University: Emilio Aguinaldo College

Current Year: Second

Medical Specialty Interested in: Pediatrics & ENT

Most Inspiring Person: My Parents

Single Quality that defines a great Doctor: There's a lot of qualities that defines a great doctor. My top three would be passion, determination and empathy.

First of all, walk us through the step-by-step processes that you went through to get to where you are today?

I completed my Secondary Education in Aminiya School and then started working as a Clinical Assistant in Central Medical Center. It was my first experience in the real medical field. I gained a lot of experience and knowledge from there which drove me more to purse medicine as a career. 

After working for about 6 months I then completed my Higher Secondary education in Villa International High School. 

After my A levels, I started working in Senahiya as a Clinical Assistant again. What made this experience different from the one I gained after my O levels was that I got more exposure as Senahiya was a hospital. I got to learn more about what doctors go through everyday to treat and save lives. The best part was getting to deal and treat patients first hand. Even then, the sweet and heartfelt comments from the patients, gave me so much encouragement and determination to work towards my dream. It was my mom who found out about Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), and Blek Foundation helped me in the administration and enrollment process in to med school.

As the medical course offered in the Philippines is Doctor of Medicine (MD), it requires 2 years of undergraduate and 4 years of proper. Hence, the broad coverage of the syllabus was the main reason that grabbed my interest towards the college.

When did you first realize you wanted to study medicine?

For as long as I started remembering things, becoming a doctor has always been my ambition. How the human body works has always amazed me and I had always wanted to learn more about it. 

Ever since I was a kid, Medicine was somehow set in my mind as my career choice. 

Take us through a typical study day.

On weekdays, I wake up around 6.45 or 7 am and get ready to go to college which starts at 8 am. After a lunch break from 12-1 pm, we have continuous Lectures, Labs, Small Group Discussions (SGDs) or Reportings till 6 pm most of the days. 

So, by the time I come back home, I'm already exhausted. After having dinner, I usually take a nap for about 2 hours. I wake up around 9 or 9.30 pm and spend the whole night studying, revising or doing my assignments till midnight. If it's not the exam weeks, I sleep around 1 or 2 am and if it's the exam week, I stay up till Fajr.

However, during the weekend, I make sure I get a good night's sleep and enough energy for me to get through the next 5 days.

How do you deal with unexpected low marks?

People always told me that even the best students don't always get good grades and they barely pass in Med School. I had a hard time believing them till I actually started med school. Passing grade being 75% in my college, you can just assume how hard we have to work to pass any quiz or exam. So at times when I get an unexpectedly low mark, I do get disappointed in myself. 

However, it actually gives me more strength and determination to work harder for the next one and score higher. Bouncing back like that actually gives me a boost to continue working harder. And having a good chat with my husband and family always help too. They give the best encouragement and thrive me more to achieving my goals.

What is your least favorite thing to do, and how do you deal with it?

Anatomy, Histology and Pathology is a lot about diagrams. So completing the laboratory manuals of these subjects means you have to draw a lot as well. I used to enjoy arts and drawing before med school. However, having to draw and color too many diagrams have made me dislike it now. 

So, when I'm bombarded with a lot of lab manuals, I try to divide them instead of doing them all at once. Sometimes when I want to take a break while studying something new, I finish 2-3 diagrams during that time. So that by the time I go back to studying, my mind is a bit refreshed too.

Name your favorite medical text book.

Clinical Anatomy by Richard S. Snell.

Fill in the blank. I love my university, however, __________________________ .

I wish that my family could be here with me or Maldives was closer to Philippines than it is now.

I’ve always had a very close relationship with my family. That includes the whole of my extended family. Everyone is there for each other all the time and we hang out or have a get-together often. Not being able to take part in such fun times just makes me wish they were closer. 

I’ve always known that these are the kind of sacrifices that I have to make at one point. So, I was preparing myself for it even before I came abroad. Being away from family for a very long time does not make you miss them even a bit less. I just had to get myself adapted to it and I would say technology has actually made it really easy. However, it will never be the same as physically being present with them.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started medical school?

Having worked with a lot of doctors, many of them had shared their achievements and the struggles they had faced while they were medical students. Some even tried to advice me not to go for medicine as it was THAT tough for them. I took tips that could be useful for me during my medical journey from their experiences. 

The one thing that almost any doctor would tell me is to always manage my time. Because there’s always so much to do and not enough time for everything. They would also remind me that studying medicine means a lot of reading. Even after you are done with the studies, you’d have to keep reading because doctors need to be updated with the latest medicines and new findings.

Therefore, there isn't a specific thing that comes to my mind that I wished I knew before.

What do you think needs to change in the health industry of the Maldives today?

The health industry in Maldives is growing rapidly as it has never been before. The advancement in technology has been incorporated into improving the quality of the services. Unfortunately, these high tech equipment and facilities are only available in Male' which means people living in other islands have to travel to the Capital city if they want to get the best health services. 

Therefore, I think that high quality health care systems should be established in other parts of the country as well. It is important that we have these facilities, so that patients wouldn’t have to pay extra expenses to come to Male’ or visit nearby countries for medical purposes. If the patients have the guarantee that the facilities they could get from nearby countries are available in Maldives, they would choose to get those services here. 

Finally, what is the one tip/advice you want to give to our readers?

Medical school is not easy. You may not know it unless you experience it yourself. There are a lot of sacrifices that we have to make. So, make sure that you are doing this for yourself and not someone else. 

However, if you have the passion and determination, you can make your dream a reality. And at times if you feel like you have failed, just get up and try again. It's not about finishing first, its about reaching the end.

The My Medical Student Life series was created for the sole purpose of helping medical students and aspiring doctors on their journey to become a successful Maldivian Healthcare Professional. Have a suggestion, idea or question? Email us.

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