Sunday, March 29, 2009

Education For The Illiterate And Enlightenment For The Uncivilised


A short rebuttal before my planned hiatus.

Wow, I never thought that my two truthful encounters with the Russia graduates would ignite such fiery responses and emotionally-charged hate mails.

It appears that the literacy rate among Malaysians is not as impressive as we thought, huh?

Now, way back in 2005, I wrote a lenghty article to the mainstream media and Malaysiakini lambasting the Malaysian Medical Council for abruptly derecognizing CSMU and consequently leaving the students (and parents) in limbo.

My salient points back then were plain and clear – our local medical graduates are not superior to the CSMU students and in fact clearly lacking in many aspects.

Therefore, those who only started reading this blog in the last one week would do well to search through the archive of articles in Malaysiakini for the year 2005 before accusing me of attaching a negative stigma on graduates from CSMU and Russia.

Four years have passed since the CSMU controversy in 2005 and now we are having the graduates put through the baptism of fire i.e housemanship.

The current batch of house officers is in their third month of housemanship.

They outnumber the local graduates in a ratio of 3:1. There are probably around 35 house officers from Ukraine and Russian universities. I am not sure of the exact figure because I am obviously not in charge of administration.

Have I met all of them? Obviously not.

Nevertheless, the chatter among the clinicians is similar – most of these medical graduates are lacking in competency and fall short of their minimal expectations.

Do note my persistent usage of the term ‘most’ and not ‘all’.

Also note my first post stating very clearly that the students / graduates themselves are not to be faulted.

Regardless, if I were a CSMU or Russian student / graduate, I will look at these criticisms not as insults but as a challenge to disprove the critics.

Thus far, the only one who responded in such a manner is him.

Essentially, I am speaking for myself to hear.

With all the doubts over the competency of local graduates, the onus is on the local graduates to prove themselves worthy of the degree conferred upon them, and this is not limited to a medical qualification.

In their unchecked anger and uncontrolled emotions, the illiterate and uncivilized have hurled very colorful verbal abuses upon me without realizing that these are acts that only serve to embarrass oneself.

I shall not stoop to your level and participate in your exercise in vanity.

Instead I shall rest tonight knowing that this blog has truly served its purpose – to expose that which is presumably wrong and await the ripple effect to other sites like the much acclaimed Malaysian Medical Resources.

May I be excused now if you don’t mind - my avocadoes are waiting for me in the blender.

Till we meet again.

You can continue cursing me now.

Signed,
POTS.

P/S: Dear Ken Lui, I have removed your name from the alleged impostor. The posting remains for the purpose of discussion. My humble apologies.

22 comments:

min said...

bravo! u finally ended the war...

kEn said...

Thanks for clearing my name. Deeply appreciated!

I've checked back your post which the imposter commented to using my name but my name is still there ( newly circumcised ken yi ) perhaps you could look into that?

Thanks again!

Product of the System said...

Ken, I'll removed the comment altogether.

Cos' i can't edit the name.

Btw, yours is a great blog with beautiful photos.

Product of the System said...

Min,

There was no war or ever meant to be one.

I can't help if some poor souls like to curse families and ancestry and anything apart from the issue at hand.

kEn said...

Thanks again POTS!

I applaud your actions to end all these unwanted incidents!

min said...

haha...great one!

Anonymous said...

Since its from an imposter, its not eligible for discussion already,ithink you should remove it.

plus the MMA student's complains are clearly immature, ugly classrooms, no campus have to travel to class (students in Cambridge walks and cycles as well) , students berpakaian sexy?, he/she just sound like an emo,ungrateful MARA/JPA pampered kid throwing tantrums due to inability to adapt.

your act of posting up these comments of irresponsible bloggers are also an act of violating the freedom of speech on the blogsphere . What is there to be listen from if that medical student cant even walk a little in pursue for his/her medical education?

by doing this, you are actually jeopardizing future of those who really care about their career. you may have created an assumption for many that ALL russian graduates sucks, even though u have said its just MOST.

because as u have said some readers might be illiterate or uncivilized

i am not ken yi said...

hear hear!!

lets study more!!

pots ,they were not mad at you (csmu students) me included ,they were mad at that scaredy cat only.hehe.

p/s: i think i m in love with your blog now.

Seiken said...

I wish you wouldn't go on a hiatus. Looking forward to your return in blogging very soon.

You have done well. Screw those noisy "anonymous" naysayers. As one of the forumers in Lowyat.net (yes, POTS, you are a topic of discussion there!) puts it:

"POTS is a breath of fresh air, a feisty critic; not only in the flawed healthcare system of M'sia but also the murky world of politics"

When I follow your posts, sometimes I do fear that I'll end up as one of those incompetent House Officers. Your blog will really serve as a reminder of the importance of being competent.

Thank you for enlightening us.

soon to graduate mbbs student said...

hey, i find your blog really inspiring!! despite the fact that many people are against my plan of applying as a H.O. in sabah, i thnk my resolution got stronger after reading many of your posts.. i hope that i'll be able to be a competent and safe doctor once i graduate and save people... in case we do cross paths later, i do hope for your kind guidance...

NoName said...

Your speech is your freedom, it shouldn't implicate any victims. Plus, I see no reason for you to do this as right from the start we are very civilized readers with no vulgarities inside our comments. We were just making what is within our right to clarify things.

I have no idea what was in your mind when you 1st posted the comment of imposter. I don't think you can't differentiate between what is good or bad.

If the one who gave you all the comment about those Russia and Ukraine Uni was using his own identity, I would say that this is really a praisable act. But he is an imposter, all I can think of is that he has grudges against ken yi. Why would anybody want to comment with other's name? If he had really meant good to give comment, he could have just put it anonymously like most of them did when leaving comments with your families cursed. I hope you should know what you are doing. You might be right, but what you are using the wrong way.

suSanne said...

hey i like ur post..
it's a wake up call for us..
although a bit controversial..
but it's a challenge..;)

c'mon guys..lets take this and learn seriously..;)

iJal said...

Try to read this! This might be the answer for HO from Russia are having now! http://kamilsifu.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/are-russian-medical-graduates-that-incompetent/

dr anand thavathason said...

I am a Russian medical graduate and i feel we are as good as University malaya medical graduates work wise and aptitude wise.Sure,we did not get the marks or have the money to enter "good" medical schools-but can't our enthusiasm to be doctors make up for it?
Granted i agree that a lot of us Russian grads won't be doctors if the MMC did not recognize Russian institutions.
POTS,you can't stop us from being doctors.The government wants to saturate the market with doctors.I believe we stand a good chance to make it to postgraduate training e.g master program.And we will compete for the spot fair and square with the likes of u,POTS and those of "good" medical schools

Anonymous said...

I'm a house officer, n i have lots of colleagues who r grads from russia n ukraine..i really have difficult time working with them, they are lazy, their work sucks, they r irresponsible..i really hope that our gov is going to do something about it.at least make them sit for entrance exam or something like that.it's a burden to the rest of ur colleagues u know?arghh......

Joker - The chaos maker.. said...

YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP THIS FOR GOOD. THINK ABOUT THE BABY YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE.

I KNOW YOU ARE PREGNANT POTS. YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO THAT BABY.

I WILL CRUSH ITS HEAD AND AMPUTATED ITS LIMBS IF YOU EVER START THIS AGAIN.

I WILL DEBILITATE IT JUST LIKE YOU DEBILITATED SO MANY.

SO REMEMBER THIS. WHEN THAT DUE DATE ARRIVES, I WILL HANG AROUND TOO...

cornetto said...

@ dr anand thavathason,

you said "I am a Russian medical graduate and i feel we are as good as University malaya medical graduates work wise and aptitude wise "

oh dear you have no idea how bad some of the graduates could be. simple knee jerk also they dont know how to do. i actually saw a russian houseman trying to elicit knee jerk by using the tapered end of the knee hammer (instead of the rounded rubber end of the hammer) !

again we dont mean to generalize you guys. but there are just those bad apples, and they can come from any college, good or bad. dunno how they made it through to housemanship.

DocIncognito said...

Cornetto, if I'm fortunate to have never seen such an incompetent doctor. Seems like he never saw a neurological examination before! How did he manage to survive his medical/ortho rotations?

Fenny said...

Err... Joker... That's a threat... And why would you want to harm a baby? (are you sure that POTS is a female? Or maybe a pregnant male. LOL) Anyway, whether POTS a female or male, it is wrong to harm an innocent life.

Did POTS debilitate you, amputated your limbs or crushed your heads???

You really are a joker, and a pathetic one.

Acidulous said...

to Joker - The chaos maker
This is so uncalled for. Just prove how low one can stoop to... No sense of decency. Would you be happy if I curse about your child?

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Anonymous said...

I am a consultant working in QEH.I can understand the offense taken by the Russian/Ukraianian medical graduates.Saying that you guys are incompetent would really hurt your feelings.I am truly sorry to say this...but your training in Russia and Ukraine is truly defecient.You are not to be blamed for this. The Malaysian Medical Council has recognised your degrees and in doing so has confirmed that your training is valid.Fair nor not, patients WILL suffer and die because of your lack of proper training as undergraduates. To those of you who are now undergoing your studies. What should you do ? I suggest you register and sit for the US MLE part 1, the British PLAB or find out if you can sit for the Australian entrance exam. If you can pass these exams, then your theoretical knowledge would be satisfactory. Get from your seniors the HO log book for all the disciplines. Use this as a checklist on what you should know. Know how to manage all the common medical emergencies, at least in theory.(Photostat or buy the Sarawak Handbook for emergencies. POTS will gladly tell you how to get it. Mug up ECG made Easy. Read, understand and memorise it 10 times. Buy O+G illustarated and memorise it. Memorise how to manage O+G emergencies.
Set at least 20 iv lines before you graduate. Learn how to do CPR and Basic Life Support. POTS, maybe you can suggest a list of things that any medical graduate must know absolutely well before starting their Housemanship. To all you russian and ukrainian and any undergraduate for that matter, I know that you are faraway in a strange land facing the world's most difficult course. To those of you who have no interest in Medicine, I strongly urge you to have the courage to do what you are really interested in. Leave the course. Tell your parents that you would rather excel in what you want to be rather than be a mediocre doctor that is looked down upon. To those of you who are interested, I need you to know that you have a responsibility to be competent because people's lives are at stake. I challenge you to take heed of what I have written.

May God Bless You in fulfilling your dreams and ambitions

ID specialist

Anonymous said...

im one of the 3rd course MARA students who study in one of the university-volgograd state medical university..
i myself feel embarassed of being one of the scholars,because when i was offered ths scholarship,i started to cover myself.
i hv to follow the group's idea,if not,i will get isolated get adviced.
here we dont have right to do anything,because there're unstated rule among us,they exist,once u r discovered,u will get into hell...
i feel suffering here,because i lost my identity here.