A counter to a letter..

I read an article yesterday (Fri, Dec 18) about my university, AIMST in The Star newspaper.. Here is the article:

Too many medical varsities

I READ with concern the worries of Concerned Doctor (The Star, Dec 10).

I have a daughter who just started on the medical programme in a private university up north. When I first saw the campus I was impressed with the large expanse of open space, the grandeur of the buildings and the excellent sports facilities including an Olympic-size swimming pool.

However, after a few months in this place, my daughter has complained to me about several things which are not right with this university. The lecture halls are cramped and some of them are not really suitable for lectures.

Lab facilities and equipment are shockingly lacking. Because of the large number of students involved (more than 200!), students are divided into groups of 10 or even more to share equipment.

The most frightening thing is the shortage of lecturers. There are departments with inexperienced junior lecturers who deliver lectures without actually understanding what they are delivering!

My daughter assures me that these are not only her opinions but those of other students as well.

In less than five years there will be three batches of students in the clinical years (years three to five). So, there will be at least 600 students being posted to the various hospitals in Kedah for their clinical training.

I believe the two main hospitals are in Sungai Petani and Alor Setar. Will these two main hospitals be able to cope with so many students?

Secondly and even more importantly, will the students receive adequate training? And if not, won’t they be a danger to patients?

Although I am a teacher and not a doctor, I have seen some of the questions set by the lecturers of that university and feel that they lack quality. Most of the questions merely require students to reproduce what is being taught in lectures, and very few require students to think about what they have studied.

Is this the sort of education expected from universities, i.e. to train students to memorise facts and not think?

I agree with Concerned Doctor that too many medical colleges are being set up in this country; in fact, they are mushrooming all over the place. There are now more than 20 universities/colleges in this country offering a medical programme.

At this rate, there will definitely be a surplus of doctors in no time. But what kind of doctors are we producing? Are they trained enough, and will they be good enough just prescribing cough mixtures and painkillers?

I believe the MMC/MQA should do spot checks on all universities (especially private ones) offering medicine and not just during accreditations. They should ensure these universities have adequate lecturers and sufficient facilities.

As a parent I am paying good money for my daughter’s education, and I expect that she receives it! Private universities should not just think of how much money they can make, but also ensure that students are properly trained and educated.

CONCERNED PARENT,

Penang.

Now for my thoughts on the article.. A lot of the points mentioned above are clearly inaccurate..
1. Lecture halls are cramped with students.. FYI, AIMST Lecture Theater 1 can fit up to 282 students.. Currently my batch has 200 students + 14 repeaters + 15 new students from Andalas.. We still got ample of seats to sit in.. And the sitting arrangement in the lecture hall is properly done, yet some people still complain here and there..

2. Lacking of lab equipments??? PLEASE!! There's only 2-3 students to a microscope, which is the most important tool of all.. Furthermore, by working in this small groups, we can actually discuss the experiment procedures and increase our understanding.. Of course, there were 1-2 experiments where a number of us cramped together but the lecturer let us to do the experiment over and over again so that everyone has a chance to do the experiment..

3. Shortage of lecturers? This is only a temporary problem in only one department in the medical faculty.. And it'll only last 2 months.. Furthermore, we got tons of experienced and very good lecturers.. The medical faculty has no less than 10 professors, a lot more associate professors and a good deal of lecturers.. And if the lecturers are not good to begin with, AIMST will not hire them..

Now for some additional points of mine:
1. AIMST is the ONLY PRIVATE UNIVERSITY in MALAYSIA that has CADAVERS!! No other private uni in Malaysia has that kind of facility.. Furthermore, our anatomy museum is complete, comparable to the major local unis..

2. AIMST is still by far the cheapest private uni to study medicine.. At 220k, the closest competitor is UCSI and that's not even an MBBS degree..

3. 200 students is nothing.. Try local unis, try private unis like IMU and see the amount of students u get in every year.. If u wanted a 1 to 1 session, then by all means please go to that uni that has such a service..

4. The condition of AIMST is much better compare to many other unis, be it local or private.. Yes, I agree the food is terrible at times, however, do try the local uni side and then come back to give ur comment.. THE GRASS IS NEVER GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE!!

There are load of points I could mention but those are the important ones.. Looking back, I never regretted making the move to come here.. 4 months down the road and I'm happy with my life in my uni.. Plus, SP has a lot of great food, if u noe where to find them whenever ur bored with the hostel food.. =p

This is the same quote I used over and over again and thus I'll use it here also to conclude the above letter.. YOU choose to come to AIMST, YOU make your own decision, no one forced YOU or pointed a gun into your head asking YOU to come here, so in the end quit YOUR whining and live with the decision that YOU have made..

That's all folks..