MMS 2018 Insight Series: MMI Young Medics President

MMI has personally played a big role in my journey in becoming a medical student. My first experience with MMI was the Multiple Mini Mock Interviews and the mock Skype interviews held with University of Manchester seniors in 2015 under MMI UK. I will forever be grateful for the honest feedback and meticulous suggestions given by Malaysian students from the UK on how to improve my interview skills, as well as being dedicated mentors despite their busy schedule. I owe my success in getting accepted to the University of Manchester to them. They inspired/reminded me of why I chose to be a doctor through their professionalism, humility and sincerity despite their incredulous academic achievements.

The organisation has also been there when the JPA retracted my overseas scholarship mid-way through my A-Levels albeit receiving my offer already. I remember talking to a medical student in Cambridge who interned for our former Minister of Health who encouraged me to keep searching for other avenues as we were trying to renegotiate for a partial scholarship agreement with the JPA. His words of encouragement drove me to continue fighting, and we successfully renegotiated a partial loan scheme with the JPA, albeit the announcement coming only in October 2016, after most of us rejected our offers. In short, joining MMI as a university ambassador is my way of contributing back through providing guidance to other medical students the same way these individuals have helped shaped who I am today by forcing me to challenge my comfort zones.
 

Having attended MMSS for the past two years, I have come to realise the many opportunities provided by MMI for medical students to network with giants of the medical field. Dialogues with the Ministry of Health aided in my understanding of the current environment of Malaysia’s medical field, as well as where it is headed. I recall MMSS 2014, where I was preparing to fly off on my parents’ funding to the UK despite the scholarship retractions. However, the information I obtained from the summit regarding my prospects post-medical school helped change my mind.

Fast forward two years later, I’m currently a first year at University Malaya and am currently leading MMI Young Medics, the new arm of MMI that targets pre-university students aiming to pursue medicine. Personally, the decision to take up the post was pretty straightforward. For the organisation that had given me so much, it only felt fair for me to contribute back to it and help it grow.

To sum it up, I have gotten a glimpse of the efficient and dedicated individuals that represent MMI. It is an honour to be a part of a broad family as stimulating, progressive and forward-thinking as this, and help to contribute back through helping other fellow medical students together regardless of race, social class or country they are studying in.

Written by,
Ian Lam
President
MMI Young Medics 17/18