what to expect : fakulti perubatan uitm part 2

     Assalamualaikum and evening to all. It had been quite sometimes since I write (a week ?) . To be honest I was quite disappointed with the last post because  I think I did a rather poor job in explaining a lot of things. I think that I can explain more if I did it in BM so I thought that I would do this post in BM but it stroke my mind that the reason I create this blog is to improve my English because I am a poor writer in both BM and English, so I am going to write it in English . So before I start I would like to apologise if I did give a wrong info or inadequate info throughout the blog . Anyway this post is going to be long but bare with me okay ?

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   All of the medicine course usually adopt  two different kind of system. These system are traditional medicine and a new integrated  Problem based learning (PBL)  system. Traditional system is where you learn everything such as anatomy biochemistry etc in jargon  and you yourself relate the subjects towards one another by yourself. To be simplified, it is like you learn every country by alphabet and by your own effort , you need to divide these country by region and relate it to each other.  What I like the most about UiTM is it uses another system which is PBL integrated system so it is a bit easier.  PBL integrated system is a system where you are trained to diagnose the patient based on their symptoms. So all of you are going to learn the disease according to their respective system such as heart attack will only be taught during cardiovascular system. Both has pros and Cons but I prefer the new system.

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  Before I go on a bit further , throughout this 5 years of medschool we will have two phase. Pre-clinical and Clinical Phase. The first and second year is considered as Pre-clinical because we learn more on theory rather on practicality. The 3^rd,4^th and 5^th is considered Clinical phase which we will have more practicality rather on theory.  In UiTM we are going to have two professional exam which is professional exam I and Professional Exam II. Professional Exam I is during the 4^th sem which is the end of the 2^nd year . Your knowledge throughout 1^st and 2^nd year will be tested. For professional exam II , it is in the end of 5^th year . Your knowledge throughout 5 years of medschool will be tested.

      

Since I just finished my 1^st year I am going to elaborate more on pre-clinical phase rather on Clinical.Professional Exam I is a ticket for you to enter the clinical phase . But how do you pass the professional exam ?  First You need to know the weightage of the marks. Every semester you will have final exam and this contribute to 10 % of the carry mark of professional exam, except for 4^th sem because you do not have final but you have professional exam.

Professional exam I (100%) : 1^st sem : 10%

                                                2^nd sem : 10%

                                                3^rd sem : 10 %

                                                4^th sem : 5%

                                               Pro exam :65%

Total 100%

 Final of each sem is quite similar to professional exam in the way they tested you but final of semester 1 only test the knowledge of Semester 1 but professional exam I tested you the knowledge of 1^st 2^nd 3^rd and 4^th semester. Failing one of the semester is prohibited otherwise you will have a remedial ( lebih kurang repeat paper ) or worse repeat the whole year . Failing  the  professional exam too will grand you the same thing. Mind you the passing mark is 50.

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  Let me introduce you the subject you will learn throughout this 1^st and 2^nd year.  Some might be boring some you will like but you will never know until you try it yourself .

Anatomy : this subject is where you learn every single part of your body. Remembering every blood vessels, nerve , bones and muscle.This the part where you will come to realize we have so much things to remember that you only remember the main organ such as kidney and you thought it is sufficient but it never is .The.Struggle.Is.Real. You will also realise that every nerve and blood vessel in the Cadaver(read: corpse) looks the same and you wonder how you will differentiate it in real life and this is where you will give up being a surgeon.

Biochemistry :This is where you learn about Kreb’s cycle and every cycle there is to remember in our body. In this subject you will question how learning this will helps you in saving patient but you will never know until you become a doctor. But no worries our Lecturer will always give the clinical importance of this subject in the end of every lesson.

Microbiology : This is where you will learn  different kind of infection and the aetiology of it. You will learn more about virus , Bacteria and fungi and the ways to detect it. This is where you will learn that PCR can be used to detect every organism you learn and you will be scolded if you put that as an answer in exam.

Physiology : You will be taught about your body and how it functions. This is where you will realize your body is very complicated and you are grateful to Allah that designs it that way.

Pathology : you will be taught what is a disease , the causes of it and how the disease works. This is where you will learn that this subject is very tough and you won’t understand it by lecture and you try to read books but the book can only be understood by band 7 MUET students only. This is the part you will realize how tough this course is.

Pharmacology : This is where you will learn about every drugs there are and its adverse effect. This is where you will realize there are so many drug to be remembered with its side effect and you afraid you will kill the patient by giving the wrong drug.

Parasitology: You will learn about animals that can kill or give you disease. Basically you will learn that there is a lot of insects, worms and snakes that can kill you out there and you will decided to be an indoor person.

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 Since you have a number of subjects that is hard. You will need a good a platform in other to digest every one of it. What I like about UiTM is they give you a lot of time for self study and you will also interact more with your lecturers. Your schedule will not be from 8am-5pm straight because in between you will have a lot of free time because we are encouraged to self study. Most of you will sleep rather than study in those free time haha. You won’t have a fixed schedule like every other course and you cannot arrange your schedule like them. The faculty will do it for you. You will understand why when you join the faculty. So what kind of classes do we have ?

Lecture : You will have a lecture in Auditorium. Basically you will learn everything that you need to focus on .Every lecture is worth an hour.  first Semester alone we have 115 lectures  .You will sit in a very comfortable auditorium and listen to one hour talk by your lecturer. You will be given the module guide so you can prepare before coming to lecture (if you rajin). Don't you worry we have lots of lecturers here both foreign and domestic which has a lot of experience teaching. 

SGS :  Small group Session. You will be given questions before a sgs session. A small group consist of 10 people max will consult with lecturers about the questions. This is where you will ask question to lecturer if you don’t understand during the lecture. Use it wisely.Most of lecturer will help you here but you just need to speak your heart out. Do not be shy as there is nothing to be ashamed of . He who asks questions is only a  fool for a 5 minutes he who does not remains a fool forever. keep that in mind and you will succeed in sgs.

PRACTICAL : You will have respective practical that may help you during clinical and help you understand and relate it to clinical importance. Usually is done in multidisciplinary lab and it is done in group of 10 . Here we will experience closed teaching by the lecturers. Lecturers will guide you but still you need to prepare beforehand . Anatomy, microbiology, parasitology, pathology  and biochem will have most practicality. This is where you relate theory and clinical. Attendance is a must and  it is fun too.  As for Anatomy you will find Cadaver every week, for physiology  you will play with a lot of technology such as spirometry or sphygnomamometer to check for blood pressure and as for biochem you may calculate your own lipid level or even analyse your own urine (yuck), for microbiology  you will perform gram staining and such. Lastly, for parasitology , you will be differentiating snakes, type of snakes and such . it is fun I'll assure you

PBL : Problem based learning. You will be given a situation and by that situation you need to discuss and diagnose the patient. Also done in a group of 10 accompanied by coordinator that will help you run the discussion about the case. Sometimes a debate may happen so be ready to counter argument with your friend . the objective of PBL is to get you learn something before you proceed to lecture. it promotes a lot of self learning.it is fun discussion and this is where you will learn a lot. You may also be attached to your group and do a lot of fun things together because PBL is a fun session.

ECE : Early clinical exposure. This where you will learn about bedside teaching , how to build rapport  and how to do history taking. Basically to prepare you for clinical phase. I still remember how nervous i am to do history taking to a patient. It was hard, I jumble a lot of things but still I manage to do it. it was fun and I will remember it for the rest of this medschool. Therefore in this session I urge you all to take part because not everyone will be given a  chance to do history taking and such so take this privilege.

   All and all, the experience I got in UiTM medical school is  the kind of experience that you will not get anywhere else. This is why I create this blog . It is to promote my school. It may seems little but this little things is something that I cherish throughout this med school. Do not worry about how other seniors(and me) said on how this course tough and such. Just go with the flow and don't worry in UITM we do not abandon our students . I have seen a lot of lecturers give guidance and support to us  when we are about to fail. To the extend they did extra classes so that we will not repeat the year. That is the kind of guidance and love we receive from our faculty and mainly our lecturer.  We have our own flaws but who doesn't ?

 Therefore i am going to ask you, are you ready to partake this lifelong journey alongside us ?