Look into the real reasons for son’s failure
I WRITE in response to the letter by “Disapointed Parent” about his son tragically failing three attempts in the final year medical examination ( The Star, Oct 7).
I believe the parent should liase with the private medical university to ascertain the reasons behind his below par performance.
Going into final year does not mean he is 90% a doctor. Would you be happy to go to the hospital and be treated or operated by a 90% doctor?
Studying for medicine takes much hard work and passion inside and outside of class or teaching ward rounds.
Good attendance and the lack of disciplinary problems does not make one a sufficiently safe doctor. He needs to improve on his readings, see patients regularly with a trained doctor, re-read what he learnt and continuously voice out his doubts.
Liase with his tutor, supervisor and also his friends who have passed. Listening to others may surprisingly reveal more about what what your son been lacking all this while.
And having failed three times, I am sure the private university does not feel proud about it and will do as much as they can to help him pass by reaching the minimum standard and not hand him the scroll when he is not ready yet. That would be harming him rather than helping him.
No medical college in the world would be proud to have a bloated failure rate. I also applaud this establishment for holding on to the standards. When your son passes in his fourth attempt, you can be assured of his readiness to be a doctor and training in housemanship.
Failure in medical school can be a blessing because failure as doctor may not be such a forgiving affair. Worse case scenarios could be a patient dying, the family members sueing him, his doctor’s license being suspended permanently and his name smeared all over social media.
My suggestion is that he does not rush to take the fourth attempt yet. Take a short break. Evaluate his own situation and psychological condition. Failing three times can be devastating. Allow a longer time to prepare for the exam and prepare a well planned study roster. Get a motivating tutor.
Lastly, have a real heart to heart talk with him on whether he really wants to take up medicine as his lifetime commitment and vocation.
There are many doctors who graduated but went on to find success as well in other fields totally unrelated to medicine, from stand up comedy, property trading to corporate management.
I wish him all the best in his fourth attempt and in his journey of doctorhood. PILOCARPINE Batu Pahat, Johor