Author: Mohamed Nawfal (article originally taken from uniclues.com)
Course: xxx
Medicine is about understanding the art and science of being a doctor. We are training to become practising doctors who are not only proficient in medical knowledge but also compassionate towards patients.
I have always been interested in the way the human body works and the lifelong learning of medical knowledge. Medicine and the other healthcare professions work in a unique way in the sense that your tutors and professors will eventually be your colleagues as well. Also, I love interacting with people. Becoming a doctor would allow me to teach and put into practice the medical knowledge learnt in school as well as interact with the various stakeholders involved in the caring of a patient. Hence, this is why I chose Medicine!
There is also the stability and high pay that draws everyone to Medicine as well. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with choosing Medicine for this reason but it should never be the ONLY reason. There are many other jobs out there that pay better with lesser workload. Please consider the hours and the workload on the job as well. You would need to sacrifice time with family and friends. I know of a doctor who couldn’t attend her own father’s funeral because of work commitments.
I chose Medicine over the other healthcare degrees because it gives me a lot more flexibility to choose a specialisation, like sports, rehab or orthopaedics, later on. Hence, I can use my time in medical school to discover my area of interest.
However, I was planning to go to Physiotherapy if I hadn’t gotten into Medicine. I have spent a good part of my school life playing sports and have seen friends injure themselves, which prevented them from realising their fullest potential. Hence, I got interested in Physiotherapy because of the satisfaction derived from restoring an athlete back to his/her fullest potential.
The interview process involves multiple mini interviews (MMI), where you sit through 8 interviews with 8 different interviewers. For more information, watch this video by NTU LKC School of Medicine! Also, the Internet has an abundance of resources about MMIs conducted by universities around the world so do take a look at them as well.
To get through the interviews, you need to be decisive and be able to defend your views and opinions. Interviewers also look for empathy, leadership and clear communication skills in students.
If you don’t have leadership experience, I don’t think it will affect your chances of getting in but it would be a bonus. After all, you can talk to the interviewer about your leadership experience, especially for questions like “what’s your leadership style like”. Most of the people in medical school that I know of have some form of leadership experience, not necessarily the head of CCA or CIP project, but usually at least EXCO. If you are looking for leadership positions, you could perhaps introduce a new CIP initiative and become an EXCO member of it.
Most importantly, be yourself! Don’t try to be someone you are not.
I don’t think it is essential for admissions as most of my peers and I were offered a place without doing any job shadowing or internship. If you choose to do one, write down what you have learnt because you will be tested on that at the interview. Previously, when I volunteered at some event, a parent asked if job shadowing is essential. One of the professors advised prospective students to not put job shadowing experience on their resumes if they cannot bring out learning points during the interview.
Job shadowing allows you to interact with doctors and senior medical students, who may share their experiences with you. Hopefully, you will gain some clarity on whether Medicine is for you through their sharings.
Also, some doctors might even bring you along for ward rounds, which start at 6 am. If you are lucky, you might even be allowed to attend lectures if the doctor you are shadowing conducts classes.
If you are really interested in job shadowing, you can approach the National University Hospital (NUH), the National Skin Centre (NSC), polyclinics and private clinics (if you have the connections that is).
The JC you come from will not be taken into consideration. However, the reason why there is a huge proportion of RJ/HC/ACS(I) students in Medicine is because of their alumni, who give talks and guidance to prospective medical students. Students from those JCs also have better A-level scores, generally speaking.
Polytechnic students, on the other hand, have it a lot harder. They need near-perfect GPA to have a chance at the interview for both NUS and NTU Med. Even then, the chances of them getting in are really slim. As far as I know, NUS seems to be more open to polytechnic graduates.
Those who took Biology at the tertiary level may have a slight advantage in the first semester or first year of school. However, this advantage wears out as the content becomes more rigorous. Also, Physics students might even have an edge over their counterparts in certain modules, like Pulmonary Physiology, which are more mathematical in nature.
NTU uses team-based learning where we attend classes to engage in discussion sessions. Before attending these discussion sessions, students have to prepare by watching pre-recorded teaching videos. In class, we take mini-tests where we apply the knowledge learnt from online learning to clinical scenarios. Hence, during the preclinical years, we only have about 3 days of school a week on average. This allows students the freedom to take part in extracurricular activities if they wish to do so and adjust their studying time accordingly. For information on this, watch this video! NUS, on the other hand, uses the lecture-tutorial system.
Unlike NUS, where you can just apply with your A-level or polytechnic results, NTU requires you to take the BMAT. Basically, it’s a ~2hr-long paper and pen test held at RJ/HC every year which tests some basic writing, sciences and logical thinking skills. NTU has also published the BMAT percentile for the most recent batch on the LKC website.
Personally, I think that the BMAT is good as it filters out candidates who apply to Medical school solely because they have the grades for it. This is evidenced from the lower number of applicants every year. Many students think twice about pursuing Medicine before they splurge on taking the BMAT.
To prepare for the BMAT, you could buy a BMAT guide-book from Kinokuniya or from Carousell. For general resources, visit the BMAT website here!
As of 2020, NUS takes in 280 while NTU takes in 150.
Instead of cadavers, we use the anatomage table, which is a virtual dissection table, 3D printed models and plastinated specimens. The key reason for this is that students might not be able to see the veins, nerves and muscles clearly if they are not dissected well. Also, the anatomy halls can get really messy. As for the plastinated specimens, they are all professionally dissected and nicely preserved which allows students to clearly see the muscles contour and how the different vessels run.
Also, apart from the anatomage table, NTU students can also participate in dissection classes held by NUS during the summer holidays to learn more about dissection.
Here is a brief summary of what you will be doing at NTU Med:
There are about 3 to 4 online lecture videos, which are about 30-40 mins long, every 3 to 4 days. Afterwards, we go to class and engage in discussions as part of the Team-Based Learning system. For more information on the Team-Based Learning system, please read this!
After 5 years of medical school, you graduate as a House Officer(HO).
After a year as a HO, you will get a license to become a Medical Officer(MO).
You will be an MO from then on unless you choose to specialise or apply for residency. The guys will return to the army to serve out their service at this point.
We are mainly taught by doctors from the National Healthcare Group(NHG), which comprises Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital, and NHG Polyclinics. Sometimes, doctors from private practice drop by to teach us as well. They are some of the most inspiring teachers I have ever met. They focus on the clinical application of the content we learn from textbooks and other reading materials.
Anatomy classes are taught by the anatomy team in the anatomy lab. There are two major subtopics under anatomy, which are basic anatomy and clinical anatomy. Basic anatomy is simply the study of the different muscles and veins whereas clinical anatomy relates the anatomy to the different health problems. For example, in neurology, you will learn about the different nerves in the face in the basic anatomy lesson. In the clinical anatomy lesson, you will learn about how a defect in these nerves will affect the person and how doctors test for these defects. Clinical anatomy classes are taught by the clinicians while basic anatomy classes are taught by anatomists.
Some of the basic clinical skills, like injection, suturing, blood drawing, are taught by nurse educators.
Clinical examination skills (not to be confused with clinical skills), like listening using a stethoscope to check for signs and palpating the stomach for masses, are taught by the polyclinic doctors and some GPs. These lessons are held at Ang Mo Kio polyclinic for pre-clinical years.
Clinical communication skills, like learning to talk to patients, enquiring about patients’ medical history, breaking bad news and counseling patients, are taught by doctors.
LKC Medicine and Imperial Medicine are sister schools. We do have an exchange programme for a handful of Year 2 students who will get the chance to go to Imperial College for one week.
Also, in Year 5, students can choose to do some electives at Imperial College. The two schools are also exploring other exchange opportunities and research collaborations.
As long as you graduate from one of the medical schools in Singapore, which are NUS YLL, NTU LKC and Duke-NUS, you will be bonded to the Singapore government for 5 years (excluding House Officer years). In other words, you are guaranteed a job after school. Becoming a doctor is probably the most secure job out there.
Be prepared for what is to come because it’s hard! You will enter feeling excited to learn about the body and to save lives but there is a high chance you might burn out after a few years of rigorous studying.
For those who are fortunate enough to be able to go overseas,I would suggest to them to think carefully if they are really interested in Medicine. Making the wrong decision here would cost a lot of money.
For the rest, there is still the option of going to Duke-NUS after doing another undergraduate degree. This would allow you to explore your interests and see if Medicine is truly for you. I have had tutors who took the longer path and did Medicine at Duke-NUS and they still made it to where they are now! Use this time to really think carefully about your interests and curate a portfolio to improve your chances of getting into Duke-NUS.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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