Dentists' Dilemma

Sabrin — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:57:19 +0800

Here in Malaysia, people pays more respect to doctors compared to dentist... Why is this happening? Even parents regard doctors as superior to a dentist and favour their children to study Medicine instead of Dentistry... Is it because of the job pay? Or is it because of the number of years of training? Or simply the mindset of the people? Will this perception change? Come on doctors, dentists, medical students, dentistry students(is this correct? kinda weird), parents, anyone, give your opinion on this...

Studying Medicine In Egypt : Beware

Sabrin — Tue, 04 May 2010 08:45:44 +0800

For those who are fond of Egypt, DON'T read this!

This post is not only specific to those who are planning to take medical course in Egypt but also to all those who are considering on studying in Egypt. The main reason I write this post is due to some serious controversies regarding studying in Egypt.

As we all know, for the past 3-4 years, the government and also some private agencies have started to send medical students to Egypt in a mass number and as a country with majority of Muslims, we accept this as something which is too good and so we did not bother to find out the cons of this action. Even the PSD (JPA) and MARA sponsors a large number of students to Egypt.

Now, we should consider this, what is the main reason for the sudden increase of our medical students there? Is it simply because there are claims made by some that the advantage of studying in Egypt is you can acquire both Islamic knowledge and a medical degree at the same time? Seriously, do you think that a hectic life of a medical student can even make time to study sharia etc.? We now must change our perspective on how to excel in our future and our afterlife. It is not guaranteed that once you study in Egypt, you'll be a doctor of the ustaz type.

So, back to our point, what is the main reason for the sudden outburst of medical student in Egypt? COST. Yes, cost! Studying medicine in Egypt only cost you around RM 200,000+ for 6 years! This include living expenses! This is way cheaper than sending students to UK which is approximately RM 1.7 million per student! Okay, it's cheaper, so what?

THE MEDICAL DEGREE FROM EGYPT IS NOT RECOGNIZED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!
(except for Malaysia,duh!)

Yes, it' true. Let's give you a more clear picture, the student furthering to Egypt is not required to take any pre-u qualifications. They only have to undergo 3 months of preparatory program and then off to Egypt! Is this in any sense, logical? Even the students who pursue medicine in Malaysia is required to go for matriculation, asasi or STPM. This is a very big difference compared to the students sent to UK/Ireland/India which have to take the a-level exam.

Another point to note is that, students who wish to go there need only B4 for English and science subjects in SPM to pursue medicine! Even students who score straight As in SPM have a a hard time entering Malaysian unis nowadays. And for Pharmacy, they only need to score C5!!! What an irony.

Okay, now let's talk about the environment there. It's hot, well, assuming you had lived in Malaysia, it is not a big problem. But, hot and crowded? I've done my research on this and from the reviews of the people who studied there, they advised you not to opt for Egypt. It's universities are too crowded, no proper lab equipment, and even if there is, it's not working, corruptions are everywhere, lecturers having "private tuition" with their students, students are treated like s***, the people are impolite, etc. (no wonder the fees are cheap)

The universities in Egypt are well recognised-by Malaysian government... And also by the MMC (Malaysia Medical Council). Hmm.. I'm pretty curious on how the universities in Egypt is suddenly accepted by the MMC after the government started sending students there... Must be some kind of political involvement, well, it's our Malaysia... I can give you a link on the list of medical degree recognized by the SMC (Singapore Medical Council).

http://www.smc.gov.sg/html/1153709442948.html

As you can see, there is none of the Egypt Universities listed there. Can you think of the reason why? And even only 2 universities from Malaysia is accepted.

You may say that it doesn't matter where you get your degree, as long as you get it. But, it will be a problem when you are going to specialize later on because your first degree qualification is going to be asked. I read this somewhere before that the MMC only recognize the university by testing the competency of the first batch doctors from the universities. Again, I wonder how the MMC grants recognition to the universities from Egypt while they haven't even release their first batch here in Malaysia. And I've also heard that once, the recognition from a university in Egypt is withdrawn by the MMC but is given back it's recognition after the intervention from someone from the Ministry of Higher Education. In other words, the students now studying in Egypt has the risk of their qualification nullified by the MMC. hmm..

So, I'd like to advise anyone who is thinking of pursuing in Egypt to think twice and evaluate your decision well. Thank you. (Sorry for my poor English. I think I've made some mistakes up there but I'm too lazy to recheck anyway, it's my first post after all)

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Dentists' Dilemma

Studying Medicine In Egypt : Beware