Clinical Hypnotherapy Workshop - Invitation by London College of Clinical Hypnosis

Greetings from the London College of Clinical Hypnosis - LCCH (Asia).

The LCCH in collaboration with the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia will be organizing an AFPM Pre-AGM Workshop on Clinical Hypnotherapy - Approaches in Healthcare and Medicine on 15 April 2011 at the Legend Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

For more details, please refer to the attached flyer. Please feel free to contact us if you have further queries.

Thank you.

------Secretariat
on behalf of Sheila Menon
Principal & Director
London College of Clinical Hypnosis (Asia)
207, Block G, Phileo Damansara 1
No 9, Jalan 16/11, Off Jalan Damansara
Seksyen 16 Petaling Jaya
46350 Selangor
Tel : 03-7960 6439
Fax : 03-7960 6449

MMA Foundation Study Loan Application Guidelines

A few colleagues had email us on the Guides on MMA Foundation (MMAF) Study Loan Application. I hope that you find this article useful for the Loan application.

The requirements for the application are:

- Currently enrolled in a recognized medical colleges/ universities

- Good Academic Performance

- MMA Student Member

You need to write an Loan Application Letter to:

Chairman,

Student Loan Committee, MMA Foundation

The Letter should state the reason for the loan application. Together with your copy of your latest university's exam result and email them to: Ms. Linda on mmaf@streamyx.com , and cc copy to smmams1011@gmail.com.

The MMA Foundation Committee only gives out 20 study loan per year, and they prefer 4th or 5th year students, so that they can pay back as soon as they graduate. Although so, junior medical students are encouraged to try if you need the aid.

Thank you. [any info, please email us on smmams1011@gmail.com]

Introducing SMMAMS to your friends ONLINE and Add us at Facebook

Saturday Teach-In on "DERMATOLOGY" by College of Physicians, AMM

Dear fellow colleagues,

The College of Physician under the Academy of Medicine Malaysia, has been conducting "Saturday Teach-In" program regularly for MOs, HOs, GPs and also for senior medical students.

On January 2011, a one-day course on Haematology was conducted, and there were strong support from medical students (especially from Melaka-Manipal, Universiti Malaya, UKM etc). On the coming 12 March 2011, they will be conducting another Saturday Teach-In, with the topic on Dermatology.

Program:

0900 - 1000 hrs: Registration/ Coffee

1000 - 1100 hrs: Common Skin Disorders (Eczema, Psoriasis, Tinea etc)

1100 - 1200 hrs: Adverse Cutaneous Drug Reaction

1200 - 1300 hrs: Dermatological Emergencies (TEN/ Pemphigus/ Acute Erythroderma)

1300 - 1400 hrs: Lunch

1400 - 1430 hrs: Workshop on Topical Application of Creams

1430 - 1500 hrs: Workshop on Wet Dressing/ Soaks

1500 - 1530 hrs: Workshop on Scalp Treatment / Scabies Treatment

Course Fee for Medical Student: RM 20

As place are limited, for advance booking, please contact:

Secretariat, College of Physicians, AMM

G-1, Medical Academies of Malaysia,

210, Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: (603) 4023 4700 ; 4025 4700; 4025 3700

Fax: (603) 4023 8100 [Email: acadmed@po.jaring.my]

Website for Saturday Teach-In: http://www.acadmed.org.my/newsmaster.cfm?&action=news&menuid=80&parentid=39

AIMST University is Organizing a Pre-Clinical Medical Quiz on 8th and 9th April 2011

Dear fellow colleagues,

The Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University is organizing a Pre-clinical Medical Quiz on 8th and 9th April 2011. They are inviting medical students from other institutions to participate in this quiz.

Registration Fee is RM 200 per team. Each participating team will be composed of 4 regular members and 1 optional (staff/ spare member). Minimum of 2 students should be currently in preclinical phase of training. An early bird fee of RM150 if registration done before 14 March 2011.

Entries are accepted until the 28th March 2011.

For further information, you are welcome to contact AIMST Medical Student Association's President Mr. Naga on vostok_nbn@hotmail.com.

Last Call for Early Bird Promotion !!!

Today will be the last day for the Early Bird Promotion for the MIMSC 2011 Registration.

Due to holiday today, we have decided to extend their the payment due date for early bird registration to this Saturday (19/2/2011). However, you must register your delegates in our computer system by tonight 11.59pm to get the RM50 discount.

For more registration information, please do not hesitate to contact the Registration Director Ms. Betty San.

Official Conference Website: www.smmams.org/mimsc2011

Updates on Perdana University - Berita MMA Interview with Dean, Prof Dr Charles M. Wiener MD - Part II

1) So, when are you ready to take on your first batch of students?

Prof Dr Charles: We're ready to take on our first batch of students in September 2011. We're hoping that students will take the MCAT in spring 2011. There's a board that runs the US MCAT, they have agreed to have additional tests in Kuala Lumpur. Before that we only had one offering then we met them personally and told them about our project, they were so excited about it, they have agreed to open up additional test dates.

2) How many students can the programme accommodate in Malaysia?

Prof Dr Charles: We're planning to accommodate up to 100 students per year and there is only one intake per year which will start in Fall of 2011.

3) What are your plans in terms of faculty recruitment for the Perdana University?

Prof Dr Charles: Right from the start, we're expecting the faculty and students, in my terms, to be at Johns Hopkins standards, which are extremely high standards.

I am talking to a number of faculties in the region and trying to be very selective. I've alreadt preliminarily recruited a number of Johns Hopkins' faculty who want to come out here anywhere from six months to 2 years or even longer.

We will be utilising Hopkins' faculty to come out for 2-week periods of time to deliver specific parts of our curriculum that we don't have covered by instrinsic faculty. We've already started planning for all of these faculty positions.

Another aspect of our mission here which is also quite distinct is to establish a research presence of Johns Hopkins quality. Johns Hopkins research has a tripartite mission: patient care, teaching and research. We're planning on mimicking all three of these missions here at Perdana.

So, we're already recruiting research faculty and what we're trying to do now is establish our initial research initiatives that we're going to focus on. This will most certainly include Bio-informatics which is a strength of this region already and we're going to take advantage of that and also genomics, taking advantage of the unique aspect of South East Asia.

There is a lot of commitment from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to support, collaborate and take advantage of some of the infrastructure that we've already created in Baltimore to make it easier for us to work over here.

4) What would be the criteria that you are looking for in your medical educators?

Prof Dr Charles: The key is medical educators who are experienced and are opened to a US-style of the "Genes to Society" perspective.

For instance, 3 years ago, the Johns Hopkins faculty didn't know what constitutes the "Genes to Society" perspective. It is important that people are keen to learn our curriculum; they have to be committed to student centric education and/or research that will help this country and this region.

The "Genes to Society" curriculum took us five to six years to plan and 2 years to implement. If you do a public search on my name, in a journal called Academic Medicine published in March 2010, there's an article that we wrote describing the logic and the whole process behind the whole "Genes to Society" curriculum.

5) Will Johns Hopkins or Perdana University be conferring the degree?

Prof Dr Charles: The Diploma will be conferred by the Perdana University. The logo of Perdana University has a line that reads "in collaboration with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine". Essentially, this is a Malaysian university that is meant to improve the health of Malaysia and the region. However, the curriculum and structure of the programme will be exactly the same.

6) Do you have any final words to our readers?

Prof Dr Charles: Everyone in Baltimore is tremendously excited about this project at many levels. There is great enthusiasm for this region and this country. This is a place that already vale education and excellence, and is ready to take on the challenge of having a truly integrated academic medical centre built here. We've seen nothing but positive feedback here and also in Baltimore on this project.

7) What are your channels for communication for doctors and potential students to get in touch with you regarding teaching and research prospects as well as enquiries about this programme?

Prof Dr Charles: I will be starting work in KL mid-January 2011. Enquiries can be addressed to this email (enquiries@acadmedc.com) or to The Academic Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, Suite 5.3, 5th Floor, Wisma Chase Perdana, Off Jalan Semantan, Damansara Heights, 50490 KL. You can also reach us at this telephone number 03-27183888 or fax number 03 20945984.

Updates on Perdana University - Berita MMA Interview with Dean, Prof Dr Charles M. Wiener MD - Part I

Someone had drop a message in the shoutout box, asking about the new medical school in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. MMA Berita Editorial recently had the opportunity to interview Prof. Dr. Charles M. Wiener MD, Professor od Medicine & Physiology of JHU School od Medicine. John Hopkins is to establish the foundations of the new Perdana University, the first private graduate medical school and private teaching hospital to be setup in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The Interview with the Dean of Perdana University. [Following article is from January issue of Berita MMA]

1) Johns Hopkins has a number of facilities in this region like in China and Singapore, how are they different from the one in Malaysia?

Prof. Dr. Charles: Johns Hopkins has a clinical oncology unit and a small clinical research component. It does not have any medical education at all over in Singapore.

In China, it is mostly under graduate it's not a significant medical school. Again, this is the first Johns Hopkins' school of medicine International collaboration.......

2) What are your main objectives at this point in time in establishing the medical school in Malaysia?

Prof. Dr. Charles: The objectives right now are to finalise our application for approval from MQA and MMC; start interviewing and talking to faculty members who might be interested in coming to Perdana University; talking about where our temporary facility is going to be; setting up and administration and IT infrastructure, and planning to Master Plan the new campus.

3) What programmes are offered at the Perdana University and how different are they from what is currently offered in medical schools in Malaysia?

Prof Dr Charles:
The important distinction is that this is going to be graduate school of medicine. It is based on the American model where people first obtain their under graduate degree in whatever discipline - whether it is a BA or BSc- it doesn't have to be in science. But you have to complete a set of pre-requisities that are generally covered in the 1st 2 years of medical school e.g. physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics etc.

For instance, I was an economic major in college, not a science major. Within the course of my economic training, I took the basic science subjects that I was required to take for medical school.

4) In the traditional system, a graduate would have to clock in a number of years before one is qualified as a specialist. So, how is this programme different to the model at Johns Hopkins?

Prof Dr Charles: Our system is definitely different, when you graduate from a medical school as MD after four years you immediately start your specialty training whether it is in paediatrics, internal medicine and graudates spend their 3 - 5 years immediately after medical school obtaining their specialty certificates and specialty training. After that they can further do training to sub-specialise in cardiology or an area of their interest.

In our programme, the students are more matured at the beginning. They generally come to an informed decision about what they want to spend their lives doing and allowed to go directly to do that ar our medical school.

In America, the 4th year of medical school is very much similar to the house officer training in the British system.

Another point of difference is our system is that in the "Genes to Society" curriculum, students start clinical exposure on day one of classes. So, interviewing, history note taking begins from day one. In this sense, it is a fairly matured curriculum.

5) Is there an opportunity for students in Malaysia to do practical cross training, say in America under this program?

Prof Dr Charles: The Perdana University will be in collaboration with Johns Hopkins and since Johns Hopkins knows this is a school of high comparable quality to Johns Hopkins, we anticipate no problems for students to do rotations in Johns Hopkins.

In fact, I have already had countless inquiries from Johns Hopkins students asking, can they come to Perdana University for rotations. This applies to Malaysian students as well in terms of rotations as well as postgraduate training in Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore, America.

6) What are your criteria for student selection into this program?

Prof Dr Charles: The curriculum will be delivered in English and we're expecting all students to take the US Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), take the test of English (TOFEL), or the English language equivalent and have either an under graduate or its equivalent including all pre-medical requirements we expect. Essentially, the pre-medical requirements are the same as what we have for Johns Hopkins. Finally, there will be a personal interview.

Broadly speaking, there are a number of science requirements that are the same in most US medical schools. What we have done in Johns Hopkins, which we are going to mimic here, is that we're asking students that they show they are capable to communicating both in the oral and written form based on the curriculum that they have done and some kind of original research of some sort. Finally, they have to demonstrate they have the team work skills. So, our criteria highlight most of these characteristics.

1st National Symposium on the Art of History Taking

Dear fellow colleagues,

History taking, an important skill acquired during our medical school training. Professors in med school always emphasize to us that with good history taking, in 80% of cases you will arrive at the diagnosis. The cornerstone of good clinical practice continues to be history-taking and skills in clinical examination. Good doctors will continue to be admired for their ability to distill the important information from the history, for their clinical skills and of course not to forget, for their attitude towards patients, and for their knowledge of diseases, disorders and behaviour problems.

I am not sure whether you wonder History taking is actually an art? Just like Medicine!!! It is like an art, not something fixed like a guideline. Many friends I know take history taking like a template you can use universally for all patients, for which I feel it is wrong. Every patient has their own story to tell; they have their history to tell us, to arrive at the diagnosis.

USM Medical Students make the initiative, to organize the 1st National Symposium on the Art of History Taking.

Further information can be downloaded here: [Accommodation], [Registration Instructions], [Registration Form], [Invitation Letter], [Pre-symposium booklet], [Travelling Information].

On behalf of the organizing committee, I would like to call upon all dedicated and passionate good future doctors, to participate in this symposium. Kelantan, where USM is located at, is a very nice place to visit too. Take this opportunity to learn the art of medicine and history taking, and also take your time to visit around Kelantan, which will be organized by USM colleagues.

Organizing a good and meaningful activities as medical students are not easy. I really hope that all of us can show our full support towards these motivated and passionate colleagues from USM.

*Apologies to the organizing committee for putting up the notice late, as I was very busy with my assignments and exams this few weeks. Please kindly allows more participants even after the deadline, so that we can all benefited from the above program. ~SMMAMS Webmaster, Vincent.

Notice to MMA Student Member

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MMA STUDENT MEMBERS:

Due to some technical problems occur in MMA recently, members will not be receiving Berita MMA until further notice. The office and committee members are currently working on this issues. We are so sorry for the late notice to all members. We hope to have your understandings on this matter. Thank you.

In the meantime, you can assess the following link to view the December Issue of Berita MMA.

SMMAMS Committee 2010-2011

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011! 祝大家兔年新春愉快！

Best wishes from SMMAMS President Justin Lee and Committee Members

Inter-Medical Varsity Debate and Sports Competition - 26th February 2011

 Dear fellow Medical Students,

Our colleagues in University Malaya will be hosting an Inter-Medical Varsity Debate and Sports Competition coming 26th February 2011.

The message from the organizers are as follows :

With all due respect, we are pleased to inform that there will be an Inter-Medical Varsity Debate and Sports Competition !!!

By participating in this competition, students are able to expand their knowledge, encourage thinking critically, learn to debate and argue with solid reasons. Students can multiply their social network especially among medical students themselves across the country.

Therefore we would like to invite the participants from your university to be part of this memorable event. The details are as follows:

Date: 26th February2011
Time: From 7.00 a.m till 7.00p.m
Place: Sixth Residential College, University of Malaya

Event	Participants per team/group	Maximum team/group	Charged per team
Debate	3	2	RM 60.00
Netball (girl)	10	2	RM 200.00
Futsal (boy)	8	2	RM 160.00
Futsal (girl)	8	2	RM 160.00

Those who are interested can contact Jason Liew (016-5488873), Chai Chang Hui (019-8828879)(Debate), Noor Amalina bt Rosli (019-6102016) (Sports).

You can also opt to email Jason Liew at jasonliew_921@hotmail.com.

All entries are accepted until 15th February 2011.

For debate competition, we would like to invite one representative among the lecturers as the adjudicator.

For your information, you are allowed to bring along as many supporters as you can to join as spectators for the event. Foods for breakfast, lunch and evening tea break are prepared for participant and the adjudicators.

Your cooperation and support is deeply appreciated. We hope that you will not miss this opportunity to be part of the inter-varsity event.

The formal letter had already been sent out to all the varsities. Please email Jason Liew (jasonliew_921@hotmail.com) to request for the participation forms, as well as debate rules.

Kindly click the "share" button on the bottom right of this page to share this news on your Facebook. We would really appreciate your effort in being a part of this medical student community of ours.

3rd Malaysian International Medical Student Conference (MIMSC) 2011 now opened for registration

Dear fellow colleagues from Malaysia and oversea,

The SMMAMS's very own annual medical student conference - MIMSC (Malaysian International Medical Student Conference) 2011 is now opened for registration. The 3rd MIMSC 2011, with the theme of "Trauma: Constructing the Future, Growing from the Past" is going to be held at Melaka-Manipal Medical College, from 2nd - 5th June 2011.

This conference is opened to Malaysian medical students, who study locally or abroad, and also to our friends from other countries. Seats are limited for each university. For students who are studying at Malaysia, you MUST register through your university's SMMAMS Committee or Student Council/Association:

1. Universiti Malaya - Ms. Loo Kar Yee (kyeebloom@hotmail.com), Mr. Melvin Loh (melvinloh@gmail.com)

2. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Mr. Mohd. Lutfi Fadil Lokman (narxiss@yahoo.com)

3. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) - Ms. Jayanthi Selvam (jeqq2005@gmail.com)

4. Penang Medical College (PMC) - Mr. Jeffrey Lee (jeffrey_lhs@yahoo.com)

5. Monash University Malaysia - Ms. Priya Raj (priya-raj@live.com)

6. UNIMAS - Ms. Nurul Shahirah (freaky_angel88@hotmail.com)

7. Universiti Malaysia Sabah - Mr. Yap Wai Leong (danyapwl@gmail.com)

8. International Medical University (IMU) - Mr. Justin Lee(justin88lee@gmail.com)

The following institutions will have to register through their students' association/ council:
- AIMST University, Universiti Sains Malaysia, UiTM, USIM, UIA, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Science. (Kindly also refer to the Directory Tab on the upper right side of this website)

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL STUDENT- you can email our IT director for INDIVIDUAL ONLINE REGISTRATION.

Conference Registration guidelines are available in our official conference website: www.smmams.org/mimsc

Senior medical students are encouraged to register for the conference as this will be benefit for their coming training in the hospital.

Besides, the Scientific Committee is now calling for Abstract Submission. Deadline for abstract submission is 1st May 2011. Candidate will be presenting either in the Oral Presentation or Poster Presentation. Competition will be held for these presentations and prizes will be awarded during the Gala Dinner at Avilion Legacy Hotel Melaka on 4th June 2011.

For further information about the conference (e.g. program, registration, fees, accommodation), please kindly visit our official conference website : www.smmams.org/mimsc

Kindly click the "share" button on the bottom right of this page to share this news on your Facebook. We would really appreciate your effort in being a part of this medical student community of ours. 

Happy Pongal to all my dear friends

Calling for Abstract Submission on 3rd MIMSC 2011 at Historical City Malacca

The SMMAMS's very own medical student conference, the 3rd Malaysian International Medical Student Conference (MIMSC) 2011 is going to be held from 2nd to 5th June 2011, at the Historical City of Malacca.

The 3rd MIMSC 2011 is hosted and organized by Melaka-Manipal Medical College, in collaboration with Society of MMA Medical Students.

The theme for the previous MIMSC was "Gastroenterology and Nutrition". The theme for 3rd MIMSC 2011 will be "Trauma Medicine". Trauma management, which is an essential and important knowledge for all doctors, are seldom emphasized in medical schools. Exposure to Trauma management is limited until you start practicing medicine in the hospital. So, Trauma Medicine has been chosen as the theme for the coming conference, to further expose the students on the recent development and advances in Trauma care.

Registration will be opened soon on January 2011. Details of the conference (e.g. program, registration procedure and payment details) will be sent to your university's SMMAMS representative and Student Council. All registration will be done through the representative and council members via ONLINE. Details will be announced on the coming January 2011.

International students can Register ONLINE via our official website (to be announced later), or you can directly email us on mimsc2011@gmail.com.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCIENTIFIC POSTER AND ORAL PRESENTATION COMPETITION -

CALLING FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION !!!

General Rules for Scientific Presentation:

1. Universities are entitled to send as many as possible participants for the competition. Members may be from any local, private or international medical institution.

2. Members who participate should have registered for the conference as delegates and dully paid the conference fee as we are not charging a seperate participation fee for the competition.

3. There will be 2 separate competitions held - Poster Presentation and Oral Presentation.

4. Participant is only allowed to participate in either ONE presentation, NOT BOTH.

5. All participant will be receiving certificate of participation and prizes are awarded for the top 3 winners each for both poster and oral presentation selected by the panel of judges. Judges' decisions are final.

6. Criteria for selection will be based on the following criteria (subject to changes):

- Relevance of the topic

- Method of Research

- Creativity of the poster design

- Presentation performance during oral rounds.

7. Members should email the abstract to the Scientific Committee, MIMSC 2011 by 1st May 2011. You may call the Scientific Committee for further clarifications.

*Rules and Regulations above are subjected to change.

......................................................................................................................................................................

INSTRUCTION FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:

• All abstract should be submitted in English. Explained abbreviations may be used.
• All authors are required to send their abstracts ONLINE. Please include your details such as your name, contact number, year of study, and your medical institution.
• Any late of inappropriately formatted submission will be rejected.
• Submission must be saved in Microsoft Word document format.
• Email will be sent to selected participants for the competition. Results for selection of your abstract will be notified via email and it will be informed to your head of delegate.
• The deadline for submission of abstract is 1st May 2011. (subject to changes)
• Any abstract received after the dateline will be ONLY considered if the any entries received earlier were unable to participate.

For further clarifications on Scientific Presentation Competition and Abstract Submission, please do not hesitate to contact the following persons:

• Ms. Sheela Josephine - (email: sheelajosephine23@gmail.com) - h/p: 010 2992170

• Mr. S. Naveen Pilai - (email: nguynav@hotmail.com) - 016 9030144

***Details regarding the MIMSC 2011 will be released soon in our official conference website, from January 2011 till June 2011. Make sure you had bookmarked and stay tuned with us !!!

Happy New Year 2011 Everyone!

To Every Malaysian medical students, who is studying locally or studying abroad

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin

Many things had happened in year 2010, let it be happy, sad, angry, disappointment, ups and downs, everything is going to be over in one more day! Let the sad thing go away and welcome to new fresh year 2011.

May the dawning of this New Year, fill your heart with new hopes, open up new horizons and bring for you promises of brighter tomorrows. May you have a great New Year.

Best wishes from,

Justin Lee (SMMAMS President)

and his Committee 2010-2011

A Gift of life in Emergency: An eBook - "Quick Management GUide in Emergency Medicine"

Dear fellow colleagues,

One of our friend, Mr. Chee Yong Chuan from Monash University Malaysia recently send me an email about an eBook on Emergency Medicine, authored by Dr. Lee Say Fat (Consultant Obsterician and Gynaecologist) and Dr. Wong Yin Onn (MUM Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine).

The eBook titled "Quick Management Guide in Emergency Medicine" can be downloaded here. The eBook can be saved into your PDA or handphone for easy and immediate access.

~Knowledge is best gained by sharing!~

Vincent Khor

SMMAMS Webmaster

The Voices of Strength

[SMMAMS Chairman message, in Facebook group : "Voices of our Hearts -Malaysian Medical Students"]

Dear all,

As we can see, through this short ongoing discussion in our Facebook group, there are disparities regarding the approach towards our current issue.

We have thoughts ranging from : "send in a memorandum or call for a press conference" to "isn't it kind of presumptuous of us to send suggestions to solve the problem to mma or moh, as if we know best?".

This is good, as having members who are conservatives and members who are liberals will help steer the direction of our approach to moderation, not to go too conservative, nor too liberal in our approach.

The ultimate goal of SMMAMS, is to be an advocate for medical students in Malaysia. At the same time, we are a part of MMA, and as medical students, we are the apprentice of our doctors, those who had gone before us, and hence, our actions shall not be against what our doctors, our teachers, belief.

In this situation, MMA and SMMAMS are in sync. MMA has articles in the Berita, and has tried to highlight this situation countless of times through annual dinners with some people with power. The SMMAMS EXCO has attended 2 of such dinners.

In our country, the level of support an association has is gauged simply by the number of members that the association has. An association who claims to be THE association for ALL the XYZ in Malaysia, will be challenged by the question "So, how many members do you have in your association?".

It is the same for SMMAMS. There are no university rules that forbid medical students to join the MMA, as far as I know.

In our 2009 student membership report, we have close to 2,000 members. 786 are from Melaka Manipal, and 630 are from Kursk State. This means that 70% of our student members are from just 2 universities. Out of the other 26 medical schools (in 2009), some with 2 intakes per year, others with close to 200 students per intake, we only have 584 members.

Do number of members matter for an association? Yes it does. It is the only solid prove an association has to be claiming what it claims.

SMMAMS claims to be the advocate for medical students, and SMMAMS base its claims on the fact that it is currently the only student medical association whose leadership is open to medical students from all universities. We are currently working on getting SMMAMS introduced to medical schools who have a low number of members inside MMA, as well as working on increasing the number of medical student members we have, which, on paper, will be the representation of the strength of our association.

We cannot achieve our goals and objectives without the help from YOU, which I presume to be have a strong spirit of leadership and activism, for the fact that you were introduced into this Facebook group by someone in the group.

SMMAMS is currently formulating a plan to directly link the core committee, with medical societies or student councils in each university. We need student leader volunteers for this project of ours, which may take up to several months, in view of the hectic schedule a medical student has.

In the mean time, I hope that YOU, encourage your fellow medical students, to have activism towards their future. Include discussions on the current health care situation in our country during your normal lunch / dinner with your friends. These will be our baby steps towards our ultimate goal.

Regards,
Justin Lee
Chairman,
Society of MMA Medical Students

A Future of Too Many Doctors - A Grave Concern for Medical Students

[Source:http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/notes/lutfi-fadil-lokman/a-future-of-too-many-doctors-a-grave-concern-for-medical-students/178889192122594]

This note is partly a message to all medical students, SMMAMS members or not, and partly a reply to Jawing’s note: Too many medical graduates - whose fault is it (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=474619314547&id=756058326) which I think is very sincere and brilliant. We are all in the same situation. I believe we have the same concerns about our future. I guess all of you have been aware of the issue now. For those who are not, you can read the front story of the STAR on November 27th: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F11%2F27%2Fnation%2F7509809&sec=nation

Many have proposed that we gather all the medical student representatives in our country in an open discussion. It was such a disappointment that we (SMMAMS) actually thought out that exact idea during our last meeting, but in the end we never got the idea across to MMA anyway. I guess ideas are ideas. Anyone can come up with great ideas on a long drive home, but little come out of their cars and actually do something about it.

I don’t usually fall to the noose of pessimism, but let’s start with a reality check. Not to dampen down our spirits, no, not at all. But at least to know what we are dealing with. So let’s face it: It would be a tough ride for us, medical students to change the policy of the government regarding the issue of ‘too much medical graduates’. If you have been reading Berita MMA, MMA’s stance towards this issue is clear. As written in one of the issues, they have ‘grave’ concerns over this matter. The current President, Dr. David Quek clearly states that that the government is producing ‘too much, too fast and too soon’. Berita MMA is the voice of MMA. Obviously it has the momentum to at least catch the attention of policy makers. Someone in the MMA must have at least talked about this issue to the policy makers. But why are they (the policy makers) not listening?

Now that’s the MMA. Now let’s get our attention to another organization, or more appropriately, council, which should have more influence than the MMA: The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC). Someone I know very well is in the Malaysian Medical Council. From my talks with him, MMC has been concerned over this issue for a long, long time. The have predicted that this would happen (Duh, what’s too predict anyway? It’s so easy to see that the way things are going, we’re producing doctors like clone armies in Star Wars. At least clone armies just have to learn how to shoot, not to SAVE LIVES). Surely someone in the MMC is involved with the Ministry of Health, or Ministry of Higher Education. But why have not things changed?


I would like to quote from Jawing’s note:

“Even then, the problem persists. Who is to blame? Why are there not enough groups and individuals giving the government the proper advice?”

I’m sorry but there are enough groups and individuals giving the government proper advice. Not just any groups, but the 2 MOST prominent groups in Malaysia when it comes to healthcare. Still, they are not listening, and nothing has changed.



So why are they not listening?

That’s the question we want to answer. If we were to start out on a campaign that’s the question we must first answer. Before starting on a campaign, we must first seek a strategy that works. A good start is by abandoning strategies that DOESN’T work. As we have seen, using the name of MMA or MMC, getting their influence won’t work. They have been trying, and yet failed. We must be presented as MEDICAL STUDENTS OF ALL MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA. The strength of SMMAMS is not in it's affiliation with the MMA, its strength lies in its ability to represent all medical students of Malaysia. But for now, we don't really have that strength. We still need support from many more medical schools that have not affiliated with SMMAMS

SMMAMS needs to represent all medical students of Malaysia if we were to embark on a journey of change. Getting more support from medical student bodies will help us gain momentum. How do we go about it? Gathering of medical student leaders? Create groups? Spread newsletters? Direct talks? That’s what we need to discuss. We can discuss in the SMMAMS FB (http://www.facebook.com/mma.medicalstudents ) or the group Voices of Our Heart (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_172952779395318 ). We need to know our direction. I can’t give you the idea of solving this problem, my idea is from a single mind. But with the gathering of all your creative minds, I believe we will come to a solution. Everything starts with ideas. The gathering of ideas, when fully formed, fully understood, will show us the path we should head to. It doesn’t matter if you are a leader of your medical school’s student organization or you’re without a title, come join in our discussion. Let’s make a change. We may just be medical students in white coats, but with our efforts together, we will be sharper than the scalpel knife. We can stop this disaster and start saving lives.


Mohd Lutfi Fadil bin Lokman
Vice Chairman, SMMAMS

Too many medical graduates, whose fault is it?

[Source:http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/notes/jawing-chunggat/too-many-medical-graduates-whose-fault-is-it/474619314547 ]

''PETALING JAYA: The number of medical housemen undergoing clinical training in most government hospitals has increased and this has given rise to concern that they may not get sufficient experience.

With new medical schools opening up locally and lower fees being offered at new institutions abroad, around 4,000 Malaysian medical students are expected to graduate annually from 350 universities all over the world in the coming years.

Senior Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) consultant physician Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran said each specialist was supervising four times as many housemen compared to a decade ago.

“Five years ago, one houseman looked after 10 patients in hospital wards at any one time but now it is one to four patients,” said Dr Jeyaindran, who is HKL department of medicine head and national head for medicine at the Health Ministry.

“The concern is that these interns are seeing fewer patients and hence, have fewer opportunities to carry out adequate procedures. In some hospitals, there are more housemen than patients.”'' -THE STAR

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F11%2F27%2Fnation%2F7509809&sec=nation

This issue has been alarming the medical profession in the recent years now and the realisation towards its potential damage towards medical graduates in the future has slowly gained traction.

By now, many of us has understood that this is a crisis. Medical students, Housemans, Medical Officers, Specialists, Medical Practitioners, and the Health Ministry are all aware that this may come as a problem in the future. Thousands of medical graduates are produced each year, and the number is exponentially increasing. The domino effect of which will lead to a decline in the quality of future doctors due to insufficient training. All this has been established from various newspaper reports, articles and blogs.

However, the bigger issue is - who is at fault and what are we doing to mitigate this potential disaster?

The Health Ministry apparently is aware of the problem and are still approving more and more medical schools to be set up in Malaysia, the recent one would be the Perdana University. Read here-->

http://nst.com.my/nst/articles/JohnHopkins_RCSItohelpmedicaluniversity/Article

And the Government has also resorted to an attempt to mitigate the lack of specialists to train the large hoarde of freshly graduated doctors by employing more foreign medical officers. Read here-->

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F11%2F21%2Fnation%2F20101121142351&sec=nation

So we can see that despite acknowledging the issue, the government persists on producing more medical graduates per year without taking into account whether this might jeopardise the quality and standard of care that a medical doctor can provide for our fellow rakyat.

Even then, the problem persists. Who is to blame? Why are there not enough groups and individuals giving the goverment the proper advice?

Society of Malaysian Medical Association Medical Students (SMMAMS) seem to think that it is the medical student's fault for being ignorant and apathetic,

'What do Malaysian medical students feel about this issue? Are you worried? If yes, are you trying or thinking to do something? Or simply post link in Facebook and complain over Facebook? Many of us are still in the delusion that medical doctors are guaranteed a job in the MOH hospital once we graduate. Yes, the guarantee might still apply for graduates till 2015, but this might not apply for graduates after 2015,''

http://mma-medicalstudents.blogspot.com/2010/11/housemen-glut-in-malaysia-when-quantity.html

As a medical student, allow me to respond to SMMAMS and allow me to speak on behalf of all other medical students in Malaysia that echoes my views.

I believe SMMAMS represent the medical student body of the entire nation, or at least that is what they claim to be. If this is the case, then how is it possible that the student body responsible of being the voice of the medical students nationwide, pointing fingers at the students for being ignorant of this problem?

It has been evident in various newspaper reports and articles that the overflow of medical graduates will cause a problem. The medical students already know this and they understand the problem. Thus, why is it that SMMAMS not issuing an official statement to admit that they recognise the problem and subsequently forwarding suggestions to the Ministry of Health on what measures can be taken to counter this possible crisis?

What is the role of SMMAMS in this entire charade?

I implore SMMAMS to take the appropriate steps to improve on this issue and perhaps stop pointing fingers. The power is with SMMAMS. An individual medical student like myself cannot change the system. However an organisation like SMMAMS, a student body and sister affiliate to Malaysian Medical Association(MMA), can. SMMAMS is the collective voice of medical students nationwide. The power is with them, and many of us believe that SMMAMS must speak up!!! We support you and the ball is now in your court.

Jawing Ak. Chunggat
4th Year Medical Student