Of Hopes and Dreams

January-April 2016

Many events have transpired, collectively paving the way for my dreams (of becoming a doctor) to become a reality. As my father rather aptly puts it, "the skies are clearing, and the land beneath you is coming to sight".

Firstly, I managed to obtain 3A*1A for the CIE A-Levels exams. This meant I had definitely met the minimum requirements to study medicine (BBB) as set by the Malaysian Medical Council.

Secondly, I was attracted to the medical programme offered by Penang Medical College. It is a 5-year twinning programme, the first 2.5 years preclinical studies to be done in either the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) or University College Dublin (UCD), and the next 2.5 years clinical training back here in Penang Medical College (PMC). I applied online using my A-Levels results and was delighted to be called for the admissions interview on the 29th of April.

29th April 2016

My interview at PMC was scheduled for 2:00 p.m.. We took a bus to Butterworth in the morning, before boarding a ferry to Penang. After a simple lunch at Komtar, we proceeded to grab a taxi to Penang Medical College. Due to traffic congestion, we barely reached in time for my appointment.

Before I knew it, I was ushered into the interview room. No time to panic now, I thought.

My interview lasted half an hour. The interviewer was Head of Department, Obstetrics & Gynecology at PMC, Professor Knox Ritchie. He asked me questions ranging from my personal reasons for choosing medicine, to posing ethical scenarios for me to answer, in my capacity as a future doctor. We even found some time to talk about Rachmaninov's 3rd, the late Muhammad Ali and badminton. Such diversity made the interview feel very informal, and it certainly made me feel very comfortable opening up.

Before I knew it, it was all over. My dad took some snaps of the administrative building, and we were off. He promised to take my grandpa and I for a treat, so after much walking and complaining (as usual) we reached "The Safe Room", famous for its nitrogen ice cream. After such a mentally and physically draining escapade, I could not think of a better way to end the day.

The Safe Room, famous for their nitrogen ice cream

We took the bus home shortly after and reached Ipoh (my hometown) late at night.

It was with great elation that I checked my email a couple of weeks later, to be cordially greeted by a letter of congratulations for gaining admission into PMC's medical programme!

May 2016

Now the real work began. Looking through their website, I was aware of the RCSI-UCD Scholarships, which covered full tuition fees for the entire 5 years medical programme. With nothing to lose, and everything to gain, I applied for it and kept my fingers crossed.

To apply, I had to submit two scholarship essays, along with a CV and two testimonials. The weeks passed as I waited with baited breath for the outcome of my scholarship application.

June 2016

Somewhere in June, I received an email asking me to confirm my attendance for the scholarship interview to be held on the 24th of the month. I was ecstatic! All my hard work thus far had paid off, and I had one final hurdle to cross, before bliss...

Then came the days leading up to the interview. Every night, I (and sometimes, my dad) would rehearse interview questions and answer them as succinctly and precisely as I could. Each night, I would go to sleep in anticipation of the big day to come.

The interview would be held early in the morning, so my family and I had to take a bus there the night before and stay overnight. On the day itself, I was ready, all decked out in my suit and tie outfit. After a final practice, we set off for PMC once more.

Back once again to PMC

For the scholarship interview, there were three interviewers instead of one. Vice President for Academic Affairs PMC, Professor Kevin B. Nolan, as well as a representative each from RCSI and UCD, who traveled all the way from Ireland just to interview me. No pressure then...

My interview was rather brief; it lasted barely 20 minutes. Thoughts began to fill my mind, "Had I done enough?" "Did I say something wrong?" "Perhaps I spoke too fast and they had trouble understanding me?"

My parents did their best to comfort me. But this inner voice would constantly plague me until that faithful day.

July 2016

That faithful afternoon, I was busy taking a nap when I was rudely awakened by my dad. Before I could utter anything, he whispered "PMC", thrust my phone into my hands and asked me to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi. I'm calling from Penang Medical College and I just wanted to say "Congratulations! You have been awarded the full scholarsh... ""

Before she could finish her sentence, my heart leapt with joy and my whole body just went limp, overcome with emotion. My dad read my facial expressions and probably understood everything then and there. It was all I could do but to hastily voice out a "Thank you" before my dad shook my hand heartily, saying congratulations.

A few minutes later, an email sent by PMC confirmed that I was not dreaming (as I honestly thought I was) and I could finally say my long wait was over.

It has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me for the past nine months, since sitting for the last A-Levels paper on November 6th last year. So many months spent reading books on anatomy, reading medical journals on the latest breakthroughs in medical science, making my very own anatomical drawings to aid my understanding of the human body and its intricacies; all of this has not been in vain.

I am going to Dublin, Ireland to study medicine, and I will be leaving very soon, on the 1st of September.

Stay tuned...