PULSE - A New Begining

Imprint Editor-in-Chief Nurul Shahirah, Malaysia Design/Layout Dhivya Dharshini, Malaysia orangeartz_dr@hotmail.com Regional Co-ordinator Vincent Khor, Malaysia Proofreading Nurul Shahirah, Malaysia

Publisher

International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations General Secretariat: IFMSA c/o WMA B.P. 63 01212 Ferney-Voltaire, France Phone: +33 450 404 759 Fax: +33 450 405 937 Email: gs@ifmsa.org Homepage: www.ifmsa.org

Contacts

da.pub.ifmsa.asiapacific@gmail.com

CONTENTS Message from the RC ............................................... 2 Are you READY?? .......................................... 4 Regional Team 2012/2013................. 6 Editorial ............................................ 8 SCOPE Regional Assistant ........................................ 9 Trans-Pacific Partnership .................................. 10 SCORP News ................................. 11 Know your NGO .............................. 12 Change of Sky ......................................... 14 ‘Through my eyes’ ............................................ 16 ‘Be a part of us!!’ ...................................................................... 17 designs by : orangeartz_dr

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MESSAGE

from the Regiona

Hello my dearest Asia-Pacific family!

It has been three months since we last gathered in Penang for the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2012. On behalf of the organizing committee, I would like to extend my heartiest appreciation and thank you for your strong support, in making the APRM 2012 one of the most successful IFMSA event in year 2012. It was really an inspiring moment to meet different awesome members around the region. At the same time, I really hope that APRM 2012 has inspired you to do more work in global health, health advocacy and health promotion now and tomorrow.

This is the first issue of our regional quarter magazine PULSE for this fiscal year. I would love to thank the hardworking team members who worked so hard in publishing this first issue.

They are our lovely Development Assistant (DA) for NMO Development - Nurul Shahirah and Dhivya from SMMAMS Malaysia. Both of them are now planning and attempting to make Pulse a monthly publication, which will cover a broad range of health-related topics that will be beneficial for our members. However, this will not be possible if there are no support from our NMO and members from the region. Thank you so much for all the authors and contributors for your time and wonderful work.

In two months time, our General Assembly - March Meeting 2013 will be held in Baltimore, USA, from 5 - 15 March 2013 (for PreGA and the GA). The theme for this GA is “Advocacy and Physicians-in-Training�. Advocacy is a very important leadership tool, aims to influence public-policy and resources allocation decisions within political, economical and social systems and institutions.

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al Coordinator

For decades, doctors together with the patients advocacy groups, had strongly advocated for patients’ safety, patients’ rights, hence gradually resulting in the well-known “patient-centered healthcare” today. Doctors by profession themselves have been a strong advocacy group for the well-beings of their patients since a long time ago. IFMSA Asia-Pacific envisions to produce a new generation of doctors who will actively participate and lead in health advocacy, in order to create a healthier Asia-Pacific region in the future. The Development Assistants for Advocacy, Education and Policy (Shela, Briar and Jade) are currently drafting a Regional Framework for Tobacco Control for our region. We are hoping to discuss this idea further with the NMO presidents in MM2013 USA and hopefully to launch them by April 2013. Besides, we also hope to produce training materials on advocacy, to be disseminated among our NMOs for local training.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to all NMOs and members for your trust and support, allowing me and the passionate Regional Team to serve you in this fiscal year. We pledge to do our best to put a dent in the history of IFMSA.

On behalf of IFMSA, I would like to wish you a prosperous and fruitful year full of happiness, success and good health. Happy New Year 2013!

Cheers and hugs,

Dr Vincent Khor Wei Sheng (SMMAMS-Malaysia) Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific 2012/13 International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations

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Dear my beloved Asia-Pacific members,

Passion-guided, goals-driven year!

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman

Next, we need to set the route for our dragon boat. There are a few challenges throughout our journey which we need to face, to reach our destination.

They are the goals of our year: ** To stregthen the capacities and communications of NMOs in Asia-Pacific region. ** To conduct more education on Global Health and Social Determinants of Health. ** To encourage more advocacy training and works. ** To organize more projects in our region, and more projects presentation in the GA. ** To have stronger partnership with Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA), more joint projects either locally or regionally.

Warmest greetings from Malaysia! As your new Regional Coordinator for the Asia and Pacific, it is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the new fiscal year!

Our Asia-Pacific Dragon Boat

Education / Training Priorities

Dragon boat is a traditional human-powered watercraft, originates from Asia. It is one of the unique identity of Asia, and I am going to use this as the symbol of our region for this fiscal year. We, the entire AsiaPacific region, from new members, NMO, to the Regional Coordinator, are going to board on the same boat, and start our M.A.D. journey in the next 12 months!!! There are typically the paddlers, a drummer and a steerman in the crew. The paddlers represent the NMOs in AsiaPacific, which are the main propelling forces for our boat.

The drummer, represents the M.A.D. Regional Team 2012-2013, whom may considered as the “heartbeat” of the dragon boat.They lead the paddlers throughout a race using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the frequency and synchronicity of all the paddlers’ strokes. They will use their valuable IFMSA experiences and skills, to motivate and assist the NMOs in our region 24/7. The steerman represents the Regional Coordinator and the IFMSA Executivee Board, control the dragon boat with a sweep oar rigged at the rear of the boat. They stand at the rear of the boat, see the direction with their visions, and direct the boat to the final destination - “A Healthy and Stronger Asia-Pacific”!

I hope you are all PASSIONATE and ready for our M.A.D. journey, for a more dynamic fiscal year in IFMSA!

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Education is the key for a better future.

Through IFMSA, we want to reinvent the doctors of tomorrow, well equipped and updated with global health’s knowledge. We hope to prepare our members for the massive transitions and transformation of our ever rapidly evolving health system. We hope to produce a new generation of doctors with a deep understanding of the complex changes happening in global health, both in the region and in the world at large.

We encourage the NMOs to conduct more seminars and workshops, focusing on the following areas: • Universal Health Coverage and Health Financing System • Social Determinants of Health • Environmental Determinants of Health and Climate Change

More Local and Regional Projects!

The word project comes from the Latin word projectum, means “to throw something forward”.

Through organizing projects, we can disseminate global health knowledge to our fellow students; promote public health awareness; and ultimately develop healthcare leaders of tomorrow! I encourage all NMOs, medical students in the region to organize projects which are relevant to your local community.

I highly recommend you all to organize the projects on the following areas: • Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases(NCD) • Anti-Tobacco Campaign • Healthy Aging and heath of the elderly • AIDS / HIV • Maternal and Child Health

IFMSA Asia-Pacific envisions launching a new generation of medical students and future doctors who will actively participate and take leadership in health issue advocacy, policy engagement and global health education in order to create changes leading to a healthier Asia-Pacific region.

After discussion with the newly appointed Development Assistant(s) for Advocacy, Education and Policy, we will launch a series of Regional Advocacy Campaign. Stay tuned with our updates!!!

I envision another dynamic IFMSA year with all of you. Thank you so much for your trust, for electing me as your Regional Coordinator. I am committed to serve you in the coming 12 months! Once our M.A.D. Regional Team is finalized, we will propel our dragon boat for the awesome journey!

Are you READY Asia Pacific???? =)

Advovacy in IFMSA Asia-Pacific

In an era when health is not only determined by biological mechanisms but also by social, economic, political, and environmental determinants, in an era when health challenges transcend borders and require collective global action from across disciplines, locations, and levels, we, medical students of Asia-Pacific, believe that future doctors should be equipped not only in working for the cure of organic diseases, but also in addressing the social and political forces shaping the health of our populations through the triad of advocacy, education, and policy engagement. We find this era as an opportune time to realize the vision of Rudolf Virchow, the Father of Social Medicine: “Medical education does not exist to provide students with a way of making a living, but also to ensure the health of the community.”

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EDITORIAL

Dear beloved Asia-Pacific family,

Season’s greetings from us, the Publications team of the Asia-Pacific region.

There is something exciting with the start of a new year. For one, it’s new. A new beginning. A new chapter in our life. And with that spirit, we have decided to bring in a breath of fresh air to the Pulse. There will be some new segments which we hope would bring entertainment and at the same time, is knowledgeable to our beloved readers.

These segments include “Through My Eyes” which focusses on the thoughts of us, as medical students regarding the issues surrounding us. “Know Your NGO” would allow us to be more attentive to the effort of the organizations around us and with that, hopefully we could, as medical students help in their effort to make our societies better. After all, we are global health doctors, and the world is our clinic. “A Change of Sky” allows you to share your experience during your medical electives and gives a picture to other medical students who are searching for a place to do theirs.

Disclaimer: Pulse is the official magazine for IFMSA Asia-Pacific.

Opinions shared in Pulse are not necessarily those of the Editorial Team or of IFMSA.

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We hope for the continuous support of the Asia-Pacific in helping us to continue this wonderful effort from the IFMSA. Feel free to comment or suggest ways to make us better.

Together, let’s make Asia-Pacific a healthier place to be. A leader among nations. And it all starts with you.

We hope you’ll enjoy this very first edition of the Pulse from the 2012/2013 Asia-Pacific regional team!

Shahirah & Dhivya Development Assistants for Publications & Communications Asia-Pacific 2012/2013

Nurul Shahirah Malaysia

Dhivya Dharshini Malaysia

Contact us: If you have any enquiries or would like to contribute to our publications, please contact us at da.pub.ifmsa.asiapacific@gmail.com

Dear Asia Pacific family,

First of all I would like to greet you all with the warmest greetings and I hope this article find you at your best. I also would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and happiness to all of you, especially the lovely and awesome NEOs and LEOs of Asia Pacific. You guys are the precious things that SCOPE Asia Pacific has ever had.

Currently besides holding a position of National Exchange Officer Outgoing of Indonesia, I’m also in charge of taking care and bridging the communication between SCOPE Asia Pacific and the SCOPE International Team, as a SCOPE Regional Assistant (RA). Being a RA is a big thing that has happened to me until now. Starting in the beginning of October, almost three months up to now, I can say it has been so colorful and exciting this far. Involved in SCOPE International Team and also Regional Team, working in discussions, exploring new ideas, sharing all the problems, finding the solutions, and having a great time together are some of the tremendous things that I’ve experienced. Yes, of course you have deadlines, new problems every day, while you have to chase your academic and daily life at the same time, makes it sometimes unbearable. But hey, when will you learn something new if you’ve never been up and down? Life just happens once and I believe by doing my best in something I love, I’m living my life to the fullest.

SCOPE Regional Assistant for Asia-Pacific 2012-2013

REGIONAL ASSISSTANT

Farhan Mar’I Isa ra.scope.asiapacific@gmail.com

Anyway, SCOPE is growing bigger and better day after day. Nowadays, we have around 95 NMOs that have active SCOPE worldwide and 11 SCOPE active out of 18 NMOs in the Asia Pacific. And today, Asia Pacific is the main focus in SCOPE. In fact, last August at GA AM India, China was officially announced to be SCOPE active and now we’re working on Malaysia and Pakistan. We believe Asia Pacific is one of the largest regions in the IFMSA and we want to show the potentials of it: its wonderful land, rich cultures and languages, amazing heritages, the hospitality of its people, and the best of its exchange programs. People will find Asia Pacific as the place they will never ever regret to visit.

One other important thing, SCOPE is working on a new database this year. The new database which belongs to IFMSA (www.ifmsa.org) is a new thing that we want to develop more. The new layout and new features that allow the exchange officers to get notifications and updates about their students’ exchange program will make this job less hard, controlled in time, and well organized, results to a smooth exchange program between the countries. SCOPE IT together with all the NEOs and LEOs have given their effort and spent all the energy and time to make this new database as its best. And we expect that as soon as possible, this new database can be established well for a better SCOPE in the future.

Finally, I want to say thank you to all of the SCOPEans in Asia Pacific for giving your best to make this standing committee as one of the coolest SC, I’m so glad to know you. And for all, don’t hesitate to contact me to know more about exchange in Asia Pacific. See you all soon at the March Meeting in USA!

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Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens Public Health Policy

Leaked proposed provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Agreement (TPPA) could affect member countries’ abilities to

make healthy public policy.

The TPP is a trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim countries, including the US, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico and Chile. Originally the P4 agreement, it includes intellectual property rights and the mechanism to allow foreign corporations to sue governments.

Together, this creates a formidable opposition to creating healthier lives for our people.

Investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) allow governments to be sued in offshore tribunals, for introducing laws that affect a company’s investment. This can range from Australia’s regulations on cigarette packaging to protecting drinking water quality to pharmaceutical benefits schemes which keep drug prices down for patients.

As future physicians and global health doctors, this could affect our ability to do the best by our patients.

Australia is currently being sued by Phillip Morris Asia for introducing laws requiring plain packaging of cigarettes, under a bilateral agreement they signed with Hong Kong. Smoking related morbidity and mortality puts a large strain on our health systems, and regulation against it can help to reduce this burden of disease. However, the TPP ISDS could mean any government which introduces sound public health measures such as this are liable to be sued for large amounts of money, in courts which rule in favour of the investors the majority of the time.

The same principles also apply to regulation around alcohol, such as limiting the alcohol content in RTDs or limiting the availability of alcohol advertising.

The ISDS coupled with increased intellectual property (IP) rights could limit the drug purchasing ability of cost-containing pharmaceutical buying schemes. This includes extended patent periods for new drugs, the inability to use therapeutic reference pricing to ensure new patents are only given if an altered drug has extra therapeutic benefits and the right of companies to appeal drug-funding decisions. This could limit the ability of Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and New Zealand’s Pharmac to negotiate lower drug prices for their citizens. It also creates considerable barriers for other signatory countries looking to create their own cost-containing schemes.

Along with these direct impacts, the TPP reaches across almost all conceivable areas of global health. It could limit laws for environmental protection, capital controls to stop recession and thus poverty, and food safety, among others.

IFMSA has signed a joint letter of medical students’ associations, asking for a number of protections for health in the TPP. We hope that the negotiators take note of our concerns, and that we can continue to regulate for a healthier future.

Briar Mannering

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Development Assistant for Advocacy, Education and Policy IFMSA Asia Pacific 2012-2013

Ayaka Ishihata

SCORP Regional Assistant for Asia-Pacific 2012-2013 ra.scorp.asiapacific@gmail.com

Dear Asia-Pacific,

First of all, I would like to give a warm greeting to all medical students who are involved in IFMSA activities. My name is Ayaka Ishihata from Japan, the SCORP Regional Assistant for Asia-Pacific and the previous coordinator of ACTION-Project, a transnational project in IFMSA Asia-Pacific.

The 10th December is the most important date for all SCORPions and for all human beings as well. In 1948 on this date, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was appointed in the 3rd United Nations General Assembly. As a result of many world conflicts such as the Second World War, the international society has regarded protecting human rights as one of the way to prevent many unhappy situations and any tragedies for mankind and made this declaration. Since that day, international society has grown up with the concept of protecting human rights by observing their regulations following this international law.

In our region, many SCORPions take action on this day every

year. I want to introduce some of those activities held by SCORP

teams in Asia-Pacific in this year.

In Thailand, they provided an interactive academic program in their committee’s session in the National General Assembly in late November. They inspired all the participants to express their idea towards human rights issues and set some situations that allowed them to brainstorm followed with a case discussion and made a conclusion at the end of the session.

In Japan, the biggest event of the year took place called “SCORP-Japan Assembly” providing academic seminar to general medical students while inviting an expert who has worked on protecting human rights in our country for a long time from the medical aspect.

In Nepal, a literacy program in the medical college auditorium was held. The participants were there with their fantastic poems on human rights and some short stories. With an audience of around 100, the program ran for around two hours and ended with awards to the best poem and short story.

In India, an event took place with a theme “FEMALE FOETICIDE” was successfully conducted in the Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital, Pathankot on Dec 11th 2012. About 180 students, 25 faculty members, the Director Principal, the Nursing Principal and the Medical Superintendent attended. They provided some presentation to share the knowledge and encourage participants to have awareness of female foeticide as a human rights issue they should work on. The event was well covered by the press media with reports in five local newspapers the next day.

In addition, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh also had some events in their country.

Year after year, the scale and range of our activity is getting bigger and wider, with varieties as well. If you haven’t informed your activity on Human Rights Day to me, please let me know! I want to introduce your activity as an idea from Asia-Pacific to the world, and it might be a good tip to somebody. And if you have some requirements or need of support from the SCORP international team, please feel free to send a message to me.

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HOSPITALS BEYOND BOUNDARIES:

BUILDING HOSPITALS IN THE NEEDIEST PLACES Lutfi Fadil Lokman,

Immediate Past NMO President, SMMAMS- Malaysia

The fate of that woman has never escaped my mind every time I think about

A great idea arises after a great need health care in deprived communities. I is identified. The idea to establish this realized that great need for healthcare very NGO we named ‘Hospitals Beyond accessibility is not only evident in the Boundaries’ came after realizing a great mountains of Indonesia, but also in various need through the community work we do isolated communities I have visited around in rural areas around Southeast Asia. I still South East Asia, including the fishing remember the day when we did a voluntary villages of Vietnam and along the Mekong health check-up high up the mountains of River in Cambodia. The idea on how to Java Island, Indonesia when a women in her solve the lack of healthcare accessibility 30s came to us complaining of worsening in these communities, however, only came vision after she gave birth to her second later in rooms far away and very much child. Realizing her sky high blood different from those in the neediest places. pressure, the best we could do as medical students was to refer her to the nearest

These are the rooms which hosted hospital.

IFMSA workshops, seminars and small working group discussions that train

Problem is, the community lives high medical students to campaign for a cause, up the mountain and the nearest fundraise for donations and convince hospital lies at sea level hundreds of feet the policy makers. The ‘eureka’ moment down below. To further compound the dawned on me when I was in Mumbai for a problem, the whole village has only one car. workshop hosted by IFMSA-India. We were We might send her at that time, but as in taken to the slums of Mumbai to any chronic diseases, what she really need witness the people living in deprivation. is continuous care and medications.

What struck me most however is the availability of a hospital in the middle of the slum area, which not only treats the people living in that area but also holds close relationship with the surrounding community.

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I was inspired at how the hospital and its surrounding community runs like a single union. Right there, I thought perhaps it is time to walk the talk and use whatever I have learned in IFMSA to help build these kinds of hospitals where it is needed most.

KNOW YOUR

NGO!!

We realize that in South East Asia, many charitable NGO responds to war, crisis, famine and disasters but efforts in building back a society after these periods of turbulence are usually minimal or absent. Driven by a strong belief that the sickness of the poor is not only a call to generous relief action, but also a demand to rebuild a society through sustainable healthcare, we registered Hospitals Beyond Boundaries as an NGO under the Malaysian Societies Act 1966.

Our mission is to build hospitals where it is needed the most and our aim is to develop communities that are able to sustain healthcare efforts independently by involving the local community as much as possible in the running of our hospitals.

Our first project is to build a hospital for the Cham community, an ethnic minority in Cambodia. We discovered that being the ethnic minority of a generally poor population puts not only economic but also social pressure on the Cham people. In the past, the Cham people has suffered under the infamously known Khmer Rouge Regime where as much as half of their population were exterminated. We collaborated with several NGOs in Cambodia to make sure the project is sustainable there, and back in Malaysia, we do campaigns and fundraising activities.

Since the project begun, we have collaborated with local private hospitals, architects, accountants and lawyers who are willing to lend their expertise to our cause.

Half year down the line, we were recently nominated for the best youth NGO advocating Civic Action and Human Rights at the Youth Social Business Summit 2012.

The summit was officiated by Professor Muhammad Yunus the world-renowned banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

As in any organization, the beginning is the hardest. However, we embrace the idea that as young people, we have the ability to make a change in this world.

When people doubt that young people have any idea to build a hospital, we collaborate with someone who has an idea. Our method is simple: keep asking. We do not know about many things, but we keep on asking until we find the right person.

Because we know that in the end, there are many people out there with common selfless dedication towards the greater good, whose support will enable us to rise to any challenges that we may face in the future, and together realize our dream to see a better world for all.

Hospitals Beyond Boundaries (HBB) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) registered under the Malaysian Societies Act 1966 (Society No: PPM-019-14-22052012). We are made up of young students with the same passion to make the world a better place by building hospitals where it is needed most. Many charitable NGO responds to war, crisis, famine and disasters but efforts in building back a society after these periods of turbulence are usually minimal or absent. Driven by a strong belief that the sickness of the poor is not only a call to generous relief action, but also a demand to rebuild a society through proper healthcare, HBB was born. To find out more, visit us at www.hbb.org.my

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CHANGE OF SKY ELECTIVE EXPERIENCE IN NEW YORK CITY - Justin Z.E. Lee, Malaysia

“No wonder Spider-Man chose to live here,” I said to myself while standing right in the middle of Manhattan. Towering brown and gray buildings surrounded me. If Spider-Man lives in Kuala Lumpur, he may have to drive instead of swing, his way around town.

I was thankful I did my electives in New York City, in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s affiliated hospital - Elmhurst Hospital Center.

The best part about doing an elective at the opposite end of the world is that I got to see how different the hospital environment and healthcare system is in the U.S. compared to Malaysia, where I come from.

And the differences were evident right from the start! On my first day, I received my white coat and it looked really short. Initially I thought someone trimmed the bottom part of it off, and then I realized that the short white coat is used to differentiate medical students from doctors.

In the hospital, I was assigned a team, which consisted of an attending (a.k.a. consultant), a fellow (a.k.a. registrar), and myself, the medical student. The fIrst thing I noticed is the huge diversity of the hospital’s staffs and also it’s patients. My attending came from Mexico, my fellow was an Indian from Canada, and the patient we were visiting that Thursday evening was a 58-year-old illegal immigrant from Korea. It was then I realized that this land is indeed a melting pot, with people from so many different cultures and backgrounds, each with their own reason to be in this land of opportunity.

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The amazing thing is that despite the various backgrounds, the main principles of medical ethics is still the same. It felt like we are all siblings under the same oath in an international family.

It was the middle of my second week in New York City, when I had the back of the patient facing me, a thoracentesis kit beside me and two pairs of eyes watching me. I was terribly anxious while performing my first pleural tap.

Thankfully everything went well, but as I left that patient’s room, I remained astonished as to how liberal the attendings are with giving opportunities for medical students to perform procedures, especially to me who comes from halfw ay across the globe. Thoughts like “What if I screw up, aren’t they afraid of getting sued?” flooded my mind.

Later I realized that the whole litigation and practice of defensive medicine wasn’t as intense as I initially expected.

Beyond presenting my patients during morning rounds, I was grateful to be given opportunities to present various topics to my team. These topics ranged from Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome to hyponatremia. There is also a noon conference everyday, where lunch is provided. So everyone gets to fill their belly and feed their mind at the same time. This is indeed an interesting method to squeeze some didactic education into the busy schedule of the doctors in this hospital.

One of the things that fascinated me the most was the use of technology to make healthcare more efficient. On the first day of my electives, I was required to undergo a computer training system, which taught me the computer skills I needed to function as a medical student, ranging from writing patient notes to obtaining patient’s lab results. Throughout my electives, I also saw how almost everything was computerized, from radiographs to prescriptions. It really gave me a new insight on the integration of technology in health care.

Living in The Big Apple for two months was indeed an amazing experience. I was allocated a twobedroom apartment right at the upper east side of Manhattan. This means when I looked out my window and I would see well-dressed men and women wearing designer clothing and walking their dogs whose accessories cost more than my entire life savings. The bright neon lights of Times Square were just a train ride away, and enormous central park is just five minutes walk away. I also had the opportunity to visit various iconic places, including the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Beyond New York, I also visited other nearby cities, including Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

My advice to all who are applying for electives is: “Go far, and experience something really different”. You will definitely gain some new perspective especially on how healthcare is practiced somewhere else. Your decision may also alter the course of your life. I know it certainly did for me, as at the time of the writing of this article, I am back in the U.S. again, interviewing for a position in an internal medicine residency program here.

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THROUGH MY EYES

Malaysia stands out among nations as a county which consists of multi-ethnic groups living in unity and peace. Ever since gaining independence in 1957, Malaysia has progressed in all sectors at a rapid pace and reached height exceeding expectations. In half a century, Malaysia has made great strides in all fields to be recognized on a global scale. When it comes to healthcare system, Malaysia has a universal healthcare approach which provides coverage to its people on a large scale, even leaving behind the developed nations. Malaysia has a population of 24 million people and majority of the population are young people. The life expectancy of female is 74.6 years old while male is 71.6 years old.

The Malaysian healthcare system is a two tier system with government on one hand, and the private sector on the other. The government sector is headed by the Health Minister and directly under him, will be the Director General of Health. The Director General is further assisted by five deputy director general to smoothen the administration process. Not only that, each of the 14 states in Malaysia, also have a state health director which governs the district health offices. In this way, the government has provided coverage to people in the rural areas. I would boldly say that the coverage for the rural area is much better than many other countries in the world. It is an affordable healthcare provided to the people. Malaysians do not need to worry about having an insurance card to treat their disease. It is only RM 1 for anyone to be treated. (RM 1 can be used to buy cola drink in Malaysia). Patients with cancer don’t need to worry about their treatment, also the Chronic Non Communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension also gets very good medication for RM 1.

The Ministry owns 138 hospitals which have a capacity of 38394 beds, 985 government clinics and 1864 community clinics. Not to forget, our beloved Prime Minister’s brainchild, 150 1 Malaysia Health Clinics. In the private sector, we have 220 hospitals and 6589 clinics licensed by the government running parallel. Looking at the disease burden in Malaysia, disease of the circulatory system remains as the first cause as the other parts of the world. Next on the list is disease of the respiratory system and followed by infectious disease and parasitic infection.

Myocardial Infarction and stroke are the major diseases under the disease of circulatory system. The government has trouble shoot this problem and came up with many primary prevention techniques such as healthy eating habits, 10000 steps a day and many more. It’s always best to prevent a disease than curing it.

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As per medical education is concerned in Malaysia, we have 45 approved program by the Ministry of Higher Education to run medical schools. Medical education in this country is a standard 5 years program which can be enrolled by high achievers in their pre-university program. Besides that, the government also recognizes a few hundred of overseas course which the students have to seat for an entrance exams upon finishing their course. In order to be able to be absorbed into the system, they have to pass the exams. In a recent survey, it shows that Malaysia has the highest ratio of medical schools to population in the world. As a medical student, I feel that is way too much than needed, but the government is trying to achieve 1 doctor to 300 population as per recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The trend of students has been changing from the typical stereotype of conservative medical students to more globally thinking students, thanks to IFMSA. The national member organization is known as the Society of Malaysian Medical Association Medical Students (SMMAMS). We are still a new full member in IFMSA. We are currently establishing our standing committees and working very hard to achieve a greater success in serving the public.

What is the future of a medical student in Malaysia? We have 35000 doctors in the country registered under the Malaysian Medical Council, with only 7500 registered specialist under the National Specialist Registry and 800 seats for post graduation locally. The government has also halted many international postgraduate programs as to train and cater specialist to Malaysian authentic diseases. What is more alarming is the amount of students graduating per year and post graduate program offered here doesn’t balance up. It is also compulsory for the fresh graduates to undergo a two years housemen training program and 3 year compulsory Medical Officer training even before they can register themselves as a permanent Medical officer and apply for the post graduate program. USMLE and PLAB have become an alternative for the Malaysian students.

To conclude, Malaysia has to maintain its standard in healthcare as it is now. Even though there are some issues that the government has to look into for the post graduate studies, overall I’m proud to be a Malaysian.

I firmly believe that time will answer the problem.

True Malaysian,

Naavin Kumar Balakrishnan

VPI, SMMAMS 4th year Medical Student, AIMST University

Be a Part of Us!

Pulse is IFMSA magazine for Asia-Pacific. Pulse is a way for medical students from very different countries to connect with each other and share their stories and opinions.

FromAsia-Pacific,acific, toAsia-P Asia-Pacific! by Joinusandbecomeoneofour: Contributors — by writing any articles relating to theme, a health issue, an NMO updates, project updates, conference report, or anything else that matches our requirements.

Editors — by helping our editorial team to edit articles that have been submitted to us.

Proofreaders — by helping our proofreading team to proofread articles that has been submitted to us.

Respondents — by simply share your ideas, thoughts, opinions, projects, photos, or anything else in an informal way (less serious and lesser words than article) on our new segment called ‘What’s Up Asia-Pacific?!’.

Designer — by helping us to design the layouts for Pulse magazine.

Author Guidelines

1. Manuscripts are to be submitted via email to da.pub.ifmsa. asiapacific@gmail.com as an attached electronic document.

2. The email should include the full name of the author (as they would like it to appear in print), their university and their NMO/Country.

3. The subject of the email should include the words “Pulse Article”, and the author’s name. A small photo of the author may also be submitted to accompany the article in print.

4. All articles must be written in English.

5. Articles should be no longer than 700 words and use standard type fonts (eg. Times New Roman, Calibiri).

6. Articles should have spelling and grammatical checking prior to submission, however as English is a second language for many in the region we have a team of proof-readers who can check your article and provide English and editing assistance prior to writing.

7. Photos and tables are encourages. These should be submitted separate to the article with a brief description. Photos taken from external sources must be referenced appropriately, and the author should have approval to use them. Photos should be sent as a separate attached file in .JPG form and in good resolution!

8. References to external publications are not necessary however if they are used then they must be references according to the Vancouver Referencing System. References must be cited in the sequential order in which they appear in the text. All references should be cited in text with a number following the reference. At the end of the article references should be numerically listed in the

Interested?

Contact our Development Assistant for Publications and Communications (Dhivya & Shahirah):

da.pub.ifmsa.asiapacific@gmail.com

17

Algeria (Le Souk) Argentina (IFMSA-Argentina) Armenia (AMSP) Australia (AMSA) Austria (AMSA) Azerbaijan (AzerMDS) Bahrain (IFMSA-BH) Bangladesh (BMSS) Bolivia (IFMSA Bolivia) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BoHeMSA) Bosnia and Herzegovina - Rep. of Srpska (SaMSIC) Brazil (DENEM) Brazil (IFMSA Brazil) Bulgaria (AMSB) Burkina Faso (AEM) Burundi (ABEM) Canada (CFMS) Canada-Quebec (IFMSA-Quebec) Catalonia - Spain (AECS) Chile (IFMSA-Chile) China (IFMSA-China) Colombia (ACOME) Colombia (ASCEMCOL) Costa Rica (ACEM) Croatia (CroMSIC) Czech Republic (IFMSA CZ) Denmark (IMCC) Ecuador (IFMSA-Ecuador) Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt) El Salvador (IFMSA El Salvador) Estonia (EstMSA) Ethiopia (EMSA) Finland (FiMSIC) France (ANEMF) Georgia (GYMU) Germany (BVMD) Ghana (FGMSA) Greece (HelMSIC) Grenada (IFMSA-Grenada) Hong Kong (AMSAHK) Hungary (HuMSIRC) Iceland (IMSIC) Indonesia (CIMSA-ISMKI) Iran (IFMSA-Iran) Israel (FIMS) Italy (SISM) Jamaica (JAMSA) Japan (IFMSA-Japan) Jordan (IFMSA-Jo) Kenya (MSAKE) Korea (KMSA)

Kurdistan - Iraq (IFMSA-Iraq/Kurdistan) Kuwait (KuMSA) Kyrgyzstan (MSPA Kyrgyzstan) Latvia (LaMSA Latvia) Lebanon (LeMSIC) Libya (LMSA) Lithuania (LiMSA) Luxembourg (ALEM) Malta (MMSA) Mexico (IFMSA-Mexico) Mongolia (MMLA) Montenegro (MoMSIC Montenegro) Mozambique (IFMSA-Mozambique) Nepal (NMSS) New Zealand (NZMSA) Nigeria (NiMSA) Norway (NMSA) Oman (SQU-MSG) Pakistan (IFMSA-Pakistan) Palestine (IFMSA-Palestine) Panama (IFMSA-Panama) Peru (APEMH) Peru (IFMSA Peru) Philippines (AMSA-Philippines) Poland (IFMSA-Poland) Portugal (PorMSIC) Romania (FASMR) Russian Federation (HCCM) Rwanda (MEDSAR) Saudi Arabia (IFMSA-Saudi Arabia) Serbia (IFMSA-Serbia) Sierra Leone (MSA) Slovakia (SloMSA) Slovenia (SloMSIC) South Africa (SAMSA) Spain (IFMSA-Spain) Sudan (MedSIN-Sudan) Sweden (IFMSA-Sweden) Switzerland (SwiMSA) Taiwan (IFMSA-Taiwan) Tatarstan-Russia (TaMSA-Tatarstan) Thailand (IFMSA-Thailand) The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MMSA-Macedonia) The Netherlands (IFMSA-The Netherlands) Tunisia (ASSOCIA-MED) Turkey (TurkMSIC) Uganda (FUMSA) United Arab Emirates (EMSS) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Medsin-UK) United States of America (AMSA-USA) Venezuela (FEVESOCEM)

www.ifmsa.org medical students worldwide