Free Medical Journals

Dear colleagues,

One of our colleague is looking for Free Journal on Internal Medicine. Here are some of online sites which provide FREE journals on different specialties:

1. BioMed Central - recommended
2. Annals of Internal Medicine
3. Medscape

Knowledge is best gained by sharing. If you have any good journal to be recommended, please kindly share with us. We really appreciate that. Thank you.

SMMAMS

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

"I Run for Life" a meaningful and inspiring video for those touched by Breast malignancy. Stay strong, survive and live a quality life.

Evidence Based Complementary Medicine

Dear Medical Students,

In the recent Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey, it shows that around 40% of Malaysians will seek traditional or complementary medicine before seeking you, a practitioner of Allopathic (western) medicine. This means almost 4 out of 10 patients that you encounter in your future practice may be a believer of complementary medicine.

SMMAMS is dedicated to making you a better doctor. We are sponsoring 10 medical students (worth RM100 per seat) for a Seminar of Evidence Based Complementary Medicine, on the 30th of October, in Vistana Hotel, KL. Lunch provided.

In this Seminar, you will gain exposure on complementary medicine in Malaysia, as well as know which Complementary Medicines are Evidence Based, as patients may ask your opinion on complementary medicine.

Date : 30.10.10

Time : 8.30am to 4.30pm

Venue : Vistana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Criteria : MMA Medical Student members (if you are not a member, you can sign up now)

If you are interested to join, please email to president.smmams@gmail.com your details :

1) Name

2) IC Number

3) University

4) Year of study

5) HP number and email address.

Here are the uploaded flyers for the Seminar. Unfortunately, we were unable to upload a version with colours.

AHA New CPR Guidelines 2010- a change from ABC to CAB

The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently published the new CPR Guidelines 2010 on October 2010. A change from A-B-C to C-A-B (Compression, Airway and Breathing), which make CPR easier for public and save more life.

Fore more information, please visit American Heart Association (AHA) website.

SMMAMS T-shirt Design Contest

The Society of MMA Medical Students (SMMAMS) is looking for a brand new design for our official t-shirt. If you are talented in design and wish that all Malaysian medical students to wear your design, please do not wait anymore. Open your Adobe or drawing programs, start designing and send your creative product to us.

Click at our Facebook Event Page.

FAQ :
1) Is there a limit to the number of T-shirt designs that one person/university can submit?
Each person/ individual can send as many entries as possible to us. We are looking forward to receive your creative design. 


2) For the colours of the t-shirt: are there any specified blue for it? (e.g. light blue, dark blue, marine blue, etc.)
For the colour of the T-Shirt, the BLUE is NOT specified. You can select any blue from the whole range of blue.


3) Is the type of shirt fixed as in like round neck, no collar, short sleeve?
The T-shirt design will be printed out on a Polo type T-Shirt.


4) How about the T-shirt design template?
You can create your own template, or you can choose to use our ready made template :

INTERVARSITY SPORTS MEDIC 2010 - Gathered almost 300 medical students at UPM

On the 26th September 2010 (Sunday), at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), the very first INTERVARSITY SPORTS MEDIC 2010 organized by Putra Medic Club (UPM) in collaboration with SMMAMS, was successfully organized, which had gather almost 300 medial students from all over Malaysia, including USM team who travelled far from Kelantan, to participate in this event.

The participating universities and medical colleges include: International Medical University (IMU), Melaka-Manipal Medical College (MMMC), Monash University Malaysia, AIMST University, Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), UIAM and the host, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

Good job UPM organizing committee! Thank you for all participating medical schools for their support towards this event. We sincerely hope that you will keep supporting SMMAMS activities and movements. We were so sorry for any inconvenience and misunderstandings that have occured during the event. We are looking forward to see you again in the next year Sports Medic 2011 and here we promise you that there will be more games in the coming sports medic. See you!

2nd Annual Health Conference by USIM

25 - 26 February 2011 at Renaissance Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

This conference is organized by Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), in collaboration with Federal of Complementary and Natural Medical Association. Students who are interested in traditional and complementary medicine are encouraged to attend.

Undergraduate Student - RM 300

Please click here for more information and registration. Thank you.

Oxford University Press - Research Into Medical Resources

Oxford University Press (OUP) medical book team, which produce key texts like Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine for undergraduate and postgraduate, approaches us to help them to conduct a small survey for all medical students in Malaysia.

They are currently attempting to increase their base of contacts for editorial research. Periodically, OUP undertakes research that aims to refine or improve the resources that they provide.

Please kindly take 5 minutes of your time, click the link and complete the survey.

FOR JUNIOR DOCTORS: They are looking for junior doctors to be the new junior author for the Ninth Edition (9th) Oxford Handbook of clinical medicine. Deadline for application is 15th October 2010. Please click here for futher details.

"Malaysia Med School Hyperplasia Syndrome"

"MBBS = Manatau Begitu Banyak School" - quoted by a 4th year medical student.

"MBBS in University XXX; Accreditation from Malaysian Medical Council, MQA, Ministry of Higher Education...; with highest quality of education in undergraduate, postgraduate, continuing medical education, required credits and B4 in SPM and A Levels Equivalent; ONLY RM100k for 5 years course...."

Guess what? I have came across 3 advertisements in local newspaper, especially NST, about the new intakes on October by the newly budding medical schools in Malaysia, IN JUST ONE MONTH ONLY!

They are the follow:

1. Masterskill University College - Sri Alam Campus, Johor,

Pre-clinical in Malaysia and Clinical in India. [Click here to read].

2. SEGi University College - First intake on October 2010.
[Click here to read]

3. Kolej Insaniah, Kedah - Kulliyah of Medicine - First 2 years pre-clinical in Malaysia and 3 years clinical at Yemen (I read this advertisement in NST today)
[Click here to read]

"The aim of the faculty of medicine is to produce quality doctors to meet the increasing demands for more doctor in Malaysia...." - this is a typical message the new dean will speak to the media. Do they see what is the situation now in Malaysia? According to Healthfact 2009 produced by MOH, the doctor:population ratio is 1:927, which is very near to the 1:600 optimum by WHO. With more than 4000 Housemen flowed into the market this year, the ratio will be changing again, more doctors to a single population.

I was posted to one of the district hospital this few days. What I can see is the building is very nice and hospital is well equipped. However, there are not much patients. MOH is going to send HOs to these hospitals for housemanship. This will seriously compromise the quality of housemanship training, and after all, they are given the license to kill.

All the current Nursing College will provide MBBS course. It is just a matter of time where you will see MBBS holders working at the petrol stations? Or like some UM professor always says, be a taxi driver.

Who should regulates the license to start a medical program? As far as I am concerned, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) is the one who issues license for a college/ university to operate MBBS program. They will be inspected in quality by MQA and finally when the first batch graduates, they will be assessed by Malaysian Medical Council (MMC). The point is, is MOHE in a suitable position to issue the license to operate medical program? Or this authority lies independently in the hand of Medical Council or may be Ministry of Health?

Any more medical schools going to bud out next??? Is your situation being threatened? What do you think about the "med school hyperplasia syndrome"? Where do you stand in your future?

This is now a very serious "malignancy" which is metastasizing to more chronic stage. Are we just going to sit down, and wait for the time to "certify" - when doctors in Malaysia are no longer trusted by the people due to poor qualities? We need your voice; your opinions; your suggestions on how we should act?

You are welcome to write in articles about this issues and email to us. [smmams1011@gmail.com] - when sending your email, please kindly include some personal information.

Opinions by,

SMMAMS Webmaster

Updates on Sports Medic 2010 - Part 1

How To Reach UPM?

1) KTM Train - From KL Sentral, take KTM Serdang then Repid KL U42, and Sri Indah Bus from there will go Putrajaya. and you have to go to Hospital Serdang, our faculty is just beside the hospital.

[updates from Ms. Jayanthi. Please contact her in case you are lost]

During the day of event:

View Larger Map

Registration:

• begins around 7am to 8.30am at K17 court
• Breakfast will be given during the registration.

Games:

• After registration, you will be moved to the sports venue.
• UniRep will have to draw lots
• Futsal and Basketball compete in group style like FIFA.
• Badminton will be knock out.
• You have to prepare your own badminton racket
• Please kindly wear sports wear/ jersey which represent your medical school.
• Referee consists of student council members from UPM.
• More detailed rules and regulations will be provided soon. Stay tuned with us.

Food: Lunch and tea will be provided to all registered participants.

*More updates coming up soon. Please stay tuned with us. Thank you.

Updated by,

Ms. Jayanthi, UPM

REMINDER FOR SPORTS MEDIC 2010

Dear participants and supporters of Sports Medic 2010,

I would hereby like to remind you and your team members that:

1. Please kindly wear identifiable sports wear during the games, which are unique to your college/university, preferably with names or logo.

2. For Badminton teams, you are to bring your own badminton rackets.

This is for now temporary. We will update you the full details and full list of registers confirmation by the coming Tuesday. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us or directly contact Mr. Ravi or Ms. Jayanthi.

ALL MEDICAL STUDENTS, FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, TO EAST MALAYSIA, FROM YEAR 1 TO FINAL YEAR, ARE WELCOME to JOIN US!!!

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

TO ALL MUSLIM FRIENDS LOCALLY AND OVERSEA,

SINCERE GREETINGS FROM SMMAMS COMMITTEE

What the future is like for us medical students? Quantity Over Quality?

Article By SMMAMS Chairman, Mr. Justin Lee

Take a moment, to make a few guesses.

1. How many medical schools we have in Malaysia?
2. From 2006 to 2009, the number of house officers in Malaysia increase by how many percents?

I am sure you have been hearing people saying "overcrowding of doctors", "lack of training opportunities" etc. I am also sure that there was a moment before when you read the newspaper and saw articles on college or universities setting up new medical courses, you, just like me, saying something like "not another one!". I also get worried when I read the ads on the papers advertising something that goes like "Fully English Medical Course in University XYZ, only require SPM CCC, less than 100k. Become Doctors Now!"

It is good to have more doctors serving Malaysia. Our country can do well with more doctors serving the Rakyat in government sector. However, rush to fulfill this goal may not be a good idea.

In 2006, 978 doctors entered housemanship training.

In 2009, 3150 doctors entered housemanship training.

This year, with more than 3650 HO thus far.

Look at how drastic the increase within 3 years! Which year are you graduating? How many doctors do you think will enter housemanship training the year you graduate? Experts have foreseen that by 2015 our country will have oversupply of doctors in the healthcare system,. This mass production of medical graduates would already quickly reach a doctor-patient ratio of 1:597, what the WHO has touted as optimum. The MMA is seriously concerned as to the likely glut, which will swamp the medical profession in the very near future.

There are currently 28 medical schools operating in Malaysia, with 37 medical programs, producing more than 2000 medical graduates a year LOCALLY, and this number will be increasing yearly, with the mushrooming establishment of new medical schools here and there! Another 2000 medical graduates return yearly from oversea medical schools.

Do you think there is a parellel increase in the housemanship training centre and adequate number of qualified experienced trainers? Many people are concerned that in the coming years, the competency and experience of a fully registered doctor in Malaysia may become critically flawed, and this pose risks to the quality of healthcare delivery in Malaysia. This pose risk to the patients we sworn not to harm.

Anyone of you ever wonder, you or me might be unemployed and have to beg for job when there is oversupply of doctors?

Clinical medicine is always learned in an appreticeship model. The apprentice follows and learns from his/ her teacher. Medicine is an art passed down from generation to generation. To think that MO who in charge of me when I start housemanship may not be genuinely interested in Medicine, scored a C C C in his SPM and was put through medical school only because his parents want him to do medicine, is kind of scary actually.

Nobody will stand up for the medical profession besides us, the medical professional. Currently, MMA is in the movement towards the regulations of the number of medical graduates. If you are concerned about the welfare and future of us, future doctors in Malaysia, then we will have to stand together, sail together in one ship.

What can you do now, as a medical student? Sign up as a MMA Student Member (SMMAMS). Give MMA the ability to strongly say that MMA represents you, the medical students, future doctors in Malaysia. An association, be it medical association or workers' association, can only stand strong for his profession if more people show their support for it, reflected by the number of members we have.

Bersatu teguh! Bercerai Roboh!

What will be the future of us? Malaysian doctors? Malaysia Health Care System?

QUANTITY OVER QUALITY?

Online Registration for Sports Medic 2010

Dear all colleagues,

You can now Online Register for the Intervarsity Sports Medic 2010 with us by click here.

Or if you found any difficulties in the online registration, just send us your details. After the online registration, we will direct you to your respective school's student representatives. Thank you so much.

If you found difficulties in online registration, just fill in the following:

1. State your corresponding email which we can reach you.

2. Subject: INTERVARSITY SPORTS MEDIC 2010

3. Please state the following: 

(a) Your name and your team mates' name if possible

(b) University/ college name

(c) Sports category which you are interested e.g. Badminton Double, Futsal etc.

(all your details will be sent to president.smmams@gmail.com)

Happy 53rd MERDEKA Day

To all Malaysians, Happy 53rd Independence Day!!! May our beloved country will continue to move forward to be a developed country and that all of us living peacefully and happily on our motherland.

Greetings from SMMAMS Committee

Site Upgrading

We are so sorry for the inconvenience caused. We are upgrading our site and if you found any problems with the online sports registration, please do drop us some comments. Yours comments and contributions are highly appreciated. Thanks!

Warmest regards,
SMMAMS

INTERVARSITY SPORTS MEDIC 2010 - Thinking of a Good & Meaningful Weekend?

DETAILS OF THE GAMES:

1. FUTSAL

• 8 persons per team
• Category (a) MALE (b) FEMALE
• Registration Fee : RM12 per person
  
  
  2. BASKETBALL
  
  8 persons per team
  
  Category: (a) MALE
  
  Registration Fee: RM 12 per person
  

(3) BADMINTON

• Groups : (a) Single (b) Double,
  
• Category : (i) MALE (ii) FEMALE
  
• Registration Fee : RM20 per person

Registrations are opened to all Malaysian medical students (SMMAMS / Non-SMMAMS member). Forms and official letter have been sent to your respective university's dean office and Student Representative Council.

Please register online with us and we will direct your university representative to you. Or if you have problems with the online registration, you can always email president.smmams@gmail.com on the games you want to participate. You should include the details like: 1) Name (please specify Mr/ Ms); 2) University and 3) Futsal/ Basketball/ Badminton (single/double)

To all student representatives / student bodies, if your school has not receive our invitation letter and registration form, please do not hesitate to contact the following person:

(a) Ms. Jayanthi Selvam - 012-2946077 (jeqq2005@gmail.com)

(b) Mr. Ravi - 017-7962634 (ravi_devilz@hotmail.com)

As some colleagues had asked "why only 3 games?". Well, this is the first time we are organizing such event and we hope to start good in a smaller scale. Maybe in the coming year, we will include other games like Bowling, Swimming, Chess, Table Tennis, Squash etc. Let us just come and participate in the above games. Winning is not the most important matter. You will have the great opportunity to make new friends and new networks here. Just come for fun!

Please feel free and do not hesitate to drop us your feedbacks and comments. We will be grateful to hear from you! Hope to see you soon here!

p/s : You can do SMMAMS a kind favour by clicking on the tiny facebook icon about 1 cm below this post. :)

Health Care Workers Equipments and Dress Code- A potential source of nosocomial infection

A colleague from UKM approached me, to do an interesting survey on medical students' dress code and its relationship with nosocomial infections.

Have you ever wonder that you might be a source of serious infections within the hospital settings? The lab coat you are wearing everyday, then you carry it back to your hostel or into the lecture theatre and so on. The stethoscope you use everyday to auscultate chestsssss of different patients, do you clean it before you proceed to next examination??

Please participate in our poll on the right side of the website, just take your time and choose the answer. Let see what is going on everyday around us!!

Thanks to Mr. Levin from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for his inputs and ideas. Thanks to all visitors and medical students who spend their precious time reading our blog and answering the poll.

July & August 2010 Polls Result

We had done online polls and surveys from July 2010 to August 2010 regarding the incoming 3rd Malaysian International Medical Students Conference (MIMSC).