Experiencing medicine first-hand

Practical training in the field of medicine is imperative for the development of essential of clinical skills in the healing process. At USCI University, Medical Students receive more than the usual amount of clinical training, with emphasis on the individual’s needs. Third and fourth year medical students at USCI University practise their clinical skills at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu while the university’s very own teaching hospital in bandar Springhill, Port Dickson is expected to be completed towards the end of 2013.

          The students’ longer daily clinical hours ensure they receive hands-on training from experts in the healthcare industry, while putting the theories they had learnt into practice. According to third year student, they are taught to tailor their knowledge according to each individual patient.

          “Since not all patients are the same, we are trained to be part of the professional medical team and to treat patients as human beings, instead of as mannequins”

          “The lack of ‘entertainment’ in Kuala Terengganu as compared to KL is a further adventage to medical students, as they are less distracted.  

          “Most of us spend our weekends in the hospital, visiting labour rooms, watching and conducting deliveries and other procedures.” This adds to the overall experience.

          “One of the most memorable experiences was delivering a baby girl during her clinical training.

          “Weighing 2.86kg, she is still the hightlight of my clinical training. To be able to conduct a delivery and see the joy of mother’s faced when she sees her baby for the first time is really unforgettable.”

          The aspiring paediatrician adds that her stint with the Accident and Emergency Department was also an interesting experience because she got to see acute cases while learning how to stabilise patients and get opportunities to scrub in for surgeries too. A typical day for the medical student is a hectic but exciting one. Divided into three main groups, they take turns at different postings, namely, seven postings in the third year comprising of four surgical and three medical. Expected to be at the hospital by 8am, they start their day with patient examinations, presenting their cases to their lecturers, as well as making their diagnosis and recommendations for the patients’ treatment course. Expected to be on call from 7am to 11pm at least twice a week during every posting, all the students also make wardrounds with specialists to practise basic procedures such as inserting an intravenous line or drawing blood for testing.

          Aside from exposing students to vigorous practical training, UCSI University’s Medical programme also applies a student-centred teaching methodology in all its theoretical lessons.

          Recently, the university invested in a fully-computerised Medical Laboratory thet could accommodate up to 60 students at any one time, enabling them to access notes, lecturers, exam questions, as well as database of various medical fields that may not be available in their textbooks. Plans are also a foot to make the same content compatible with students’ hand-phones to enable them to access notes and lectures anytime.

          According to Faculty of Medical Sciences dean Professor Dr Peh Suat Cheng, the Medical Lab is unique as it focuses on student-centred learning techniques, an approach implemented in all UCSI University courses, to enable students discover their own learning styles. The Faculty of Medical Sciences had previously introduced this technique with its structured problem-based learning module for medicine and nursing students.

          According to Dr Peh, the university’s medical programme is also among the first in the country to implement a fully structured ethics course that is unique in the country.

          “At UCSI University, the Ethics subject will run throughout the whole five years of the medicine programme as a fully structured course unlike most universities which teach it as part of other subjects and not as a subject by itself.”

          Thus, the module does not only teach students ethical and medical jurisprudence but also allows them to think critically, and learn to be a compassionate person, in medicine or in other fields.

          Meanwhile, the third year student and the rest of her peers are looking forward to graduating from UCSI University in 2012.

          “I am grateful for the well-designed syllabus the university has structured for us who allows us to acquire the experience and calibre to become world-class doctors.”

Vocabulary :

     Imperative: very important & needing immediate attention or action.

Synonyms: crucial, vital, critical, urgent, essential

    Mannequins: a model of human body, used for displaying clothes in shops

    Distracted: unable to pay attention.

Synonyms: preoccupied, for away, not with it

    Stint: a period of time that you spend working/doing particular activity.

Synonyms: session, time, tour of duty.

    Intravenous line: (medical) inside the vein, (drawing out/inserting something into veins.

    Accommodate: to provide enough space for.

Synonyms: lodge, house, put up.

    Implemented: to make something that has been officially decided to start

Synonyms: tool, put into practice, carry out, perform, apply

    Jurisprudence: the scientific study of law.

    Compassionate: feeling/ showing symphaty for people who are suffering.

Synonyms: sympathetic, understanding, pitying, caring, sensitive, warm, loving, kind. 

    Peers: a person who is the same age or who has the  same social status as you.

    Acquire: to gain somethingby your own efforts, ability or behavior.

    Calibre: the quality of something, especially a person’s ability.

Synonyms: quality, experties, talent, capability, standard. 


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              As-Syabab: 
          Hadi        Ariff
                 Razin 
       Ammar         Amir 


Source: www.ucsi.edu.my , taken from News Straits Times.