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Visa Guidelines is back

Alhamdulillah, I got married to a lovely lady by the name of Sarah and we're enjoying our new phase in life since that momentous day.

And yeah, I graduated from the University of Nottingham and thus, escaping from the evil clutches of my medical school. woot2! probably needs a post on this as well but yeah, maybe later.

at the bottom of this blog, there is an article on visa guidelines for medical students graduated from UK medical schools under MARA scholarship who are planning to work as an FY1 doctor in the UK.

After all, it was my visa guidelines which i made 5 years ago that helped me to get to know a lot of people and for some, have now become my close friends. And it helped a lot of other people as well. So I hope that this guideline would ease your efforts a bit. Visa application is always confusing.

Scroll down to the bottom for the guideline

Monday, January 19, 2009

a thousand miles



I have this feeling inside of me. It's green. It's envy.

I envy those who have their friends since they were in kindergarten and they're still together.

I envy those who have their friends since high school and they're flying off to the same country.

I envy those who have their friends going to the same university.

It's envy. Green with envy.

I found myself thinking about this most of the time. Throughout my life, it seems like I have to restart all over again. I made new friends and I found myself leaving them when I have to go to another place. When I moved to Penang, when I moved back to Shah Alam, when I go to MRSM TGB, when I enroll in KMB and it will happen once again when I fly to UK, insya-Allah.

It's undeniable that I actually have this crazy thought of persuading my friends who'll be flying off to other countries to actually apply to UK; especially when I found out they can still apply through UCAS Clearing. A much crazier idea was to actuate my friends who are applying to universities other than mine to opt for Clearing and what's more demented is that I even consider myself to enter Clearing just so that I have a chance to go the same university as my friends.

Okay, so I can't actually do any of these. I'm still rational and these plans are not even realistic. I guess I just have to let them go. And it's indubitably that I'm going to miss them...

"Ukhwah itu indah bila bertemu dan berpisah kerana Allah"

The second.

photo by petecarr

19th January 09
KLCC
Liverpool

So the second interview didn't really intimidate me as much as the first. I did get a good sleep last night.

And so my mum and I went to KLCC and we really didn't know where Traders Hotel was; so we walked around the Ground floor to find the information centre and as we approached the glass windows where you can see the lovely park, there it was - Traders Hotel; located directly across the park.

So, I had a stroll around the KLCC park with my mum and I kind of enjoyed it cause it's been a long time since we went for a walk. How cool is that - Going for a walk in the park with your mum before facing a crucial medical interview?

Traders Hotel is definitely a place of high class. No wonder most UK universities held their interviews here. And here are my questions:

1. What has really made you want to do medicine? (I got the No. 1 question once again)
2. So, tell us, why Liverpool? (I did prepare for this question - PBL, city, multicultural and one answer which I can't believe I blurted it out "I want to experience the nightlife there" - Hahaha, yeah right)

And Liverpool actually had large proportion of their questions based on my personal statement.

3. In your PS, you stated that you had participated in several hospital attachments. Tell us about that.
4. You also mentioned that you went to Cambodia and you really like the children. How does that help you in becoming a doctor?
5. You also suffered bronchopneumonia which means you were a patient. So that must have given you a different perspective towards this profession.
6. You mentioned team spirit is vital. Please describe how teamwork is really important as a doctor.

Honestly, I was smiling everytime I hear bits of my PS being mentioned throughout interview. It's like - Yes! Finally! Something in the PS!

There were also some questions which I had to use my classmates as examples. Hehe.

7. Please describe any conflicts that you have faced in a team.
8. Do you prefer to be a leader or a follower?
9. Please describe any events during your exposure in the medical world which involves ethical arguments. (This is the hardest for me)

For Question 9, initially, I said "No, there aren't any" but the interviewer repeated the question and I knew I had to think of something quick. All in all, I managed to answer their questions and the interview took less than 15 minutes. And I have to say it was OK.

This time, I smiled enough and my eye contact was more controlled. Another problem though - my throat was dry. I guess the temperature was too cold. Maybe I should drink some water during the interview.

I realized something throughout my interviews. At times, I couldn't really hear every word uttered by the interviewers. Then I remembered my Eng Oral; Ms Nora once said that "Adlan, if you're talking fast like that, no one can get what you're trying to say". Well, if the interviewers talked fast too and I couldn't hear what they're trying to say, so that must mean they can hear what I say. Right? Because they talk faster than me. Never mind that.

Here's a tip for fellow readers, don't ever say "Can you please repeat the question?". Surely, the interviewers would be smiling and they would kindly repeat the question. But in their minds - "What the heck?", "You expect me to repeat the question which took me 5 minutes to ask you?" and "Repeat? Seriously, who's interviewing who?".

Instead, say "I beg your pardon, can you please clarify the question?" or look for the word "clarify" in the thesaurus and use it in the above sentence.

Choosing UK was quite a challenge for me. It wasn't a personal decision. I'm actually separating myself from my friends that'll be going to other countries. But when I have to make the final choice for my university, it's going to be personal; definitely...

22 reviews:

  1. congratz adlan 4 your success interview!!! i'm happy reading your blog. you look really appreciate your frenz..
    i'm so glad bcoz i get the chance to be one of your frenz.
    you will meet better frenz soon...
    hehe...=)

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks a lot dear anonymous!

    i do hope it was a success ;)
    i wonder who u r. sedihnye baca komen, huhu...

    ReplyDelete
  3. wah..tiba2 rasa nak jalan2 sama my mum..
    if only she can come here..and we take a stroll together near the new hair salon b4 my interview..hahaha

    anyway adlan..wish u all the best..
    reading ur post really inspired me a lot..
    thanx

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  4. haha, salon tu terdedah kot. open sgt la...

    inspired? really? wow, that's good!
    glad to hear that...
    and i wish u the very best too m.u.s.e ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. salam..., Adlan
    aku yg kau panggil burger.... skrang pun susah nak jumpa ! dah nak ke UK... tak pe lah..

    macam pun... TAHNIAH.

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks BURGER!

    jap, ble aku panggil kau burger??

    ReplyDelete
  7. congrats for getting the interview
    as well as you did it fabulously(based on what I have read)

    ReplyDelete
  8. huhu, thanks shahkang!

    i really hope it was fabulous...;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. salam...
    don't worry adlan...

    there'll be plenty of engineers and actuarists to accompany you...plus some of your medic friends as well =)

    insya-allah =)

    ReplyDelete
  10. but it's just not the same...

    ReplyDelete
  11. to perantau,

    i guess so, thanks cem...;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. seriously.. i know how u feel adlan.. the same things happen to me.. from greek to taiping.. to kmb.. n now to UK..

    huhu~ so sad.. sob sob (-_-)

    i'm going to miss all my frens.. huhu~~~

    ReplyDelete
  13. nice piece of work!

    hye adlan, i'm ur senior kt jasin dulu hahaha..

    cant recognize me? visit my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  14. thanks my name is KARL!

    yup, i do recognize u from ur pic...

    sure, i'll visit ur blog

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  15. Adlan!
    firstly, omedeto!!! do know that i'm quite jealous of you heading off the country doing what you want to do, savoring it all.
    man suddenly i teringat all those times masa form 3; angin suria, bibik, the mole, fair & lovely.. XD
    you know the hypocrite Aizen once 'said', "we're all like fireworks - rising, shining together, until we finally separate/scatter and fade.. so until that time comes, let's sparkle brightly." X)
    so when are you leaving? i'm suddenly hoping you'd get the same place as Imani.

    ReplyDelete
  16. fatema, is that u?? (i think so)

    haha, i remembered all that tp x ingat angin suria n fair & lovely...huhu

    Aizen said that? i must didn't catch that. nice quote though

    insya-Allah, i'll b flying off in September.

    thanks for dropping by! drop again soon...;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. oui, c'est moi X)
    how could you not? you were the one yg tiup ("fyuuuh~" i can still remember your face X) when we learnt that last chapter of Form Three Science, angin suria. Fair & Lovely was about the boy who stroke our ex-classmate's cheek.... dowan go there.
    okies. in the mean what are you up to, exams-? i always see Imani online but i can't chat.
    you know i'll be a regular visitor. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  18. i guess it was so humiliating that i forgot about angin suria...haha

    well, right now, i have tonnes n tonnes of revision needed to be done. the ultimate exam will be in may. so hectic though all i need to do now is revising

    yeah, i know that. i read other people's blogs too to keep up to date with them...;)

    ReplyDelete
  19. salam adlan, i am in liverpool right now, haha, i had been in your shoes barely a year ago, i can say that liverpool interview was the best among all...hope to see u here..n be prepared to live in pbl world if u choose to come here...but, it's worth trying a new system, hehe...

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  20. wslm shukur,

    yup, i found out from zaid n several other people that u're currently in liv. honestly, liv interview was very pleasant :)

    pbl does sound interesting...really. well, currently, i have one more interview to go to and i'm sure that i'll have a tough time choosing the final uni when the time comes. until then, i need to study for ib final exam. chasing time here, can't believe all the work that the teachers have in stored for us...;)

    ReplyDelete