Securing My Dream Job with an IMU MSc in Molecular Medicine

My name is Joyce Chin. I am currently undertaking my postgraduate programme – MSc in Molecular Medicine (MMM) at IMU. Since young, I’ve always thought that being a scientist is a job that is too far-fetched for a person like me. Hence, it was never an ambition to me until I graduated with a Bachelor in Biotechnology. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work in a research laboratory for 4 years, in which my interest in science grew. What I caught on from venturing into the scientific field is “learning beyond borders”. I was wrong to think to myself that if I finished reading a textbook I will have all the knowledge I need for the topic. Apparently that is not the case in science. There are close to trillions of mutations taking place in our body every single day and this modification happens in every second of our life due to external and internal stimulation. So, it is really impossible to discover every piece of information or even to compress them into a single textbook. There are always new discoveries and new knowledge announced by the scientific community through paper publication almost every single day in our lives. Hence, if you are curious enough, keen to learn, explore and discover, this could be an interesting journey for you.

I have journeyed along with this course for two years, and my most memorable learning experience would be learning about Schrodinger in silico drug discovery course with Dr Vasu, I remembered coming to campus on Saturday and spending close to a full day in campus.

Most people wouldn’t like the idea of spending the weekend on campus, but it was surprisingly a fun time learning this hands-on course that was beyond just sitting for a lesson, but knowing what you’re learning is an application used in other pharmaceutical sectors.

It has definitely opened my eyes to how drug was discovered and how to fiddle with the drug chemical structure, hoping to create drugs which have more potent effect. This is clearly a taught course that you are signing up for, you basically get to learn different aspects of the human disease from immunology, molecular, drug discovery, therapeutic and so on. It has been a great exposure to knowing these aspects through online discussion, presentation, and projects. One thing that I am thankful for is that the lecturers at IMU are helpful and friendly, which had been a great help in answering all my queries and curiosity about the different topics. We all need someone in life that would mould us and guide us to a greater height, I believe this is a suitable place for you if you are interested in expanding your knowledge about human disease, as well as getting involved with research.

Eventually, my journey of pursuing MSc in Molecular Medicine had secured me my dream job as a cytogenetic technologist especially since I came from a non-medical background. Malaysia had their very first lockdown during my last semester when I would be embarking on my research module.

I was fortunate to have proposed my interest in computational data analysis and was still able to complete my course without much hindrance. The opportunity I had to work on data analysis had increased my employability with my current employer.

I managed to graduate from this course without much hindrance despite of the pandemic partly due to the structure of the course where most lessons, assignments and discussions can be carried out online and it is mostly individual effort, where the saying goes “you sow what you reap”. Since this module is designated for working adults, lecturers in this module encourages interaction and sharing, which enables more viewpoints from people of different background and industries. I experienced a steep learning curve in my pursuit of this course considering my shift from biotechnology to molecular medicine.

Written by Chin Seow Fong (IMU MSc Molecular Medicine alumna)