for the knowledge and striving to become the doctor I wanted to be hence just study smart and be balanced in everything’.
In addition, instead of just having lectures, where students yawn and lecturers enjoy talking in front of class, we are bound to the system Students Centred Team-based Learning (SCTL); it is a slot in the class where you need to work in a small previously assigned groups. This method promotes teamwork and self-directed learning.
Life of clinical years however, is very much different from the pre-clinical years. We expand our experiences by travelling around few hospitals in Malaysia to seek knowledge from many Medical Officers, Specialists and Consultants. Instead of waiting for lecturers in campus and the same hospital, we need to travel as far as Putrajaya to Melaka or Perak for our postings. It may seem like a burden but there are many perks of travelling to different hospitals. One of them, of course, different hospitals give you different experiences on the patients you will meet. Like in Banting Hospital, mostly patients are from ‘Perkampungan Orang Asli’ hence, quite a few of classical physical examination findings. I had the chance to actually see few rare diseases. Manjung Hospital, Perak for example has patients with various socioeconomic and ethical issues requiring us to focus on our soft skills. We were posted in Terendak Army Hospital too, where we were exposed to army patients with commonly orthopaedic cases. Besides that, we will got the opportunity to meet a lot of new people, be it the staff nurses, the doctors or even the family of the patients. In order to build good rapport with them, we had to apply our communication skills. One day we never know, once we graduate, we might end up working with them again.
Another unique thing about our medical school, is the strong bond between lecturers and students. They keeep an eye on us from the first day we step into the university. Slowly without realizing, we became one big family. From our first year of study, the university has encouraged involvement in community projects ranging from health check ups, courses to “Sunathon” (mass circumcision) with guidance from our lecturers. These volunteerism events are not merely student activities but also an effort to create public awareness and provide health services for the community.
As a whole, becoming a doctor is never easy but it is not hard either. With good intentions the journey in medical schools will be smooth and easy, if God wills it. We have to train ourselves to become knowledge seekers and nurture the passion to care for others. Feel the empathy, not just sympathy. Remember, ‘Just Noble DR’. It is the acronym for Just, Noble, Dedicated, and Resilient which are the qualities of every doctor-to-be.
- Just: Adherence to ethical standards and recognition of professional limitations.
- Noble: Virtuous character with a high sense of responsibility towards God and community.
- Dedicated: Committed to a continuous professional development and life-long learning.
- Resilient: Resilient to physical and mental changes and uncertainties.
With prayers and balance between cognitive, psychomotor, spiritual, and affective aspects of life, not just medical students but today’s generation will shape a better nation.
Amiera Shakina is a 3rd year medical student in Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences. Learn more about these young columnists under The Team tab.
Nicely put in words. I guess most can acquire knowledge, but it’s quite a task to teach students on the right attitude towards working with staff & patients later on.
I hope you will do well, it’ll be a tough environment in Malaysia now with surplus of doctors, especially in next few years.
The other aspect I enjoyed about med school was meeting up with new friends- who are still at close contact & are there for me when I needed them. It’s one of the most enjoyable part of my life, except the exam bit 🙂