Truth Or Myth: FPER Student Edition
Hello everyone! Welcome to our “Minisode: Us” article for this month.
Here are some of the truths and myths about medical school that may have been wandering around in your mind especially when it comes to stepping into medical programs—Medicine, Nursing and Emergency Medicine courses. Let’s get to know about Us!
Do you have to love Science subjects, especially Biology to be a medical student?
Well, yes, I think you do need to love Science especially Biology in order to be a medical student because you will be doing these for 5 years and possibly the rest of your career. So, I think you need to have a certain level of passion and interest in Science in order to put yourself through years and years of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, so on and so forth. If you don’t have a deep passion for that, I think you will have a lot of troubles coping with all of these heavy subjects.
When you love something, then only you would have the passion to do it. For example, in medical school, it is very stressful and there are a lot of things you need to do. So, without that love or passion, you won’t survive, you will feel burdened, you won't be motivated to survive the 5 cutthroat years. With that love and passion in the field that you wish to venture in, you would be motivated to keep on thriving.
Adam Neo
Year 1 Medical Student
Nooraisah
Year 2 Medical Student
Medical students always study the whole day.
Adam Neo
To an extent, I do because you do have to study but I think you need to have some sort of balance in your study, social life, having recreation, mental and physical health. The key is consistency. You don’t have to study every single day every single hour, but you need to have a schedule for you to study to keep it up with lectures and self-study. But at the same time, you can’t forget about having some fun, hanging out with your friends. There is a certain amount of balance and also you have to be consistent with your study.
Nooraisah
Personally, not all the time, but yes, most of the time especially during the exam season. For me now, I don’t have any major exam, I don’t feel like it’s a necessity to study all the time. Afterall, we are just humans. We do enjoy our life😆.
Everyone is competitive in medical school?
Everyone wants to be at the top?
It’s kind of depends because medical students are usually top of their class and top of their school. Even there could be people who are really competitive and there could be people who just want to pass. Most important thing I feel now is just to pass the exam and if you do get A’s, it’s good. I think we should not be comparing ourselves with other people because we have different learning styles and different requirements. I would say there is no need to be competitive. Let’s be real, some people would say they want to pass but then they will be coming out with 4 flat or maybe they don’t get 4 flat, but their friends do get 4 flat then they will be depressed for the rest of the day. There are people who are like that but there are also people who really just want to pass. It is not healthy to be too competitive if you are really pushing yourself to the cliff. So, you have to know your limit. If it is within your capability to get really good results, then that’s good for you.
- Adam Neo, Year 1 Medical student
Not everyone is competitive, there are some people who are competitive, who are aiming for A’s. But then most medical students just aim to pass the exam. That is the main thing. If they pass the exam, it’s like “Wow! You are great!”
- Nooraisah, Year 2 Medical student
Muhammad Asri, Year 2 Nursing student
For me nursing is a broad course that is not tied to any gender because in the nursing profession there are a lot of jobs that need men. For example, in the ward we will see male nurses helping patients such as assisting them from the bed to wheelchair. The ratio of male nurses to female nurses is relatively low due to the stereotypes on men pursuing in this particular field. They think nurses are only for women and if there are male nurses, they will perceive them as so-called “girly”. But for me, male nurses are very much needed nowadays since we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, we need more manpower in hospitals to combat this challenge. Not to say that female nurses are not enough to carry the workload but with a combination of both genders’ power, patients’ healthcare and welfare management will be more efficient. Also, patients will feel more comfortable if both genders are looking after them. This is because they possess the liberty to request by whom they want to be taken care of in the ward.
Nurul Salsabilla, Year 1 Nursing student
I would say it is a myth. In my point of view, our priority is the patient, and it is our responsibility to fulfil their needs. In order to do that, we have to look for male nurses because the patients, especially male would have somebody to accompany and assist them with nature calls and bathing, for instance sometimes we do need male nurses to help female nurses doing heavy chores. In the ward, there are chores like lifting the patient, so we do need their help to make things easier.
Male nurses are not suitable in the nursing field?
Nurses work under doctors.
In this field of healthcare, we are not working under the doctors, but we are working together with the doctors. If we look at the job scope of a doctor and a nurse it is distinctive even if it seems a bit similar. We can say that the doctors are to treat and diagnose the disease and also plan the management of the patient. But for the nurses, they are more into taking care of the patient from admission to discharging from the ward. So, I think both doctors and nurses need each other. On the other hand, the doctor needs the information from the nurse because they are the one who takes care of the patient for about 7-8 hours or even more than that in a day. Without the nurse, the doctor won’t get necessary information or progress regarding the patient’s condition. Same goes for the nurse, the nurse needs a doctor to get advice pertaining to the medication, treatment and investigation that is suitable for the patient. Therefore, I think we are not working under the doctors, but we are working together with them to reach a mutual goal which is to make sure our patients discharge from the ward in a healthy condition.
- Muhammad Asri, Year 2 Nursing student
I totally don’t agree with that fact. Doctors and nurses are co-workers. We don’t focus on the nurse’s role only or the doctor’s role only. We do need nurses, doctors and other healthcare providers. Our main goal is the same which is treating the patient. If there are no doctors, we can’t diagnose the disease and without nurses, we can’t improve the patient's health. As a nurse we do have our planning. So, at that point I would say, we are not working under the doctors, but we need all professions to improve the patient's health.
- Nurul Salsabilla, Year 1 Nursing student
Will Emergency Medicine students be working during emergencies, solely?
In my opinion, I would say it is a myth because we do not really work only in the emergency field. There are a lot of departments that you work off actually. If you find it in HUKM itself, everywhere you go you can see the Medical Assistant (MA). Perhaps they are quite unknown or not very familiar, but we do really work in a lot of fields like ENT, Orthopaedic, OT and so on. I would say in the department, they are quite famous also.
- Sarmila Sri, Year 3 Emergency Medicine student
Does an EMED degree have lesser or
no work guarantee after graduating?
Due to our pandemic issue, we acknowledge that there is a lot of job opportunities for EMED postgraduates not only in public, but also in the private sectors. I am from the private sector myself and then I entered here for a degree. Even so, the job opportunities for me are still promising. Even my friends, they all have secured jobs and I would say it is very easy to get one nowadays especially during this pandemic.
- Sarmila Sri, Year 3 Emergency Medicine student