MAHSA UNIVERSITY MBBS INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE 2014

A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.

That's right! My journey started when I decided to enrol into MAHSA University. I'm with MAHSA for 6 years; because I started my Foundation in Science in MAHSA with an additional 5 years MBBS course. Sorry that I took too long time to post this. I was just busy and editing a blogpost is hectic for me. I hope this post is still relevant after 5 long years :O

After completing my foundation studies, I signed up for MBBS course in MAHSA. The staff told me to just wait for them to contact for the interview. The interview was divided into weeks to accommodate those candidates who applied and naturally they gave priority to their own students first (those taking Foundation in Science) before opening them up to those who take A-Levels/Form 6/MUFY/equivalents.

If I'm not mistaken the interview took place in between June to August (can't really remember). I was busy in the first week of that month itself due to my piano exams thus I requested them to reschedule the interview for me. 

My batch was the first batch who had this interview session to enlist their students. Previous batches did not have such interviews. To be honest, I was afraid of interviews because of the type of question they could ask. What if they asked me on this issue? What if I'm tongue-tied? Blah blah. Some of my classmates rang up the university to ask what is the format of the interview like; but people just brushed them off. "It's just a formality, don't worry; you will pass the interview."

Even though I was told that it was just a formality, I still took some effort to prepare some questions and answers. I don't want to look bad in front of the interviewers! Until today, I still find it funny that I actually wrote down a whole list of possible questions and answers and memorizing them so that I could answer their question. Well, nothing wrong to be prepared in the first place. I was preparing to let it go, as I'm not that type who memorizes answers and present them flawlessly. 

The interview took place in MAHSA Jalan Universiti Campus 6th floor. (Now the main campus has been relocated to Saujana Putra) The ushers brought the interview candidates to a quarantine room and when it is your turn, they will bring into a separate room itself. As I entered the room, I saw there were already 2 other candidates in the room accompanied by their parents. I smiled at them and asked for their names. Yiying and Afiq. They were my future classmates :)

We were assigned a call number and I was the second candidate of that afternoon. As I was alone there, their parents asked me, where's your father? I just smiled at them and replied, at KFC. (Hahaha) I took the chance to ask them, "Did you prepare anything for the interview?" They shook their heads and look at me in shock. "Need to prepare one ah?" We waited until the clock ticked 2:05pm and it was Yiying's turn to enter the interview room. I whispered to her, "Good luck!"

15-30 minutes seemed very fast. Finally it was my turn. On my way towards the interview room, I bumped into Yiying and asked her how was it. She said it was okay but there's some questions she could not answer. She was asked a question on fogging.

"Hmmm. Fogging. ULV, diesel, water based fogging. Okay, I know this." I thought to myself as I was walking into the room.

I greeted my interviewers and they introduced themselves. "This is Dato Dr Thuraiappah (Dato. Dr. Daniel Thuraiappah), this is Prof Haresh Kumar and this is Prof Rao (Prof Venugopala Rao). 

The first question they asked is, "Tell me about yourself." I gave a short introduction about me, but they wanted to know more about my family so I just topped up that information. And there goes the most commonly asked question of all time, "Why do you want to be a doctor?" I gave them loads of answer from what I prepared the previous week. About 5 main reasons. I can't really remember what answer did I gave. 

Commonly people will answer things like;
-Because I am passionate about medicine
-Because I want to save lives
-Because my role model inspired me
-I want to be like my role model
-I want to contribute to society

and etc. There is no right or wrong answer in such questions. These questions are meant to be open-ended. However, believe me. After interviewing around 200 candidates; the interviewer is bound to be bored. I honestly wished that I can remember what I answered! The answers I prepared were told in the way that it was slightly different from the common. 

Anyways, one of the answer I gave was, there will be always sick people. The interviewers laughed when I said that. I laughed along with them. It's true that doctors won't be out of jobs because the Malaysian population is increasing throughout the years; and with more people there would also be an increase in the sick and elderly. Way back in 2014, we've heard that there is many medical schools in Malaysia and the government might not be able to house all of the medical graduates, thus the glut of doctors. To be honest, there isn't enough training hospitals to house all the medical graduates and yet we have limited doctors to serve the patients. If there are enough doctors, then why doctors are still living hectic lifestyle treating hundreds of patients daily? The irony. 

Alright back to topic. They asked a few questions concerning current issues. This is why it is important for us medical students to not only update ourselves on medical knowledge but also our general knowledge. 

They gave me a scenario and I was expected to answer it. 

"A 16 year old girl came to your clinic and requested for oral contraceptive pills. What would you do?"

"I would give it to her. OCPs are readily available over-the-counter and if I don't give it to them they could also get it somewhere else. However, before giving it to her, I want to know why she wanted it in the first place and I can counsel her accordingly."

Disclaimer : When I attended this interview, I do not have any knowledge on Medical ethics/law. All my answers are solely due to my own opinion at the time before I started my medical degree. 

He continued,

"2 months later, the same girl came back to your clinic; now accompanied by her mother. Her mother complains that her daughter missed her period and she wanted to find out why. What would you do next?"

"I would check when is her last normal menstrual cycle; whether it is regular or not and I would want to find out if she had any sexual intercourse in the past few months."

The interviewer asked me, "Do you want to ask this in front of her mother?" 

Immediately I was like oh! "I would ask the mother to leave the room first."

"So, now the girl admitted she had sexual intercourse. What would you do next?"

"I would do a urine pregnancy test to confirm if she is pregnant."

"Very well. The urine pregnancy test turned out to be positive. The girl seeks for an abortion. What would you advise her? Do you agree with her decision?"

"I would advise her against it. I do not agree with her decision."

"Why?"

"Under the Malaysian law, it is illegal to undergo abortion unless it is life-threatening to the mother."

"So, you suggest that the girl continues her pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"What if the mother suspects that her fetus has a chromosomal defect like Down's syndrome? Do you still insist with your decision?"

"Yes."

At that point of time, I only know that child abortion is illegal.

"What if she still insists?"

"I would counsel her first."

"After counselling what if she still insists?"

I stopped for a moment before blurting out,

"I would refer her to a specialist!"

They laughed. I just smiled because I know I gave an incorrect answer but I didn't know how to answer anymore. I couldn't remember what happened next. Anyways, I insisted on my decision of not performing the abortion unless the exception as I've mentioned earlier. I always believe that a doctor's job is to save lives; not take lives. 

They did not ask me further on this topic and another interviewer took over to give me a new scenario. 

"You are working at a local clinic, in a 'Klinik Kesihatan'. There is a rise in dengue cases in Selangor. What would you suggest?"

I gave answers like inspecting dengue prone areas, educating the public, creating awareness through campaigns blah blah. Typical answers from what we learnt from high school. And I added in, "Fogging dengue prone areas." 

They just nodded. I did not add in stuff like fogging with water-based/diesel based chemical, Ultra Low Volume spray etc. *cough* might not be the answer they want even though I have the knowledge. Nevertheless I just allowed them to continue. 

"Fogging can be costly at times. Do you have any other cheaper alternatives?"

"Alternative? Yes, of course. We can use mosquito repellent, however it does not kill mosquitoes."

"Alright. Any other alternative which does not cost money?"

I was stunned for a moment before I composed myself and continued. 

"Serai/lemongrass plant is also effective in repelling mosquitoes."

And he asked, "Haven't you heard of mosquito nets?"

I just smiled and nodded. Eh wait!! Mosquito nets are not free!! You still gotta buy them! It's only free if you took them from your grandmother or you make them yourself! Wait, even if I make them, I still gotta buy the materials, right?  I thought to myself. Should I argue back? Later they beh shiok gao me then how? (My apologies, this is my monologue thus the grammar :P)


That's the amount of thoughts that went through in my mind for 5 seconds. After that, I guessed the 15-30 minutes time was up and they said, "Okay! That is the end of the interview. Do you have any questions to ask?"


I shook my head. 

"Alright, I guess that's it. Good luck! Study hard and you will be an excellent doctor in future."

"Thank you, Prof!" 

I bowed and left the interview. I sighed a relief and smiled. I quickly went out of the interview room to meet Yiying but to my disappointment, she went back. Silly me, I forgot to get her contact information. 

Shortly after, Afiq asked me how was the interview, however due to time constraint, he went in immediately after me. I guess Yiying did briefed him. 

Can't remember whether they contacted me to mention I passed the interview. I guess no? Since the marketing department kept saying that it was just a formality? Long story short, I was enrolled into the medical faculty in Sept 2014. In a blink of an eye; 5 years passed and I've graduated in Aug 2019.

During Year 2 or 3, we actually sat down and reminisce our interview moments with MAHSA University. There, you would actually find that some answered the questions in a funny way. Wrong answers, and not knowing know how to answer questions and things like that. Some of us looked back and wondered how we passed the interview. The questions were rotated daily; eg: other students had similar questions with me for that day, but different from the previous day. I'm still curious what did MAHSA asked to the rest of my batchmates. 

The purpose of the interview is just to test your communication skills, not how vast your knowledge is. To be honest, how many of us understood what is patient's autonomy, beneficience etc before learning about medical ethics? What about Gillick's competence? I can tell you that I have zero knowledge on this topic before I started medical school. Whatever I know is based on general reading and from discussion with my parents. 

My friends in Monash University (2014 interview) told me that their medical interview is different from MAHSA as they were tested in communication skills, critical thinking but they were not asked on things involving medical ethics. Now I'm not sure whether MAHSA University still conducts MBBS interview in this manner but I think it's a great way to kickstart the student's interest in medical ethics. 

It is 2019 now, I'm no longer sure how relevant this article will be. MAHSA may have changed their interview format, I do not know. If you have chosen this field, be prepared. Anyways, don't be nervous and good luck! I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. 


Signing out, 
Amaryllisrue