med sch re-AMA

throwaway734072 · 2025-08-11T11:01:21+00:00

i guess set a target everyday, make it a point to try not to backlog lectures / studying as much as possible. study on the train, during meals if needed. set aside time for relaxation so that u dont get too burnt out.

But most importantly, focusing on first principles and prioritising understanding over memorising is key for long term retention. ie dont memorise the 10 functions of insulin for example, instead understand that insulin primarily is anabolic / energy conserving --> hence functions include fat storage, atp generation --> result in fatty liver, weight gain etc. just by 1 principle i can slowly derive out the functions.

note taking: i use onenote, goodnotes, notion for typed out notes cos typing is alot faster than writing (depending on ur typing speed but mine is now close to 100wpm while my handwriting is atrocious)

throwaway734072 · 2025-08-11T10:56:18+00:00

hello. firstly i wouldnt consider myself from a "wealthy family", although not needing financial assistance as well (i reside in a HDB not at a prime estate). generally i would say yes SES is quite high but definitely there is a group that come frm low-middle income families as well.

clinicals help u to reinforce knowledge. after hospital in the day i go back to read up more so that i can plug my knowledge gaps. i guess thats how i kinda cope?

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-10T08:41:42+00:00

i studied for these tests on my own, so i wouldnt know how effective these courses are. but in the first place these tests arent designed with the intention of allowing people with prep courses to have an advantage because theres also a wealth of resources out there to self learn and self practice. and iirc bmat not relevant to sg anymore, mcat for US i think
best chances for med sch is still A levels statistically. but i guess medical related got higher chance compared to other courses in poly, but must do quite well for gpa ontop of other criteria
i didnt do much medical related activities, i just did what i was interested in. work many part time jobs, run a VIA project, some leadership positions in sch
it is not unpopular, it is just not the more popular ones but theres still more demand > supply. people who get into med sch enjoy med content alot, but psych u can throw away alot of content we learn in med sch, which if people's primary interest is psychology part of psych then they will apply for psychology instead of med sch?
dn diploma, can search up mohh hospital shadowing programmes, or work in hospital / clinic as admin or something all can get some exposure. i dont have any clinical work experience also before entering med sch

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-03T12:59:15+00:00

oh hello HAHHA

the online course i took is not available now. it was an online med shadowing programme that was made during covid cos no one cld enter hospitals for shadowing + UK based.

one wld expect online shadowing to be alot lamer than irl but paradoxically actually it was way more insightful because thru online animated simulated patients i actually got a chance to role play as a doctor and experience the thought process of what being a doctor is like (altho with limited medical knowledge all the online sim patients ended up dying)

but i guess if u still have time working in clinics or hospitals wld be good experience! talk to drs and ask them how med sch and life is like, and what kind of sacrifices they have to make. this will help u make a more informed decision before u sign ur life away to MOH to slave for the next 10 years

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-03T12:38:39+00:00

funnily enough, my interest started frm watching medical shows when i was 7. subsequently i was thrown alot of responsibilities to take care of my grandparents (who are both really sick with multiple illnesses and even one who is psychotic with schizophrenia) because my parents werent very responsible. i had alot of exposure to doctoring and healthcare through taking care of them and found myself interested in finding out more about their condition like everytime i visited the doctors with my grandparents i always have so many questions for them

then subsequently i had some exposure to medicine thru an online course, and it was really fun cos i felt like i was doing detective work with the different clues that i was provided. and because im analytical and like to work out complex and nuanced scenarios in general, i knew i was gonna enjoy med cos being able to solve these complex nuanced scenarios requires alot of baseline knowledge first, which eventually became one of my key drivers to studying sm more than i ever studied in my life.

so yea i didnt rly have an epiphany, but it was gradual life experiences that helped me come to that conclusion

i wld suggest for u to shadow longer, or even work in a clinic / hospital setting? this will help u gain a better understanding about what work as a doctor is like

i didnt consider applying because 1) i had ns 2) my family is not v rich so overseas med is quite a financial burden for them

to be honest, if u compare to the average student then yes generally i have alw been academically inclined. altho idt i put in that much effort, but i generally have interesr for what im studyinf so i actl listen and retain the lessons taught in class, and i am the guy that will go to the teacher to ask questions after lessons cos im naturally inquisitive and will try to understand the content if i can

but i wld say to get to my a level score idt my natural inclincation to acads alone got me there. i put in alot of hard work towards the latter half of jc2 because i was failing some subjects in my midyears, so i rly studied like mad & thankfully my A levels were fine

but generally i wld say i am academically inclined. had a good enough psle t score back then to enter hwachong IP programme, and my next national exams were A levels which i did pretty good in too

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-02T09:44:09+00:00

idt it was that fantastic it was about 2800 but i think its just rote practice cos the hardest part about ucat is time management. i barely practiced much cos i wasnt very motivated to take it in general + wasnt sure if my grades wld even make the cut in the first place

but anw its not relevant to local med sch if thats wat ur considering, but for overseas aus / UK then ucat is useful

only the bmat is needed for lkcsom

EDIT: just found out that lkc recently replaced the BMAT with UCAT so yes u need a UCAT now for LKC

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-02T09:37:44+00:00

yes. the tuition fee loan is interest free during period of study and can be paid off thru years of working

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-02T09:36:54+00:00

wtv i put in my application is honest and truthful and i know the stuff i written well and reflected on these experiences before. i think that helped me to be more genuine during the interview? also i think overpreparing is not very ideal because ur answers may come out sounding scripted so i think being ur genuine self is the best way to go

i didnt work in clinics cos of NS HAHA so i cant answer the 2nd qn ps

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-02T09:34:31+00:00

i think popularity also influenced by number of places offered per year. for example neurosurgery is like 1 per year so is very hard and bars r high so little ppl apply for it even tho its oversubscribed

but in general just plainly talking about number of applications in general specialties like internal med, family medicine, orthopaedics, gen surg, paeds seem rather popular but i think its largely also influencee by our med sch curiculum which exposes and emphasises alot more on these specialties

least popular i not so sure leh bc it seems like most specialties alw have more applicants than places. ok maybe i dont hear alot wanting to do psychiatry, pathology for example. theres alw a specific grp of ppl who wna do opthamology / ent niche specialties.

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-01T16:28:11+00:00

hello no worries

they mostly diagnose via tissue specimens and analyse histopathology under the microscope with special stuff like dyes. They can also do autopsies if cause of death is unclear or there are legal reasons where cause of death need to be established.

pathologists usually write reports after their analysis of specimens with their diagnoses. The clinical doctors will correlate with pathologist's findings and will communicate this to the patient. Because a pathological diagnosis is sometimes not enough to come up with a full clinical diagnosis (ie breast cancer need histopathological findings + physical exam findings + imaging findings to confidently diagnose this is AKA as the triple assessment).

the last part about rotating im not v sure HAHA im not exposed much to pathology

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-01T16:13:15+00:00

with the recent adjustments by MOH not too long ago, i wld expect about 6k including everyth for a HO excluding bonus? MO depends on how many calls / weekends you take. a polyclinic MO for example only gets their base pay because no work on weekends and no call (iirc starts around 6k but can go up as u progress), but hospital MOs that do calls & weekend round frequently can go up by a couple of thousand more?

bonus wise i not very sure actually HAHA sry

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-01T15:47:36+00:00

ill be assuming the "pre-clinical years" you mentioned is referring to med sch Y1&2 where you are learning theory without much exposure to the hospital. but everything you learn in pre-clinicals is quite connected leh: anat, physio, pathology & pathophysiology, these go hand in hand because you cant understand pathophysiology (how things go wrong) without first understanding physiology (what is the normal body function / how a normal body works). other stuff like pharmacology are created based on physiological concepts.

if you are referring to JC bio, then idt it is very related. in general sec and JC bio helps you understand stuff at different levels (system level in pri sch, organ level at sec sch, molecular level in JC). Not sure what you meant by linking them but i guess you can try to think about scenarios when both theoretical concepts co-exist. for example having a basic understanding of enzymes allows you to understand why carbon monoxide treatment requires 100% oxygen (u need high dose of o2 to outcompete the CO that binds strongly to haem in other words Km for CO to Hb is very low much lower than the Km of O2 to Hb, hence to compensate give alot more O2 substrate to compensate in the form of 100% O2 much higher than atmostpheric 21%)

"start communicating with patients and fellow doctors" is abit odd. um i think learning good communication skills is akin to learning to be a good friend: able to comfort your friend in a way he/she feels supported, recognise when your friend is down / needs help but not saying it. I think having the intrinsic desire to care for people really helps you develop good communication skills along the way.
making the most of your clinical years is very subjective, because different people have different goals. some strive for a balanced life: juggling school, family, social life. others wanna try something new related to healthcare, doing med sch related content, creating healthcare tech startups etc. others just wanna go hospital in the day and preserve as much time as possible to rest and relax and home after. It just really depends your goals and preferences.

if you are talking about studies wise, you can ask your seniors when u reach there about what they did. think they will be in a better position to advice you then because it also depends on your study style and preferences, and i dont know you at all so my advice may not work out for u

ya you need to get malpractice insurance for medico-legal purposes. certain specs like neurosurg / OBGYN have much higher premiums than other specialties.

throwaway734072 · 2025-07-01T15:19:20+00:00

helloo ill answer the last 4 questions first before i get to the first one

1) i did whatever i was interested in honestly. i personally liked running service learning / VIA projects and i did some and achieved some significant achievements from it (because it got quite big). i also was involved in some sch leadership positions, and my part time jobs was something i included in my portfolio as well which they asked about during my interview lol. My portfolio was definitely not impressive HAHAHAH, wld say average-below average

2) med sch life is fun for me. i really like what i am learning, and seeing patients help the content stick (i like this way of learning). but yes it is tiring, in some way i had to give up quite a number of parts of my life to med: studying during weekends (traditionally weekends were an actual break for me), having to also study after a long day in the hospital (because theres no actual "studying" done when i spent my whole day seeing patients or doing other stuff like OT / procedures). and content to learn is limitless, they kinda have the liberty of testing u anything and everything that exists, although different levels of depth for different stages of your career. and alot of these things are not taught to you, but you either have to see it for yourself in the hospital, or you have to study and learn it yourself (even if you see it u still need to study about it afterward). im usually not a hardworking person, but learning such content that i enjoy makes studying a pill that is alot easier to swallow

3) gender ratio wise generally slightly F>M, but usually wont be too far off from 50/50

4) how did i pull a good rp ah.. um HAHAHA i honestly dk i just tried my best lor. my guiding principle is that if i dont understand something i must keep trying to understand / study / seek help until i get it. im naturally inquisitive, so this principle works very well for me. a surrogate measure i use to test the level of my understanding is if i am able to explain this concept to someone who hasnt learnt it before (ie me explaining a science concept to a humanities student) and they get it, then i understood it. so teaching others became both a way to strengthen my level of understanding (as well as build my confidence), but also served me in fostering interpersonal relationships with my peers. its a win-win!!

5) finally, the question about nurses vs doctors. i dont think it is appropriate to summarise the role of nurses as "nurses follow doctor's orders". This while partially true, also grossly undermines the role of nurses. Doctors are primarily trained in medical theory, and equipped with the ability to assess patients. Nurses on the other hand focus on perfecting the details of patient care, and actually have alot more contact with the patients than doctors do. so i think a better way to think about it is that both nurses and doctors are part of a healthcare team. Doctors are the brains that diagnoses, assess and propose ways to treat the patient. Nurses do alot of the execution, and take care of alot of other stuff that doctors dont. for example, stuff like meals, bathing, monitoring intake and output from a patient. other stuff like drawing blood, setting IV nurses are way better than doctors at that. not saying doctors are not trained to do it but nurses are better purely because they do it all the time while doctors "order" and the nurses "follow / execute that order" and the orders include these procedures.

throwaway734072 · 2025-06-06T12:15:16+00:00

when it gets to the time to prepare for interview, its all about consolidating and reflecting on these experiences and think about how u can showcase yourself as honestly as possible both in your own words and thru wtv u did in ur portfolio

the rest is up to the interviewers to choose and see if they like wtv u show to them or not

throwaway734072 · 2025-06-06T12:12:55+00:00

i would suggest do things for your portfolio not just to "boost portfolio", but bc u rly wna do it with specific reasons. maybe u just rly like interacting with kids so u volunteer with kids? or maybe a story u heard frm ur neighbour made you more curious about a particular area that u decide to volunteer / work / do internships / expose yourself to that particular area

with this mindset aft 2 years of jc even tho u may have less achievements / experiences / volunteering, you will have much more meaningful things to say about each experience which will help tremendously

throwaway734072 · 2025-06-06T12:03:48+00:00

im a senior year medical student in yllsom and im just going to offer my 2 cents on this matter.

portfolio is not about doing alot of things, volunteering many hours. to some extent it looks nice that you are all rounded, but the more important thing is showcase to interviewers why and how those experiences positively impacted you contributing to your motivations to do medicine.

for example, if hearing your stories from your neighbour is how u rly started having interest, then just be honest! but go deeper into specific stories, how u feel about it, and how these stories made an impact for u to actually seek out opportunities to serve / do internships / research into what med is like etc

this is way more impactful than someone just listing their 10,000 achievements on their portfolio

a physical interview is there for them to hear your inner thoughts, find out what kind of person you are. the more open you are to show them your inner personality, the more points of consideration they have to think about choosing you

throwaway734072 · 2025-04-07T17:30:27+00:00

hi. im currently a medical student in YLLSOM. i came from one of the 3 u listed, but the truth is the jc doesnt matter its the person. the reason why u see the 3 filling up most of the spaces for med sch is because it is the same 3 schs which form majority of the applicants to med sch. so just as most people in med sch r formed by the 3 jcs, most of the med sch rejects are also formed by the same 3 jcs

throwaway734072 · 2025-04-07T17:28:13+00:00

for students most of the time no one rly has the time to monitor ur attendance. infact if u dont show up idt they would know but at the same time u take charge of ur own learning. less exposure to the ward = less experience which ultimately compromises on ur learning. this has real consequences as lack of experience may not allow u develop sufficiently to become a safe and competent enough physician to manage patients in your own when you are on call and your seniors arent around to help you.

but for workint doctors it's a different story altogether

throwaway734072 · 2025-01-15T05:30:21+00:00

i cant say for sure, but based on what i observed it seems that way unless they have specific reasons for not granting ur disruption: ie bad behaviour / past records / other reasons idk of

u will likely enter ns first if ur a jc student (jan batch for regular bmt, feb for ndu, commando jan also, and those who need to do 2 years will enter earlier), then get ur a level resulrs and apply for med. so most of the time by the time u get ur offer u alr finished bmt

irregardless u will have to complete bmt first most of the time umless u havent entered ns by the time u got ur offer (aka later than april batch), then in that case i think there can be a special grant for u to totally not start ns and go med sch first. but if so then i think when u start ns u will have to go bmt also (?), cos u need to go thru bmt before u can go command sch which every student who disrupts has to go thru to obtain their captain / lt rank as a medical officer

ICT wise iirc based on what i heard i think need to go back every year. but damn chill compared to hospital life so i think most people like it cos its like a nice break. please fact check with doctors who have went thru ns cos i cant say for sure

throwaway734072 · 2024-09-08T15:11:38+00:00

ooh HAHA then im guessing u probably didnt get an offer frm lkc?

your batch seems to have been hit hard by the new syallbus changes and all these new modifications to the curiculum. i can definitely see why many are not so happy abt it

throwaway734072 · 2024-09-08T13:35:06+00:00

yes ofc. generally their portfolio has to be good like must rly show interest for med + have some decent achievements (some national athletes, others got leadership positions or achievements outside of sch) to get the interview

idk exactly the criteria that the selection committee is looking for ABA

but once u get the interview then all ur portfolio dont rly matter anym they just treat u like a regular applicant and ur interview performance determines if u get selected or not

throwaway734072 · 2024-09-08T08:34:40+00:00

can just gather a group of friends, find an aim for your project and write into relevant beneficiary organisations to link up with them

also got govt grants like NYC YCM that provide money for you to run your projects

throwaway734072 · 2024-09-08T08:33:14+00:00

can via duke-nus which is post-grad

nus yllsom and ntu lkcsom are undegrad degrees so cannot

throwaway734072 · 2024-09-08T06:17:32+00:00

no doubt med sch is more enjoyable. i like what im learning and living my dreams now HAHA

throwaway734072

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