The CSMU hoo-ha

When the CSMU de-recognisation thingy first appeared in the newspapers, I was still stuck in the jungles of Malacca. I only managed to read about it after I returned. It seems to be a really hot topic these days, with politicians arguing among themselves, students and doctors debating in the Malaysian Medical Resources, as well as angry parents writing in to the newspapers etc. Frankly, in my humble opinion, the MMC is not being unreasonable. It's not a matter of preventing a certain race from doing medicine, blah blah blah. Please, don't take it so personally. It's not like only one race enrolls there. Everyone knows that with the current system in our country, it is no longer easy to get into the local universities to do medicine, even if you have good results. Therefore, it is not surprising that these good students who missed the chance to study medicine locally, have to find other means of realising their dreams. The decision by MMC to de-recognise CSMU should not be taken to mean that students currently studying there are under par. There are in fact many students with brilliant results from STPM studying there. However, what is worrying is the fact that those who failed their SPM, as well as those who studied in the Art stream, are also able to enter that university rather easily (some of us have friends like that who are actually studying there now). This also happens in other universities, which should also be looked into as well. This sort of indicates that as long as you have the money, you can "buy" your way to studying medicine. Palmdoc mentioned, "Good grades do not always ensure good doctors but bad grades are more likely to result in bad doctors than good grades." Well, I think it's not so much the grades itself, but more of what the grades reflect. Medical school is no piece of cake. The stress and study workload is never-ending. If these people can't even handle SPM or STPM, are they able to survive this course? Are they willing to sacrifice their social life and spend night after night burning the midnight oil, mugging a new 3-inch thick book, every 8 weeks? It's not going to be like some of the other courses, where you can grab your notes and study like mad just a few days/weeks before the exam, and yet score. In medical school, it's all about consistent work, good memory and understanding. There are of course, the rare geniouses who barely need to study at all and seem to have it all in their head. As for the rest of us, a lot of effort and commitment needs to be invested. To all you out there who feel that being a doctor will fulfill your lifelong dreams, do reconsider it properly. Don't get "tricked" into the course like us (CN- and I). All the best to you all ;)

# scribbled by j e l l i o ` at 6/24/2005 02:10:00 PM
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