Monday, April 09, 2012

Only some may be doctors

Free Malaysia TodayLiow: Medical council not biased


Last month, a former medical student from Ukraine alleged that students doing medical courses in Baltic countries (you know who) were compelled to do a foundation course while those going to Egypt and Jordan (you know who) were exempted.


Liow Tiong LIE repudiated that.


I recall a few years back, when a minister went to Ukraine to visit Malaysian medical students there, he remarked insensitively that there were 'too many blacks' (words to that effect). Coincidentally, after that, the MMC recognition of degrees from that medical course was withdrawn, but only AFTER a certain year.


Why only AFTER a certain year? The general suspicion was that it was to enable 'some' students to graduate as doctors while denying the 'many blacks' recognition of their medical degree. The 'wrong coloured' people went to that State Medical College principally because they assessed from the participation of Malaysian government sponsored students that the degrees would be recognized by the MMC.


In a March 2006 post Mediocrity beats Meritocracy I penned:


The Higher Education Minister said: “For students who meet the requirements and are outstanding, their places at IPTAs are guaranteed but probably not in certain courses like medicine because the competition is intense for these courses.”

He didn’t explain why outstanding students cannot be guaranteed a place in medicine if they apply for the medical course. Instead, he wants them to consider other courses that were less popular.

What he meant was the numbers for the medical intake would be limited and perhaps even taken up already, and therefore those outstanding students shouldn’t be surprised or upset if they aren’t accepted.

From all these injustices, ordinary rakyat like us couldn't help but gather that the authority has consistently and deliberately made it difficult for 'some' Malaysians to get a medical degree - non-medical degree okay lah but medical degrees tak sokong atau ta'boleh.


I also wrote in that post:

Those students by their academic achievements should have been more than qualified for, and would be accepted in, any medical courses of foreign universities - assuming they have the money or scholarship to go there, especially since the Crimean State College for Medicine was mysterious 'blacked' out (I mean 'blocked' out) for them.

The people responsible for the entry selections keep changing their criteria each year after being challenged. Following the brouhaha in the last two years, where the PM himself had to intervene, they have now included some subjective criteria, making it even more difficult to detect the unfairness.

One of those 'manning the gates' from invasion by the hordes of outstanding students had even proposed a 'blood' test where wannabe medical students would be exposed to the bloody gore of operating theatres to assess the strength of their stomach.

It was a ‘blood tolerance’ qualifying test which he as a medical student wasn't subjected to, nor were/would be other medical students in any university in the world, but no doubt he dreamt it up as a convenient tool to close the gates to ‘some’ Malaysians from medical degree courses.


Another, a doctor who I believe was based in the UK even dismissed exceptional academic qualifications as unimportant, while at the same time demeaned the ability of local exceptional students as being inferior to those of UK students with lower grades. Of course he conveniently skipped any asinine comparison of ability for those Malaysian students with mediocre grades. Obviously in his inane Weltanschauung, mediocrity is fantastic while meritocracy is to be sneered at.

Well, that's the quality [or lack of] of those proposed subjective criteria.

In the final analysis, the absence of transparency has been the most damning indicator of suspected bias.

Read this post Good but not good enough? for a heart-wrenching story of a 'Malaysian'(?) as well as the difference between the  government and a Buddhist organization in awarding scholarships.

It is obvious some Malaysians are strongly supported in becoming doctors while others have been discouraged or hampered. There appears to be a covert but perverted policy somewhere which only permits 'some' Malaysians but not 'others' to become doctors.

So I hope Liow Tiong LIE would now understand (as if he hasn't already) why MCA has lost Chinese support.


25 comments:

  1. Kalau dapat 9 C6 peringkat SPM kemudian dapat masuk certain medical school di Ukraine, you nak panggil ini apa? U confident kah mau dikendalikan oleh doktor semacam ini? Ada certain ex-MP yang jadi champion orang-orang yang mediocre jadi doktor melalui medical school di Ukraine. Is this good for the country? Please read earlier postings of Product of The System blog by an ex-UM medical student.

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  2. Chingko racism on display, as usual.

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  3. Kati Mock
    Go home and fly kites.With losers like you,your abang adek are doomed.

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  4. Shame ou you Kati Mock.You are an embarassment to the human race.Go back to Saiful's asshole from where you came out from.Whamoosh.

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  5. if only the government makes medical courses meritocracy based than one to uplift social rank racial quota.

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  6. Your racism is showing. Why go to unrecognized Us? Just to get a medical degree. That's your funeral.
    The glaring fact is you nons can afford to go to Ukraine, the Baltic countries or India to study medicine without scholarships.
    Go to any clinics and you can see Indian doctors having degrees from Kasturba or Manipal. Some Chinese docs obtaind their from HK, MBBS Singapore etc.
    And do you know that the ratio of nons getting JPA scholarships to study medicine or other courses have increased three-fold in recent years?
    And tomorrow Muhyiddin have announced that there will be good news about JPA scolarships.
    And thus begin the rigmarole of the Chinese demanding more quota and Uncle Chua will step in.
    You are not good enough if you are only eligible for JPA scholarships.
    There are so many Chinese conglomerates which offer scholarships. Why hanker for JPA scholarships.
    And you dont vote for BN nor do you want to go back and serve the country after graduating.

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  7. I got this from Product of The System blog:

    "Most of them don’t know pharmacology or physiology.

    Most can’t perform simple clinical procedures like urinary catheterization and intravenous cannulation.

    Most can’t deliver acute care to a patient in distress.

    They are not well-versed with common medical terms and classifications."

    We are putting someone's life at risk when we send them to Ukraine trained doctors.

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  8. Aiyoo... Manipal graduates kah? Don't even know how to interpret charts

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  9. Kaki Mock,don't talk shit here.No racism allowed here.

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  10. Those slitty-eyed sepet types sure know how to do one thing well - scream discrimination at every little thing.

    Buttercup wrote: And tomorrow Muhyiddin have announced that there will be good news about JPA scolarships.

    Go and read that sentence at least 10 times before you next open your mouth.

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  11. Increased 3 folds in recent years ?

    Let me give one example (as illustration):

    Three years ago

    Malay students on public funded scholarship - 11,600

    Chinese students on public funded scholarship - 87

    In recent years

    Malays on scholarship - 15,750

    Chinese on scholarship - 261

    Buttercup is right - the Chinese do get a 3 fold increase. Damn !

    Absolute numbers will tell the real story, right ? Now, go google the actual numbers, oi melayus, and forever STFU. Be satisfied when you are so ahead in the cheating game...pretending to be the victims will just backfire on yourself.

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  12. This post borders on racism (or even maybe waist deep in it)and is not helpful at all in solving the actual problem.

    I do not understand why almost every "top" student wants to be a doctor. I believe it's a matter of pride. Students in Malaysia generally have no passion and they have been drummed from young to excel but not to learn. They think they are brilliant because of their STPM marks but unfortunately they are not aware of their lack of learning. As Alexander Pope puts it, "A little learning is a dangerous thing". We want doctors who are passionate about their work and be humble to the people for whom they are serving.

    I suggest local universities should follow the American model whereby one has to take a first degree, take a GMAT test, attend interview and volunteer in a health/medical facilities for a few months. It takes about 8 years after secondary school before the students would take up internship in the hospital. It takes another 3 to 7 years before one can use the title M.D. For medical students graduating overseas which takes less time to complete their studies, there is a need of tougher certification process to make the degrees equivalent to the one I am proposing.Only students who are truly passionate being a doctor would even bother to want to study medicine.

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  13. ghostwriter, beside telling us the article border on racism, perhaps u shd also enlighten us if what were written is fact or not? I think not all top student want to be doctor, in fact our system only allow the top to become doctor, and how do you know the top student that choose to become doctor is without passion? i agree that ur suggestion to emulate the american model is a good one but it seem u r not aware what happen in our local u all this years, thus my suggestion is that if u want to see ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing’, u only need to gaze into ur nearest mirror.

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  14. We repeatedly here of 'untuk pertahankan marua'.

    Reaallly? .... where is the marua if after 42 years of affirmative policy you still can't cut it in an open 'man to man' competition to enter university. The Nons are required to sit for STPM; one of the toughest Pre-U exams in the world, while the the ones who are purportedly 'pertahaning marua' slip thru under a watered down "same teacher, same question setter, same marker" system.

    Will this change after another 42years or will the great grand children too would want to 'pertahankan maruah' in such dubious manner?

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  15. Hua Yong,

    I am not disagreeing with Ktemoc but I rather prefer his article to be more measured and insightful.

    A colleague of mine did a study on students in the higher institution that I am working in. He discovered that the mental models of scientific concepts most students carry are from Form 1 regardless what type of schools they come from. The blame lies in the education system as we all know. However, the best and brightest students I have taught are not the "top" students but those who read beyond school mandated books. They are often the curious ones who ask questions in the class and challenge the lecturers on points they do not agree with. Furthermore, students do not know what they want to be when they enter universities. They are not allowed to sample the different fields before making a decision. We may have lost out potential Nobel Prize winning physicists just because our society thinks that doctors are the peak of all professions.

    Being brought up in a family with many members in the health professions and surrounded by friends whose parents are also in the health professions, you so often hear stories and tales of passionless doctors. I have been admitted to hospital and has seen with my own eyes how certain doctors treat their patients. I know that it's tough to be a doctor, working long hours in a crowded environment and dealing with stubborn patients but being passionate help us not to lose sight of the most important thing about being a doctor: having an impact in people's lives. We need a self-selective education system that allows all to apply to be a doctor as long as they are passionate and have the minimum requirements, rather than the selective system we have now.

    I might be considered naive but I am not ignorant of the facts. I believe we should stop calling each other names. We need to strive together to make a better world for all of us and for generations to come.

    I hope this reply (maybe somewhat incoherent) clear up any misunderstanding.

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  16. Anon 3:24 PM, April 10, 2012---
    //while the the ones who are purportedly 'pertahaning marua' slip thru under a watered down "same teacher, same question setter, same marker" system.//

    I have seen the so-called modules for Matrikulasi (Fizik) which has about 3 chapters per semester. This means that the student has to concentrate on the 3 chapters for his semester exam. Compare this to the poor STPM student who has to study the 20-odd Fhysics chapters covered in both Lower and Upper Six for his STPM exam!

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  17. GA, thanks for the enlightenment, very interesting read.

    Nope you are neither naïve nor ignorant, KT criticize the system while you offer a solution, sound perfect to me. However I find it baffle why we often take a high horse stance wrt what our kids want or aspire to do. Most of us go through more or less the same education system, I notice those with good result are generally more mature and well aware of what they want to be, the stream choice of bio maths / double maths / art did indicate what are the student passion and route ahead, I recalled my classmate that score full A in SPM take arts stream during form 6, hence I don’t expect the student should possess all the require knowledge in order to make a better decision at that age, it is too idealistic to demand such prerequisite.

    The guts to challenge the lecturer type have much to do with their character and how they were brought up, and most probable they will end up being a politician and not a good doctor:) Anyway my point is in spite of the inferior system, the newer generation gives me the impression that they perform much better than us and we should perhaps place more confidence and faith toward their choices.

    Btw, I think KT piece have everything to do with politics and racism but in the context of education.

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  18. "Same teacher, same question setter, same marker" system"

    Now you know why EVERY year we have tens of thousands of students who scored straight A's in SPM and PMR.

    Last year, 38,000 ( OMG - thirty eight THOUSAND )scored straight A's in PMR.

    This year, 10,803 got straight A's in SPM.

    Parliament refused to answer to repeated queries WHAT IS THE PASSING Grade for certain subjects.

    So rumours abound that Passing Grade for Mathematics is only 8.

    For Additional Mathematics, the Passing Grade is only 15. But some disputed and said it is higher...20 marks is the passing grade. Haha..whatever. Ini lah Tanah Ketuanan. They could pass any ruling and what's this petty minor issue of passing grade for school subjects eh ?

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  19. aiya...when you have DPM saying our education system is one of the best in the world...with Afrikans...monkies and donkies... signing up by the thousands to study here...what are we discussing about?
    You agree or disagree...that's all.
    Buttercup surrenders...not good sign.

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  20. kt quality of articles are declining.

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  21. Where got quality?
    It depends on seasons and monsoons.

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  22. We are free to discussed about race and religions here.But hardcore racists and religious bigots are not welcome here.Get it.

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  23. Hmmm...Liow Tiong Lai appears not to be in control of his own MInistry.....once a lap dog always a lap dog I guess...

    It is clear that the Malaysian Medical Council or its secretariat is being run by a bunch of pariah dogs that ought to have been shot years ago...but yet the Minister has no balls to step in and clean up the mess...looks like the PR has to do the cleaning up.......

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  24. Butttercup said:
    "Why hanker for JPA scholarships."

    Duh...maybe it's because it's taxpayer money?

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  25. The racism of the Ultra-Kiasu race is on full parade in this blog.

    Isn't it amazing, the Self-Righteous race who scream loudest about racism and corruption are the in reality the most racist and most corrupting community in the country.

    The few Malay who have had the unfortunate experience of trying to earn a living working in a Firm run by one of the Ultra-Kiasu race can share with you deep discrimination which runs through most of them.
    That is, if they manage to get hired in the first place.

    And talk about corruption - the Ultra-Kiasu race thinks they can buy anything and anyone with money. Aided and abetted, of course, by stupid Malay administrators who think the nickels and dimes they manage to cream off the Self-Righteous race is a great deal. In reality, they are just helping to keep the Malays in 2nd or 3rd Economic class.

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