Planning Ahead.

I would like to think I am fairly good at planning ahead. I am quite a simple person and fairly straight forward, but few know that I actually think quite a bit about the future. Being an international student, you have to think about the future.  We try our best to not think about the future as anything can happen, but we also have to be ready for anything unexpected. My biggest advice to international students (no matter how confident you are about staying in the UK) is to have a backup plan. What happens if the UK government decide to throw us a curve ball and change the immigration/Visa rules? What happen if you suddenly have to return home due to family issues? And if you're not planning on staying in the UK, you really got to plan when to take the registry exams such as USMLE. It pains me when I see international students not having a single clue what they'll be doing in a few years time. Unfortunately it isn't a straight path for international students, let it be staying in the UK or going back home. Either way it won't be easy and you will have to make sacrifices. Anyways enough with the grim outlook for international students. It isn't all that bad to be honest. It's just that you have to constantly remind yourself you are an international student and it isn't a simple straight path. There will be many obstacles to cross and many walls to climb. It isn't easy, but hopefully it'll be all worth it in the end.

Anyways enough with the weird banter paragraph above. Maybe I should put the beer away. Haha. If you guys read my last post carefully, I did not talk about Friday. No I didn't have lectures...and no I did not go into placement. Then you must assume I was skiving. No I wasn't skiving either...well I wouldn't consider it skiving because I was actually doing something productive. I had a meeting with an Orthopaedic consultant at the central hospital to discuss about my Student Selected Component (SSC) project for this coming May.  The last time I met the consultant, I fell asleep in the chair and he had to wake me up...great first impression. Luckily it didn't really affect him as he was willing to see me again. He was actually quite keen to be my supervisor for my SSC and to mentor me. This time prior to meeting him, I made sure I was not going to fall asleep. I heard him come out from his office so I made sure I didn't look like I was dozing off...to be honest I was zoning out as all I did was stare at the wall. I had to wait for awhile as I was 30 minutes early for the meeting as I messed up on my travel timing so I was quite tired. Went into the office to discuss what I will be doing for my 6 week SSC project. We did a lot of brainstorming and came up with quite a few ideas.  Either this consultant is smart or was prepared to discuss about my SSC as he was rapid firing ideas at me. Unfortunately, I kept zoning out as to be fair...I did not understand half the things he mentioned. He was talking about the different type of implants used in Orthopaedics, and obviously I have never heard of the brands. He talked to me like I knew all the brands so you could imagine I was very lost. When I get lost...I zone out. It's a horrible trait I have. As he went on, he realized he should write down what I will be doing. He set out a bunch of aims and wanted me to expand on it and give it a think. He filled up half a page with notes on the aims of my project (looking at implants). I quickly put the paper away in my bag without looking at the paper.

And then I perked up as the consultant mentioned that during my project he wants to do some clinical things with me. I told him that I got to observe a few trauma surgeries and paeds orthopaedic surgeries over the last few weeks. He ended up throwing a curve-ball at me and told me that it is good that I'm making the effort and be keen to go see these things, BUT the difference is that when I follow him I will be scrubbing in and actually assisting. Oh man, I got so excited it was ridiculous. I immediately sat up straight and couldn't stop smiling. Scrubbing in and assisting = music to my ears. Finally I get the chance to get my hands in and do something that I am interested in. He also went on how I will be able to do some stitching (heart sank a bit as the last time I learned stitching was a year ago). Now, I was very excited about my SSC and the consultant surely knows how to make a student happy.

After the meeting I quickly went home and took out the paper that he wrote on. To my demise, I could not make out half the things he wrote. I regretted zoning out and I should've remembered doctors do not write legibly.  Took me ages to decipher what the consultant wrote. In the end, I figured out most of the things he wrote as I vaguely remembered the stuff he was talking about and managed to crack on with expanding on his notes. Note to self: Do NOT zone out while a consultant is talking to you. You'll regret it as you won't be able to read half the things he wrote down. Imagine if I couldn't decipher what he wrote...the embarrassment I would have to go through as I would have to email him and tell him I can't read what he wrote when I should have been paying attention during the meeting.

Anyways I'm super stoked about my SSC in May! One more meeting and a bit of paperwork before my SSC will be official. Cannot wait.

Tidbit for International Students.

Today I received my Student BMJ in the mail and while reading the front page articles on the newspaper - I managed to walk into a door. You may ask: "What's so interesting?"

Well there is an article called: "BMA rejects 'unjust' limits on training for non-EEA medics". A summary of this article is literally about the unfair treatment towards international students especially those studying medicine. I was shocked to see that us international students' tuition fee contribute £100m annually! WHAT! That's a HUGE number. Technically we should get equal rights on getting specialty training and with the new immigration rule of removing the Tier 1 Visa it will essentially be impossible to get specialty training in England. So in the last post I said that recruiters don't care if you are international and they are happy to accept them. THE annoying part is the VISA and that Tier 1 visas is our post-study work route for specialty training, which they want to junk.

It was shown in studies that International graduates are not stealing away jobs from local students so they don't see why they should make an international student's life so difficult. I don't know if you guys have been around the hospitals a lot but I have noticed a lot of consultants aren't actually local British people. I've talked to a few consultants who are from India and we have had a few internationals who lectured us - and they appear to be quite skilled (well they are consultants). Unfortunately with the junking of Tier 1 and if these consultants have not declared citizenship...wouldn't they be in danger of being kicked out from the country?! That to me sounds quite shocking that the UK would want to kick out highly skilled people...especially extremely skilled consultants. It was also mentioned that it is unfair towards those medical students who are currently studying medicine and suddenly changing the immigration rule on us midway through our degree. If some of us knew about these immigration restrictions and not being able to do a specialty...some of us may have not chosen to come to study in England as essentially it appears to be a flipping dead end after foundation year 2.

Now with the NHS reform and the ridiculous suggestions...I do not know what is the UK government trying to accomplish. I feel that the UK heavily relies on immigrants for jobs and it is a shame that they believe that internationals are getting in the way of locals. While providing £100m annually from tuition fees in total and the NHS is spending a couple hundred thousand pounds to train each medical student (including internationals) I reckon the smart thing to do is to not shoo us away. If the UK is going to make working in the UK as a doctor and an international so difficult and almost impossible, just simply stop international students from applying to universities! With every article I read about the immigration rules and how it'll affect us, the less UK appears to be welcoming. Hopefully by the time I graduate the UK government gets their heads checked and really take a deep thought about the consequences of these immigration rules will do the economy and the work force. I feel that internationals play a vital role in the UK as a whole. Really is a shame if these immigration rules completely bar off internationals. Multiculturism is good to have and especially coming from one of the more successful multicultural countries (Canada) - I truly feel that immigrants are not as welcomed anymore in the UK.

Local students may argue with me on this, but really what a shame.

International vs. Local Debate.

So the other day I had quite an interesting debate with my fellow medical friends. Mind you this debate involved a mix of international and local medical students. With immigration laws changing and making an international student's life even harder, it leads to the question of how are international students studying at a UK medical school affected? Let me give you a quick overview as to what is the proposed change that COULD affect international medics. The government is planning to scrap the Post Study Work Scheme (Tier 1 visas). This apparently does not affect Foundation Year jobs, but apparently does affect international medics wanting to pursue a specialty in the NHS.

Not sure how true is this but someone please do correct me if this is not correct: all posts for specialties will be first filled by local students. Any postings with room left behind will be then filled with international students. In my eyes that sounds a bit unfair but my local friends have made a valid point that us "internationals" are stealing jobs away from the locals. However, what I do not understand is that it is such a shame that an international student who got an equal education to the local students at a UK university still has to be classified as an international. Obviously a bit biased here, but I would think it would be a lot more fair that when ALL medical students graduate (including internationals), everyone should be placed on an equal playing field. Received the same education, hence, should receive equal opportunity for specialty placements? Either way, quite a few internationals do end up leaving UK and return back home to work, but I feel that those who are left behind should be regarded equally and just as suitable for specialty postings. Again I'm not sure how true this is about locals getting more priority than internationals when competing for specialty posts, but I do get both sides of the story.

Next point which could be a bit controversial. Some locals I have spoken to are quite against universities accepting international students in general! Obviously baffled by this comment I do admit I did take it a bit personal even though I know I should not as it is just a fun debate. Anyways again I see why locals find internationals a bit of a nuisance. However, I feel that international students bring a lot of diversity to the UK. I know recently David Cameron said that "Multiculturism [in the UK] has failed", and with these changing immigration laws, studying in the UK doesn't seem as welcoming for international students as it is quite the challenge to get a job after your studies. I think without international students UK would lose its diversity and possibly higher education being less renowned. A major factor for me to come to the UK was for its renowned education system and that its top notch. Who knows down the line immigration is cut down so much that internationals just don't want to go to the UK as there are no job prospects, I think it could put a bit of a dent in the UK higher education's reputation. As well there was this whole other point about international fees vs. local fees which turned out quite heated but not really worth mentioning on the blog. I guess I may have poked a few too many buttons when I said that I like the system in the US where both local and international students pay the SAME fees. I think again it puts people on a more leveled playing field. Then another debate of being able to afford higher education, etc etc.

Where I stand is in the middle. International students bring a lot to the universities and certainly to the medical schools, however, it does threaten local students as we can take up posts that should be for local students. But I don't think it is fair to make it so difficult for a competent graduate (especially a medical student) to stay in the UK. As well, if international students are placed on a leveled playing field with local students when fighting for posts, I think it would create really good competition. Medical school shouldn't be a cruise along the river. It should be like back in school where you compete and do your absolute best to get into the universities you want to go to and study medicine! I feel that now there is hardly any competition and I think we need just a bit more. Competition can create more competent/excellent doctors as everyone will feel the need to work hard, take on extracurricular activities, etc.

What do you guys think about the changing immigration laws which could possibly put off possibly amazing future medical students? How do you think it will affect the UK/NHS? What is your view on the whole International vs. Local Student? Should there be more competition at medical school? Please post your comments below. :)

Random thoughts.

Well I think I finally hit the "slightly stressed level" for university. I just realized that I have about one more month and I still haven't got my Visa to study in the UK yet. But thats not all MY fault. It is more because the university still hasn't sent my Visa letter to allow me to get my Visa. Argh i hope it actually won't take that long for me to get my Visa. :(

So I guess that kinda leads me to my next tip for UCAS applications: Do NOT leave your application til the last minute. You will seriously kick yourself in the butt later on. Might as well get it done NOW and enjoy the rest of the summer/first weeks of school.

Yes a nice and short post today. Too tired to think of stuff to write about plus I don't want to bore you.

EDIT: I forgot to add earlier on that also to add to my stress: I haven't even STARTED to think about what I am going to pack for university. I actually don't even want to think about it. Ugh.