Shock treatment looms

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 1,808 from the 15,500 SPM top scorers, who had applied for Public Services Department (PSD) medical scholarships, have been shortlisted to go through a “shock treatment” at government hospitals.
The students will undergo a mandatory three-day stint from Wednesday at the hospitals, including going to the mortuary and operation theatre.
The scholarship hopefuls will also be taken to other critical units in hospitals like the accident & emergency unit, outpatient clinic, and maternity and orthopaedic wards.
The students will be sent to 46 hospitals and will be required to do a written self-evaluation on their experience.
PSD director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Adam said they wanted the students to see doctors, among others, dealing with dead bodies, badly injured patients and also delivering babies to show them that one needed passion to become a good doctor.
“The stint will enable the students to know at the outset what being a doctor is all about and we will be able to choose those, who can really make it in the profession.
“Those who are still confident after familiarising themselves with the mortuary, operatingtheatre and other sections of the hospital will be called for the final interview,” said Ismail, who thanked the Health Ministry for its cooperation in facilitating the visits.
He told The Star that some of the scholarship applicants might not want to take up medicine after seeing what the profession entailed.
“Those who decide not to pursue medicine after the hospital stint would be allowed to apply for PSD scholarships in other fields,” he added.
Meanwhile, shortlisted candidates had started receiving letters from the PSD from Saturday – a day after the official closing date for scholarship applications.
PSD said those who had applied for scholarships to do medicine and had not received any letters, could check to see if they had been shortlisted for the hospital stint by calling the PSD Hotline at 03-8885 3397.
Those unable to attend the programme for any reasons should call the PSD hotline immediately to make alternative arrangements.