This is one inspirational story that motivated me to score full marks for my A and P UT this coming tuesday.
Ngee Ann poly showed two capable students who made it into yong loo lin sch of med.
This yr, Sp produced another competent student who managed to secure a place in nus sch of med.
He stated he wants to work in the emergency department, because he prefers frontline work. Same as me.
Very soon, u'll see me as RP's first med student. If they can do it, why can't i, or why cant us? "Believe in yourself, and you will achieve ur goal. This is something i truely behold.
I have always wanted to be a scientist when i was as young as pri 3, i was inspired by my very first sci textbks that brought me to the amazing world of science. Reading encyclopedias became my hobby and u'll find me in the science dept in the lib.
I rmb when i was pri 6 SARS striked and it killed many doctors, and there was a show acted by fann wong and ping hui called 无焱的爱. She almost sacrificed herself because of the SARS virus. I knew that ttsh was the hospital n that became the one stop centre for those patients. That had always been my dream hospital.
i've decided to take chem and bio for my sec subjects.
teachers always teased and called me doctor Ng.
I also didnt stop my ambitions from growing even wilder, i've decided to take on biotech in poly.
A few trips to the A and E dept earlier this yr pushed me even more, because the doctors there were good! hehe~ i want to be one of them!
Attachments in the virus lab, sharing my iep exp with my juniors, gg for spring awards, and student helpers and many more.
reading successful stories about med students motivated and pushed me even more.
as YOG advertisements said, everyone has an enemy, yourself. yes, myself! beat it and we will soar high!
Time to wake up from my dreams!!!!!! wait! its good to dream, as the phrase goes... 人因为梦想而伟大, am i right?
so its gd to dream big! and make it come true.
all the best to the medical student, and to others who have great ambitions and are in the midst of achieving them!
Enjoy! cr: RP news
AsiaOne, 7 June 2010
First S'pore Poly grad to get into NUS med school
By LIM WEI LI
THE path less travelled has led him to medical school.
Desmond Thiam, 20, is the first Singapore Polytechnic (SP) graduate to be admitted into the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
He is among a rare few who have taken this route. In 2007, The New Paper reported that two Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduates were the first poly graduates to make it to medical school.
Desmond obtained a diploma in biomedical science earlier this month.
He said that his ambition to be a doctor stemmed from watching his grandmother struggle to bring him up while she was saddled with many health problems.
He is the only child in a single-parent family.
His parents separated when he was in primary school.
His mother, who works in IT, was the sole breadwinner, leaving his grandmother to take care of him since he was two.
Sacrifices
He said: "For the past 18 years, my grandmother's sacrifices and endeavours were a source of motivation and strength for me to strive on in the face of continuous hurdles.
"Watching her suffer from multiple health problems, including depression and arthritis, helped me empathise with the elderly and made me want to do more for them."
Desmond's compassion for the elderly extended to school activities.
He was the organising chairman of "Health Mapping Exercise", an ongoing community service project that the polytechnic organised with the Singapore Heart Foundation.
Between 2007 and early this year, he went from door to door at HDB blocks with one- and two-room flats all over Singapore, screening residents' heart rate, and blood glucose and cholesterol levels to check for health problems.
He found that many of the elderly residents suffered from very high blood pressure.
He termed them "walking time bombs" because their condition was so severe they could suffer heart attacks or strokes any time.
He said: "Many of these patients reminded me of my grandmother and what it was like for her. They were a group of neglected people.
Several residents were aware of their condition, but they had no money to pay for medicine.
"We gathered data and presented it to the grassroots leader, who referred them to the relevant organisations to follow up."
Desmond graduated with an L1R5 score of 5 from Commonwealth Secondary School, which would have qualified him easily for the science stream of top junior colleges here.
But he chose to study biomedical science at SPas he wanted to focus on his area of interest.
His mother supported his decision because she felt that such a course would be more practical, given his interests.
Desmond thinks his honesty and compassion were probably the qualities that impressed his interviewers at NUS.
Tough interviews
He was one of three students shortlisted by the poly to go for interviews at NUS's medical faculty.
He said that the interviews were tough as he was asked technical questions that he could not answer.
He said: "I told them honestly that I did not know the answers to the technical questions.
"They also asked me many other questions... on topics like euthanasia and why I wanted to be a doctor. I think the important part was how I took a stand on the issues."
He hopes to become a doctor in an emergency department as he prefers frontline work.
He said: "My experiences have taught me that warmth, compassion and understanding are crucial aspects of being a doctor, more so than the surgeon's knife or chemist's drug."
Madam Mah Mon Moey, the course manager of the diploma of biomedical science at SP and one of Desmond's lecturers, said that he was a highly motivated student.
She said: "He is a team player and an inspirational leader, who has impressed his lecturers with his ability to juggle numerous co-curricular activities while maintaining an excellent academic performance."
Desmond's grandmother died in February this year and didn't live to see his achievement.
She was 70.
He said of the two women who brought him up: "Without them, I would not be who I am today."
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