Monday January 10, 2005

Medical studies a top draw with students

KUALA LUMPUR: If you become a doctor, you will be married to your job and be guilt-prone after losing your patients and for other reasons, Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr N. Arumugam told over 500 prospective medical students.

Giving a talk on medicine at the Star Education Fair 2005, he told them to expect being “physically and emotionally drained” most of the time.

And to top it all, he added, the remuneration for most doctors would not be great. “Some do make a lot of money but most doctors just make enough to get by,” said Dr Arumugam after showing a slide of the six top-earning careers in Singapore, which did not include medicine.

However, this did not deter the hundreds of students who left after the talk to look for exhibitors who offered medical courses, especially the cheaper alternatives.