Like a Russian once told me, Moscow is a place for WINNERS.
Moscow is a cold, unforgiving place. To the misinformed, living in Moscow would be like living in a nightmare. What with the language barrier, the seemingly cold and unfriendly Russians, the horrible post-communist mentality and the incredibly crazy skinheads to name a few...
The phrase "No Money, No Talk" rings true especially here in Moscow.
What most students who come to Russia fail to realize is the importance of learning Russian!! Just because one studies in the English medium doesn't mean it's ok to claim to know little Russian. I mean, it's like going to Japan or China and expecting everyone there to know English! The same policy works everywhere - Like the saying goes "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" or "Masuk kandang kambing mengembek, masuk kandang kerbau menguak". A very simple concept that most here don't seem to comprehend or are unwilling(a.k.a plain lazy) to put into practice.
Although (Soviet)Russia was a former superpower, one should not come to Russia expecting it to be like the United States or United Kingdom or any other European country. The reality is that the communist mentality is still very much present (albeit to a less severe extent) - smoldering at the very core of the Russian community. And the result? Incompetent administrative systems, rampant bribery and nonsensical bureaucratic red-tape.
Regardless of what the agents say, despite MMA offering a 6-year English medium medical course, there are quite a few subjects that'll be taught entirely in Russian. And recently the dean's office has come up with a notice that some of the lectures(which were originally given in English) will be delivered in Russian. (It's like Malaysia implementing the whole teaching Science and Maths in English except that this time, the students have a choice - and guess what does the majority do? Skip!! 'Ponteng' lectures simply because their understanding of the Russian language is almost non-existent.)
And also, REGARDLESS of what people have said and the bad image portrayed in the media, Russia offers quality education. (As I've constantly mentioned) There just seems to be a problem in managing the ever opportunistic students who're more interested in getting high marks without actually getting a good grasp of the syllabus.
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6 comments:
I agree wholeheartedly with you. Having a good grasp of the local language is extremely important for success in clinical medicine.
I'm a 'banana', currently in a local medical school. When clinical years began, my grasp of mandarin was poor, and I had great difficulty communicating with Chinese patients, especially the elderly. However, with time I've managed to improve my Mandarin to the point where I can hold a half-decent conversation with most patients.
So yes, language is important in the study of medicine. After all, communication skills which are so fundamental to medicine, can only be refined by constant practice at the patients bedside.
Studying in a Russia puts one at a disadvantage compared to other medical grads who come from more 'recognized' institutions. The environments tough, the people maybe different, and the examination standards may be suspect. But that doesn't mean it's okay to lay down and die. I'm glad you've decided to fight for a better future for yourself and your patients. I wish you all the best in your studies.
Contrary to what you may think(as well as what the media has portrayed), studying in Russia isn't so much a disadvantage as one might be led to believe.
The ONLY environment that's detrimental to students studying in Russia is the Malaysian mentality. I'm sure you would've heard of the term "mob-like" mentality. Individually, everyone's fine. You put them together and all hell breaks loose (for eg- football fans or skinheads, only in this case - Malaysians who know little of what's taught simply because its the norm)
You would be surprised to hear that most Russian patients are aware of their medical history, of their familial traits, of the names of the drugs they take and even of the use of the drugs, etc. Most Russians aren't afraid to let you do physical examinations on them, even if it means they have to undress(in a ward of 5-6 people).
Russians are very old school. They teach the very basic things that might help diagnose a disease even if one were to be in a rural area without the help of modern equipment.
And Russian textbooks not only describe the proper mechanisms of the diseases, they also teach you basic practical classifications that although may not be international but might actually give a better picture of whats what. Another reason why most are frustrated is because during classes, teachers ask about the many details of certain diseases -
most of which is impossible to get from any American textbooks.
Malaysians need to be spoon-fed, pushed and pressured to study. So in a place such as Russia where one has almost complete freedom - you can only imagine how disastrous things can become.
Yea!
I agree with you.
We should really live like a med student here.
You will realise that actually most of the other international students(not all) have no prob after they start working.
Russian textbooks are good. Some of the newly published textbooks now are combined with america classifications with russian one. I personally inspired by the passion of some doctors here. They are really great!
I don't deny that most Russians patients are probably more knowledgeble than their Malaysian counterparts. What I meant by 'disadvantaged' was the standard of care offered by Russian healthcare somewhat lags behind that of the developed world and many countries in the developing world, Malaysia included. Like you said, Russians teach medicine to suit their local circumstances, where technology is lacking.
Furthermore, Russians use different classifications for conditions and illnesses. A person trained under the Russian sytem might therefore experience some problems adapting to medical norms of the Commonwealth/English-speaking nations, Malaysia included. I'm not trying to say that the Russian way of classifying things is inferior, its just that the nature of medicine necessitates the standardization of terminology to avoid miscommunication, which can have dire consequences.
Which is why I believe that while might take less effort to graduate as a doctor in Russia(...by cheating your way through), it's actually much more difficult to become one competent to practice medicine competently in the local context.
Jumping to conclusions is an extremely bad habit especially for one in the medical field. Unless you are actually a fellow medical student from Russia?
I mentioned about the different classifications. Better, more practical classifications. What I didn't mention is the fact that we're taught BOTH Russian and International classifications. Essentially, one should be able to walk out of this place fully equipped with the knowledge of standard medical terms. So trust me when I say, that the ONLY problem here as I've repeatedly mentioned is the mentality of most of the students here.
To say that technology in Russia is lacking is like saying the world is flat. Au contraire, it's pretty advanced. Have you taken into account that Moscow itself is home to roughly 10 million people, approximately half the total population of Malaysia?! The problem here lies in the level of poverty amongst the Russian population not so much the standard of healthcare.
Well, I'm not a Russian medical student. The only readon I seem to be jumping to conclusions is because I know little about medical education in Russia, having never experienced it first-hand. Most of what I know comes from my exchanges with house officers who graduated from the place, which I assumed to be correct. No offence intended.
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