Joining Student Organisations as Medical

Joining Student Organisations as Medical Students

Introduction

In this series of Minisode: Us, we interview 3 representatives of 3 different student organizations. They are Ang Zheng Jiet, Krshya a/p Selvakumar and Hadif Uzair bin Zulkiflee.

Ang Zheng Jiet, known as Jiet is the president of Persatuan Mahasiswa Fakulti Perubatan, also known as PERSIAP for term 22/23. He is a member of PERSIAP for 3 years who represents 968 students of medical faculty of National University of Malaysia. His roles include organising activities that help to promote development of students, community outreach, planning welfare projects externally and internally and many more.

Krshya a/p Selvakumar, the Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) for preclinical students of Kesatuan Mahasiswa Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (KMUKM) has a variety of responsibilities. They include surveying and regulating the price of cafeteria, upgrading rhesus rooms using funds received, taking care of students’ welfare as well as setting the new standard for alumni of UKM and external relations.

The last interviewee is Hadif Uzair bin Zulkiflee, the head of Majlis Eksekutif Pelajar (MEP) whose work related to college matters. He takes care of students welfare, planning college programmes for students, and liaising with the college administration to get the programmes planned approved. Besides, his job scopes include handling problems related to water supply, food donation and liaising with the main center of university in Bangi for every project.

Ang Zheng Jiet

Hadif

Krshya

Reasons of joining the organizations

When asked the reasons of them joining the organizations, each of them has different unique reasons.

According to Hadif, his intention of first joining MEP is to try something new and out of his comfort zone. He believes by joining MEP, he gets the chance to communicate with other people and improve his social skills. As this is his first time applying for a role in an organization, he does not expect to be appointed as the head of executive but he takes the challenge although he faces a few challenges due to his lack of experience. However, things get easier as he goes along the way.

As for Jiet, he joined PERSIAP in 2020 through a nomination as academic exco during his first year of joining the organization and became Yang Dipertua PERSIAP during the second year, before being appointed as the president in his third year in the organization. For him, being in PERSIAP gives him the opportunity to learn the things that are going on in the campus since we are isolated from the main campus and have different ways of operating. He also feels that this is a golden opportunity for him to build rapport with students, doctors and management which make a good networking for him in the future, besides helping in his self advancement. He also learns to work under pressure, manage his time wisely in addition to having the strong intention to contribute to the faculty.

Krshya says she was first approached to be a member of AMSA but she declined the offer before being approached to be the member the MPP. She realizes being the MPP can give her many benefits in terms of connection, networking and self improvement. As she has good work ethics, she manages to carry out her duty smoothly despite some difficulties she faces in the beginning.

Difficulties faced

Every one of them has their own difficulties in carrying out their duties. It can either be work related problems and even personal things.

Jiet does not deny this statement. He admits to facing some difficulties in the organization which includes requiring him to rebrand different activities being organized by different students. Some activities are no longer continued since there are already many other different projects being carried out by the students. He also needs to help students to understand what PERSIAP really is as many of them still have the wrong understanding regarding this organization and increase the students participation in the activities being organized. According to him, students also expect them to settle their complaints quickly but in reality they are not able to do that as they need to communicate with many parties regarding a matter. As there are recruitment of new members every year, working with them is also a challenge as he needs to adapt with their working style. The new members have their own vision and mission, hence it is quite challenging to make them stand on the same ground as him.

As for personal aspects, he admits that handling conflicts among PERSIAP members can be a challenge for him aside from not having work-life balance due to very packed schedules as a medical student and also as the president of the student organization. Besides, his responsibilities require him to make decisions regarding important matters and also working under pressure.

According to Krshya, miscommunication exists between parties regarding programmes and misunderstanding about their job scopes between members can happen. Hence, negotiation between team members is so important. Since she is working with people from different backgrounds, she needs to adapt with the diversity that exists in terms of perception and work ethics. Her responsibilities require her to spend her time, transportation aside from having to struggle with work due to lack of guidance. Same with Jiet, she also admits that she faces lack of work-life balance due to the commitment she is having.

Lastly, we interviewed Hadif for his point of view regarding this matter. Since MEP of this year consists of new members who have no experience, he says he is quite lost to navigate the members. Lack of team members, last minute notice from the center in Bangi require him to put extra effort to complete the tasks given. In terms of dealing with students, he feels sorry as some of the complaints cannot be solved quickly due to lack of funds allocated.

3 most acquired things

When being asked about three things they have gained from joining these organizations, we can summarize their responses into three aspects. Experience, connections and skills acquired.

Involving themselves in the students’ organizations lets them have various unique experiences. Even though the responsibilities require them to sacrifice a lot of things, they have no regret devoting themselves because what they gain from it is much more valuable and priceless.

Since they have to deal with many parties for certain matters which include management, companies and other student representatives, this enables them to build connections with them for future use. This is such a rewarding experience as it benefits them in the long run.

Lastly, it is undeniable that they acquire various skills that benefit them in life. Ability to work under pressure, improving their confidence and adaptation to changes are among the skills they gain.

Improvement and encouragement

We take the opportunity to get their view on a few things that need to be improved and also their encouragement for other students to involve themselves in the organizations.

Bonding and connection between students and staff, as well as among students should be maintained in order to ensure all the tasks can be completed efficiently. It is very important to maintain good rapport with them to stay relevant and avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Also, it is very important to make sure the students truly understand the job scopes of every society to ensure they channel their complaints correctly. This is because, confusions among the students still exist which causes them to voice out their problems to the wrong channel and as a result, the problems remain unsolved.

As joining these students organizations has a lot of benefits, they highly encourage other students to join them. However, a few efforts can be made by the faculty to increase students' involvement in the future.