Asia-Pacific Pulse August 2009

Pulse

The IFMSA Asia-Pacific Magazine Issue 2, August 2009

Regional Coordinator's Photo Report - Life as a Medical Student - Tales of a Few Hospitals

Regional Coordinator Report Roy Shen Regional Coordinator 2008-2009, IFMSA Asia-Pacific Region Following the successful representation of IFMSA in the East Asian Medical Students’ Conference, January, 2009, we got in contact with as many NMOs as possible. This job is really difficult in the fact that we cannot stay in their countries to help them to apply to IFMSA. So, it is very easy to become neglected or for applications to be postponed to future officials. We arranged two IFMSA-external officials meetings in Beijing, in February 2009, and in Kuala Lumpur, July 2009. We invited all the concerned parties of medical students to join. In this way, they learn and discuss various issues with us; also, we learn

about them and adjust our aims and the function of the APRO. For example, our APRO Fundraising Committee Chair, John, has created a regional student project for needy medical students to travel to meetings, or to make their projects come true.

The 7th APRM is also coming to its realization. The LOC team is doing fantastic job, while the IOC is also keeping good contact with the officials involved.

Generally speaking, Asia-Pacific region is indeed promising, and we invite you to join our activities in this important era.

Making history will not be too far away, but just around the corner!! :)

rt o p re o t o h p ’s y o R Visiting Beijing to recruit China - I also succeed in contacting the IMCC, which represented China in IF MSA in the year 2003-2005, in order for its President, Ting-Yi Huang, to assist the Chinese medical students.

This was a very successful speech for promoting IF MSA to AMSA member countries; this was followed by my booth promotion. It showed our strength to have five APRO members presenting in this AMSC. AMSA-Philippines received the files that they requested from me, and AMSAHK and APRO members had a really good discussion on the IF MSA-AMSA joint conference in the year 2011.

This is the IF MSA booth we set up. Much material including an introduction to IF MSA was displayed in our booth. So many people and leaders showed their interest and asked many questions concerning how to apply better to the IF MSA or how to apply for IF MSA membership.

This interaction with AMSA also gave us a good overview and allowed us to reflect on what we can do in the IF MSA Asia-Pacific Region. We also reflected on how we can take pride in them, and help them contribute to the whole of IF MSA.

Our booth was very popular, as you can see from this picture. This success is certainly a sign of our friendship and the partnership between AMSA and IF MSA. With the upcoming APRM, GA in Thailand, and the joint conference in HK, we shall have the best chance ever to develop stronger and warmer bonds between these two organizations.

Recruitment is just step one; there are still so many things that we hope to hear from NMOs from other regions.

AMSA and its meetings are very academic, as you can easily detect from my daily dress. It is always formal or semi-formal. This approach complements the weaknesses of our IF MSA settings. IF MSA has excellent projects, but AMSA could also help our students to build our skills to study academically and systematically various topics and related issues.

We, APRO, hu mbly recommend that the IF MSA GA to try to call for papers, and hold suitable sessions like “paper presentations” and “poster presentations” for medical students to improve their academic abilities, or to gain input from the attendees of our meetings.

Life as a Medical Student Part Two - Taiwan

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a medical student somewhere else? In the second instalment of this two-part series, our Regional Coordinator and one of his classmates tell us what it’s like to study medicine in Taiwan.

Correspondent name: Roy Shen University: Chang-Gung University Course name: College of Medicine - 7-year Bachelor Year in Course: Will be in 4th year after a month

being an intern.

Correspondent name: Joy University: Chang-Gung University Course name: College of Medicine - 7-year bachelor Year in Course: 2nd, going on 3rd

Roy: We have all of them.

Joy: In the first 4 years, yes, we have mostly lectures, and in the last 3 years, there are only 1-2 subjects that are taught through lectures, and we are divided into small groups to learn at the beside.

Can you enter your course immediately after you finish high school? Or do you need to do another undergraduate degree first?

Do you have rotations such as Paediatrics, Women’s Health etc? If so, when do these rotations begin, how long do they last for, and what kinds of rotations do you have?

Roy: Yes, we can enter the course immediately after finishing high school. You may also enter the post-graduate program of 4 year Western Medicine or 5 year Western/Chinese Medicine, after normal university.

How is your course structured? Is it all clinical? Or do you spend a year or two years listening to lectures first, before you’re allowed to spend time in the hospital?

Roy: We have a combined course just like other college students in the first 2 years. And then we have mostly medicine-related lectures in the second 2 years. And then, we clerk for 2 years and intern for 1 year before we graduate.

How much patient exposure do you get at each stage of your course?

Roy: Roughly 200 patients during clerkship, and over 1000 for

How are you taught? Do you have lectures mostly?

Or tutorials? Or is the teaching mainly at the patients’ bedside?

Roy: Yes. 3 months for each course.

What kinds of students do you have? Are they all Taiwanese? What is the atmosphere like between students? Do you all try to help each other, or is it quite competitive?

Roy: It varies greatly; there are very nice ones, and greedy ones. Most of them of Taiwanese, about 10% possess foreign nationalities. Most of us are willing to help each other, because it is quite competitive in the hospital Joy: We have mainly Taiwanese students, and some schools accept Taiwanese/Chinese who were born in other countries (mostly from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines). And only 2-3 schools accept foreign students (but we don’t have many English classes so it’s hard for them to fit in, and schools, like mine, are now thinking of turning down all applications from for-

eign students).

Is it difficult to get good grades?

Roy: It depends on how hard you try to study. Sometimes it also depends on luck for classes that need small group work; some group members are very lazy, and not co-operative.

How is university different from high school?

Roy: It is very, very different. We have to manage our own lives, as a mature grown-ups. We also learn about our responsibility for the family, society, and ourselves.

Joy: Very different … the schedule, the way the professors teach, the campus, the people …

What kinds of assessments do you have? Paper exams? Patient interviews?

Roy: Both. But mostly we have paper exams.

Joy: Paper exams only, but from 2011 there will be patient interviews.

How much spare time do you get? What do you do in your spare time?

Roy: We don’t really get spare time. I participate in IFMSA, IFMSA-TW Joy: In the first 4 years, there is more spare time, which we can use for hanging out with friends and just having fun. But in the final 3 years we have only weekends free and students are still busy with case studying and working on seminars.

Do you have more close friends within medicine, or outside medicine?

Roy: Outside medicine. Some classmates tend to be jealous of others’ achievements, and gossip about them. Sometimes, they are very selfish.

Joy: Both, but the ones who are not studying medicine are from high school.

What kinds of social events are organised during the year?

Roy: We have Med Cup (sports tournament), the White Coat Ceremony, Union Musical Concert, Literature Award for Medical Students.

Joy: Also orientation for freshmen, and other ceremonies or shows presented by student clubs.

Are the students involved in any projects? Do you

Medical students line up outside Anatomy class in order to get the best seats.

have any projects that involve the community?

Roy: We have the Medicine Service Club. We go to remote rural areas for medical education for the elders and children. We also have IFMSA-TW; with all the standing committees.

Joy: Yes, but it is voluntary, so not all students have projects.

What is the relationship between students and teachers? Are the teachers quite friendly? Or is it difficult to ask for help?

Roy: Most of them are friendly, and give their hearts to us. But not all teachers are good teachers; and some of them refuse to strengthen their skills. The educational system should stop taking academic achievements as the proof for their ability to teach.

Joy: It depends. Some teachers are nice and the others suck …

Are there any issues facing medical students? For example: heavy workload, cheating, lack of resources ...

Roy: All the medical students face some common problems in the world. All of the things you mentioned are present in Taiwan.

For me, the uncertainty of my future is the biggest pressure.

Are there any larger issues facing the Taiwanese medical system? For example: doctor shortage, shortage of hospital beds, lack of funding ...

Roy: So many patients now want the doctors to have magical healing powers, and think that doctors should get low pay because we are “good-hearted”. They sue us easily when they think their rights are violated. Some doctors are cheating on our national health insurance, by ordering unnecessary drugs, and performing unnecessary medical procedures. Our national health insurance is a huge lie. The officials in the Bureau of National Health Insurance earn a lot of money, and they make us and future generation to bear huge debt in that we will have to pay for every medical need. They don’t dare to increase the fee now, since they will lose voters. But it is ridiculous now that Taiwanese population enjoy the superb medicine, and only need to pay less than 20% of what other citizens in developed countries are paying. Some old and famous doctors earned a lot. However, many young doctors are paid poorly, and have to sacrifice themselves in the hospital. Some of medical students call ourselves “the candidates for being slaves for hospitals”.

Joy: The health insurance system is actually bankrupt but the government has to sustain it for the good of everyone … and it’s difficult because whatever they do will affect our work in the hospital.

Tale of a Few Hospitals

Singapore General Hospital, Singapore The Singapore General Hospital was established in 1821. The current hospital building was constructed in 1981.

It is now Singapore’s oldest and largest

Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

came a teaching hospital, producing its first graduates in 1893.

In 1881, Thailand was affected by the cholera pandemic. As a result, King Chulalongkorn decided to establish a hospital in Thailand. The new hospital was named Siriraj Hospital, in the memory of the King’s son, Prince Siriraj, who died of dysentery in 1887. The hospital soon be-

These days, with over 75 buildings, the Siriraj Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Asia. As a further proof of its immense size, it has over 2600 beds, 1200 physicians and 7,800 nurses. The Siriraj Hospital is now a part of the Faculty of Medicine of Mahidol University.

hospital, with 1,467 beds and serving 70,000 inpatients and 600,000 outpatients per year. It is also a large teaching and research hospital.

Royal Children’s bourne, Australia

Hospital,

Mel-

The Royal Children’s Hospital is one of the leading paediatric hospitals in Oceania, and receives referrals from many countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. It was founded in 1870. It now receives 35,000 inpatients and 190,000 outpatients annually. It is also the site of the Murdoch

Zhongshan Hospital, Shanghai, China Zhongshan Hospital was founded in 1937, and it was named in honour of Dr Sun Yat-Sen, one of the key figures in the Chinese democratic revolution. At the time, it was the first large Chinese-

run hospital in China. Since then, it has become a large research and teaching hospital, attached to Fudan University.

Its 1,272 beds now serve 25,000 inpatients and 1,200,000 outpatients per year. Its staff includes 960 physicians and 700 nurses. It is especially known for its surgical care.

Vaiola Hospital, Tonga Vaiola Hospital is the largest hospital in Tonga, with around 200 beds. It is the site of several WHO projects, including one to introduce immunisation against rubella to Tonga. It also receives some funding from the World Bank. However, this funding is still inadequate in that

Lakes District Hospital, Queenstown, New Zealand The Lakes District Hospital is a regional hospital serving the southwestern part of South Island, New Zealand. It contains 21 beds, including 5 maternity beds. A

Children’s Research Institute, and as well as this, it is a university teaching hospital, and is known as a pioneer of many new clinical developments.

total of 10 specialists travel to the hospital regularly to see outpatients.

thyroid function tests cannot be done in Tonga. There is also no access to intraoperative X-rays, CT scanners and other imaging devices.

Pulse - The IFMSA Asia Pacific Regional Magazine Issue 2, August 2009 Publications Working Committee Chair: Anny Huang (AMSA Australia)