Thursday, May 26, 2011

Why medic?

(I noticed an annual increase in people reading this post especially around this time of the year, possibly from you SPM leavers. This post is written years ago, I am now in my final year as a medical student, so it might not be of relevance now. But just a quick advice, when picking your future course, don't dwell too much on what others say, follow your passion. If you have none at the moment, don't worry too, as things will fall into places sooner than you think, and passion will come after. It can also change even after you've decided, it's Allah's will. Doa banyak2 and istikharah. Don't be sad if you didn't get into Medicine, life is so much more than that, and there are many other medical branches to explore (if you're still interested in Medicine). Good luck!)

As nerdy as the title may sound, I'm writing about this anyways. Just a flashback on how I decided on this course, for those of you still at the crossroads on where do you go next. Ceh poyo. bajet senior la kau, second year pn x lepas lg.

And this will be a long post. Warned you.

Talking to my post-SPM brother and found out that most of the straight-Aplus (yes, it's all about A-PLUS now, not just A's =.= ) in his school chose courses I've never heard about before. The top student in his school wanted to do a major in nanotechnology. Nanotech? I mean, I don't even know what that means when I was 17. And one of his friends opted for Islamic Banking. Wallawey. Kids these days certainly have a wider view on the options they have. Way to go, kiddos.

During my post-SPM days, after the results were out, MOSTLY, or maybe ALL straight-A's students I knew of, chose to read medicine. Back then, it's more like a trend, straight-A's are expected to choose medicine. In fact, I can say three-quarter of my classmates are currently in med schools. Some in India, some in Jordan and Egypt, some in Indonesia. You name it. Well there are some who took engineering, but I rarely heard of anyone opting for nanotech or islamic banking.

So jumping in the medical bandwagon, I choose medicine too. If you ask me, it's more of a go-with-the-flow decision. Medicine was a popular choice. Very popular back then. That if you score straight A1 and don't choose medicine, people will give you a why-oh-whyyy stare. Never wanted to be a doctor since I was a child. In fact, after SPM, I applied for engineering under Petronas, biotech under PNB, and asasi sains fizikal in UIA, and a few more I couldn't remember. Apply je lebih, satu apa pn x dapat. Well of course I applied for medicine under JPA, kalau tak cne plak bley amek medic now. And to be honest, I never expected to pass the interview and obtained a place in medicine, in Ireland to be exact. Alhamdulillah on that.

Medicine is not an easy course. Okay fine, I know that's a well-known fact. Duhh. Well nothing is easy in this world if you want it to be worth it in the future. Engineering pun susah. Actuarial science pun susah. If you're a genius in highschool, a top scorer who was awarded every possible award available, that won't help you get through med school. Even those who were worshipped for their intelligence in highschool can flunk in med school. No kidding. Brain alone does not suffice. Medicine requires you to sacrifice yourself in every possible way. If you're a game addict or a facebook junkie, this course will have the power to change that, even if it's not in your first two years in med school, it will definitely change you the moment you enter your clinical years, when you're the busiest human being alive. Ok actually I'm in no position to talk on how miserable your clinical years will be because I'm not into one yet. Baru second year nak takteh takteh. Org tanya psl symptoms they showed in House pn dok errr errrrr tak reti nak jawab =.=


So why medic? I'm sure the answer would be of no use now as most of the SPM leavers are already wayyy over their scholarship interviews. If you ask me "why medic" after my SPM results were out, I would say, I don't know. Haha. But if you ask me now, why medic, I can probably tell you why, even if not as clearly as those who wanted to do medicine since childhood. Medic is awesomeee, seriously. Because you actually learned about your own body. Something you can relate to in your everyday life. Few years back, my lovely cousin I was close with, was diagnosed with a kidney failure, a symptom of SLE. (ok now go google what does SLE mean) And in my second medical year, SLE was in one of our modules. All of a sudden, all of the symptoms I saw in my cousin explained themselves as I learned. Why did she have to go for hemodialysis every week, why did the medication she took make her face looked puffy, why did my aunt keep telling me to be an SLE specialist. It's as if you're learning out of curiosity and the urge of discovering, not learning out of obligation. And that's what I liked the most about the course.

And especially when you watched movies or TV shows, say House or Grey's Anat, you're actually watching it from another view. A real medical view. Cewahh.

Though it's a tough course, looking at it from another point of view, I'm glad I chose medicine, knowing that I've met awesome people along the way. Prep course doing IB in KMB, getting to know friends I loved and who actually matters the most now, experience living abroad, travelling all over europe, patient visits meeting the elderly, hospital visits chatting with stroke patients, in every single thing we had the chance to do, they're definitely something I wouldn't want to forget in years ahead.

For now, that's it. Will write again soon. Oh btw, I'm posting from my living room! woohoo :D

6 comments:

Unknown people said...

ya Allah ! berkobar kobar semangat nii nak sambung belajarrr ! :')

fara anak abah said...

ala,ni mst sbb dh abes exam kan...kalau x,tunggang tebalik la ko sumpah seranah diri sndiri knpe amek medik,knpe medik susah sgt bla3...hahaha..ak dh masuk clinical years dh,SERONOK!!dan jugee PENAT!!hadoyy..

IkaZainol said...

fyy: all the best to you! :)

fa'in: tau xpe! haha padahal menyumpah2 time exam kannn :p and maybe sbb da cuti dok rumah ni tenang skettt. haha

Anonymous said...

seronok awal2 ja..pastu mula la start rsa.."eh asal ak rsa cm x da life ja".."bestnya bdak2 fakulti lain,ada masa nk kuar sna..nk kuar sni..ak plak dlm hospital ja "..lagi2..bnyk sbnarnya..hehe..tu la yg selalu dalami hampir semua bdak med seluruh negara..cuma bila itu pilihan kita..maka itu jgak perjuangan yg harus dtamatkn..time HO lagi x da life..tpi nk wat cmna..Lillahi taala ja la yg mampu..hidup bkan utk dunia semata2 tpi utk kejar ganjaran akhirat..dan mnjadi seorg dr adlh salah satu caranya..bak kata seorg lect sya..kita harus jadi muslim dlu,lepas tu baru jadi dr..mulia sungguh keja seorg dr bilamana niatnya betul..=)smoga sukses wahai dr2 seluruh dunia.=P

Aqilah said...

Assalamualaikum .
Sis , your story is so inspiring and i could relate myself to it .
Im currently a post SPM student and preparing for a jpa interview which is just around the corner.

I was also confuse in what course i would take for my future. I wanted to pursue medic but people nowadays often critisize the option.

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