Frustration of a Malaysian Student ....

Subject: FW: Graduates from Russia (must read)

When gov't scholarships are mismanaged

Weasley May 26, 09 4:24pm

I am a medical student from Russia as well. Best part is, I or ratherwe, did not choose to come here. We are all scholars sent here by eitherJPA or MARA.

If you were to Google "Moscow Medical Academy" it is ranked by UNESCO asthe second best medical university in the world.. Do not be fooled bythis because I was one who was fooled as well. Only after I landed inMoscow did I know that the "2nd best in the world" is specificallygranted to the Russian medium of this medical school.

We, Malaysians, are doing the English medium and I must say it's anutter shame that the government actually spent millions of tax payersmoney to send us all here to study medicine. The teaching facilities ormethods of the English medium here is way below par, way below that of athird world country even. Some classrooms here even resemble the ones wehave in our 'kampungs' in rural areas such as those in Sabah and Sarawak(thank you so much for sending us here all the way to Moscow toexperience this!).

For your information, this so-called Moscow Medical Academy does noteven have a campus to begin with. Classes are scattered all over Moscow.We students are forced to travel everyday via Metro, or by foot, or busto attend classes. Also, there are times when we would have travelled sofar to attend classes, and upon arrival at school, only to be told that classes are cancelled.

The Malaysian government could have spent the money more wisely toeducate us in Malaysia, Singapore or India. We get paid almost USD700per month, which I believe is a huge amount of taxpayers money.However, I doubt we will bring back much knowledge to be able to helpthe patients back home.While there are some of us who save and spend the money wisely due tothe high cost of living here, there are a huge majority of private andsponsored students who come here just to enjoy. Frequent parties,weekend getaways, world tours, and shopping sprees are common amongstudents here.

The lifestyle of many Malaysians change tremendously once they camehere. They behave even worse than the "Mat Sallehs" here.. Malaysiangirls here, for instance, would walk around ever so skimpily leavingnothing to the imagination (even during winter!).

Whatever happened to the Malaysian culture? Many here have even losttheir virginity at the tender age of 18 or 19 simply because a guy orgirl can walk in ever so easily into the rooms of the opposite sex.Many Malaysian medical students behave as though they have no selfdignity. However, they potray the best behaviour once they land inMalaysia as though they are the best Malaysian angels. Sadly, we allknow their true colours when they are here in Moscow. Hypocrites!

These Malaysians are surely to be huge dissapointments to their familiesas well to the nation. Exams and studies are the least priority for themany who are here. I wonder why did some people choose to study medicinein the very first place.

Let me also give u an insight of the education system here. You want toknow why the majority of Russian grads are so incompetent and useless?Well, first and foremost, we can get away with cheating ever so easilyduring exams. You may ask how.

Many students here aren't bothered about being honest for themselves.Many just merely do the bare minimum of studying and copied theirfriend's answers or directly from the books during the exams. Thesestudents fail to realise that they are only cheating themselves. The onewho helps with the cheating is also going to lose out in the end oncehe/she is out of medic school and into the work world.

Another method which works really well for the girls is simply to shedsome crocodile tears during exams and instantly the lecturer would granther a mere pass. How is this fair to students like me who slog day andnight, mugging and studying extremely hard with the simple intention ofgraduating as a competent doctor?

After all, these cheaters would be graduating with a MD certificate andwould turn out to be the bad apples in the healthcare system inMalaysia. Thus, leading senior doctors to generalise and say that allRussian grads are incompetent. Does anyone have any idea how frustratingthis is?

Many students who sit for exams earlier would simply snap a photo of thedifferent sets of questions and answers to be distributed to the rest ofthe students who have yet to sit for their exams.

How is this helping anyone? Can you even call this an exam? Does it fitthe definition of an exam? So, can you imagine what kind of doctorswe're producing here? A bunch of cheaters, liars, and irresponsiblefuture doctors!

No wonder countries like the UK refuse to accept Russian medical gradsfor their postgraduate courses. Simply because we have never even satfor a proper exam per say throughout our six years of study here.

Look at the UK universities/colleges. Do they even allow any student oftheirs to bring in PDAs, camera handphones, bags, and books into theexam venue? Do they allow any exam candidate to communicate with anothercandidate once the question paper has been distributed? Do students knowthe exact questions and answers prior to the exams? Hell no! These onlyhappen in Russia.

So, wake up people.To those of you who are planning to send your offsprings to Russia for amedical degree, please, I'm begging you, think again. You're not onlygoing to lose your money, but also perhaps the good name and dignity ofyour family.

This is merely an opinion of mine and not directed to insult, degrade orhumiliate anyone. I believe there is nothing wrong in sharing myopinion.