Thursday, October 13, 2016

Being a doctor may seem glamorous but most doctor parents do not encourage their offspring to follow their footsteps

A letter to The Star from Senior Doc, Malacca:

Failure is precursor of success

Excerpt:

"I am of the humble opinion that had more doctors stepped forward to share their heart-breaking stories in public, it would discourage many young people from doing medicine, for the sacrifice involved is indeed too great – so great that many doctors have dissuaded their offspring from joining the profession!
All we see is success but we have never seen how these successful people suffered in the first place.
Alas, it depends on what you want in life. If you want a life of riches, job stability, glamour and easy money, again and again many senior members of the profession have pointed out that it is not as easy as you would have imagined.
Life’s priorities also tend to change with time and place. You will definitely find that your life’s priorities are dynamic and in constant motion.
What you want now is not what you want 10 years down the road. Too many doctors have regretted their career choices.
The frustration is understandable, the failures are difficult to stomach, the financial and time constraints are too much to bear, but as with all choices in life, there is a price to pay."
Another letter 'in response to the letters “It’s devastating to fail students at the final hurdle” by Disappointed Parent (The Star, Oct 7) http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2016/10/07/its-devastating-to-fail-students-at-the-final-hurdle/  and “Look into the real reasons for failure” by Pilocarpine (The Star, Oct 8) http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2016/10/08/look-into-the-real-reasons-for-sons-failure/ ':
Excerpt: 
"In writing this letter, I seek the attention of the Malaysian medical fraternity, medical schools, Malaysia Medical Council (MMC), PTPTN, and parents of medical students. It’s my sincere hope that what happened to me will not happen to others.
I believe that I’m in a position to comment on this matter as a former medical student and now a medical dropout from a private medical university. I can certainly feel the agony felt by Disappointed Parent, and I too have received similar advice like the one given by Pilocarpine.
After failing my medical course, I now face an uncertain future with a huge – almost six-figure –PTPTN loan which I will struggle to pay back.
I believe the root cause of this issue is the structure of the final year medical exams. The medical cases given in the exams are variable and will be judged by two senior medical doctors.
Exactly what is the requirement to pass is unclear with each of those senior medical doctors having their own judgement.
Some of them are known to be strict while others are lenient. Here is where the element of luck can play a crucial role in determining a pass or failure.
Can the competence of a medical student in just one or two cases in the final year exam be used to judge his overall fitness to become a doctor? Wouldn’t all the training for the past four/ five years in medical school be worth anything at all? Why can’t the overall competence of a doctor be judged during the two-year housemanship period?"
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