Write start to further studies
LETTER- writing may be of the past but is much practised by first year Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia ( NUMed) student, Ng Yi Min.
Ng was the winner of the Newcastle UK Biomedical Sciences ( BMS) International “Write a letter home” competition.
In her award- winning letter to childhood friends, Ng started off declaring her choice to study at NUMed was “one of the biggest ( and also one of the greatest) decisions I have ever made”.
She shared, “Choosing NUMed means I will be studying in Johor for the first two years of my degree before continuing my final year in the United Kingdom.
“It is kind of huge for this is the first time I will have to stay away from my family, friends and familiar surrounding environment.”
In the letter, the first year student expressed her nerves before joining NUMed, which quickly disappeared due to the supportive environment.
“Before joining NUMed, I was worried sick that I might have difficult time adapting to this new place, new lifestyle.
“There were even times when I was doubtful of myself, of my choice of studying BMS in NUMed.
“But again, I am glad that I have made the right decision of coming here and joining the small family of NUMed.
“And for the first time in ages, I actually dread school holidays.
“There were only two courses offered in NUMed ( Medicine and BMS) as the university considers itself a small family comparing with many others in Malaysia.
“Thanks to this small size, almost everyone, including the university staff, know each other fairly well.
“Up till now, I can never forget the first time I set foot into NUMed for registration. “Everyone is friendly and helpful.” Ng told her friends the path she embarked on mirrors the degree delivered at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University UK.
“Although BMS is a fairly new course in NUMed, this course has long been offered in the UK main campus and we are studying the same syllabus,” she said.
All the BMS students receive a BSc Degree in Biomedical Sciences from Newcastle University, UK, upon completion of the course and go on to take up a variety of different careers from pharmaceutical developers to hospital laboratory technicians.
The letter also told of Ng’s enjoyment of lectures and of her NUMed lecturers.
“Our lecturers here are very friendly, approachable and efficient.
“They are also willing to help us, in person or via e- mail, whenever we have any doubts regarding what we have studied.
“There is also a ReCap system that records down most of the lectures so we can review them later.
“We can even access the ReCap from the UK main campus. As the syllabus is the same, we can choose which ReCap to listen to.
“Besides lectures, there are also seminars to discuss in smaller groups regarding what we studied in lectures.
“Seminars let us voice our opinions and make us aware of some of the concepts we do not understand or might have misunderstood in lectures.
“They also prepare us for our final examinations.”
Ng explained that the practical aspect is an integral part of the BMS degree, and the design of the NUMed laboratory is based on that found at the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Newcastle University, UK.
She also mentioned: “There are some really cool lab practical sessions that allow us to have hands- on experiences on the things that we learnt from lectures.”
For more information on NUMed’s BMS programme, look out for the advertisement in this StarSpecial.