Toh Soo Eng, a Nurse Educator at Gleneagles Hospital Penang shares her experience studying nursing at IMU.
Recalling back to the year 2019, I was planning to pursue higher education in nursing. I told myself that I must pursue my education in a widely recognised university worldwide such as the International Medical University (IMU). Although many people said that the IMU programme has an overwhelming number of assignments, I took the challenge and enrolled myself for its Bachelor of Nursing Science Post Registration programme. During the face-to-face weeks, I would take a flight from Penang to KL and stay nights in a hotel near IMU. This was the time when I truly enjoyed meeting my course-mates from other hospitals in various states. After one semester, I adapted well with the momentum of studying even though I had not been studying for many years. As a working adult and having a family to look after, I must thank my husband who supports me well. He helped me by taking care of our kids so that I could concentrate on completing my studies.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, all classes were converted to virtual or online. I was upset as I was not able to physically meet up with my course-mates and lecturers. Nonetheless, the nursing faculty and staff were very supportive and caring towards us in many aspects. IMU had done so much in helping its students go through the challenging period in ensuring that students are able to cope and complete their studies. In spite of that, there were times when I felt so lost when completing my assignments that I shared my concerns with my lecturer, Dr Chang Woan Ching. Dr Chang gave me lots of encouragement and guided me throughout my studies. She also followed up on my progress to ensure that I am coping well. This makes me feel so touched and grateful to have such a compassionate lecturer who not only care for my study progress but also my well-being.
My learning philosophy is “it is never too late to learn a skill or gain knowledge, for every place that you’ve gotten or people that you have encountered, there will be something that you can learn from that experience, big or small”.
The knowledge and advanced skills that I have learnt from the Nursing Science programme have further enhanced my professional development. Besides, the Teaching and Learning modules helped me to recognise the learning models and different learning styles, and strategies to conduct teaching. These modules guided me to become an effective nurse educator in the hospital.
In conclusion, my experience in IMU was wonderful. I thank God for giving me the wisdom to complete my studies with a merit award. I thank all the nursing faculty who had supported and guided me over the 2 years of studies at IMU. I am delighted to be graduated from IMU and trust me; you will never regret choosing IMU as your preferred university!
Written by Toh Soo Eng, Nurse Educator at Gleneagles Hospital Penang Reviewed and edited by Dr Chang Woan Ching
