An International Medical University (IMU) Alumnus from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Elden Pan, graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree (MBChB) in July 2014. He completed the first two and a half years in IMU before transferring to University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Here, he relates to us his experience studying in IMU and University of Aberdeen.
“Studying medicine at IMU was a really good experience. I attribute this to a combination of things, namely the good senior-junior relationships amongst students, knowledgeable and approachable lecturers, well-equipped library, variety of extra-curricular activities for students and ultimately, my batch mates and comrades who make-up the life line of the experience. If I were to compare my experience in University of Aberdeen, with that in IMU, I would say I would have still preferred my overall experience in IMU even though the education itself was better in Aberdeen.”
My most memorable event in IMU would be Orientation Week – this is where I got to know my batch mates and seniors well, and it made up the platform for many meaningful friendships over the next two and a half years.
I had mixed feelings on transferring to Aberdeen. On one hand, I was looking forward to all the new experiences that I would get overseas. On the other hand, I found it hard to leave home and my church family. I would say I got educated well in Aberdeen. I really appreciated how the emphasis was on clinical thinking and reasoning as opposed to how our Malaysian culture would approach education – that is by emphasising rote memory and familiarisation by sheer repetition. The Scots were friendly people and I built some friendships that I think will last a lifetime. The cold was certainly a challenge, but after a while I got used to it and would miss it occasionally – especially the cooling summer weather. 
On graduating, I felt a sense of the relief that the five years of hard work had come to an end and that I can take a short break before work gets even harder (such is the nature of the medical profession!).’ 
