The University of Queensland

The Medical School

You have to pardon an excited mama as she talks about the memories of her daughter's journey in her medical school in Brisbane.
Students from the International Medical School (IMU) enter the twinning medical programme in UQ as a fourth year undergraduate and some I believe receive their daily lectures at a centre away from the main campus at St. Lucia. This is the medical school parked next to Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital (RBWH) where some undergraduates undergo their clinical training. I had often wondered where it was when Grace said " The school is just next to the hospital...". Last week I had a good look at the place and took some shots for memory. To Grace, I was overdoing but I thought it would be good to share with some students who may be interested in the programme.
I kept asking Grace what happens to the local students who wanted to pursue a medical degree after a health science related degree and she confirmed that they had to begin with year 1. Wow, IMU has done a good job by striking a programme for her students to enter as a fourth year student albeit getting a medical science degree was mandatory for the programme. I was also told that the local students were upset about the arrangement as they seem to lose out in the arrangement. So, for those who are intersted in a twinning programme with Australia through IMU, this would be a fine arrrangement. A friend of Sara also informed me that IMU has obtained another partnership with ANU, Canberra based on the same arrangement.
To think that Grace nearly missed out on this programme when earlier on we forgot to sign for an overseas partner programme. Later, when I got to see the registrar to change her status, it took a big part of me to persuade and plead. But that was the past. But it was an important past cos with that change in decision, it meant she could practise in Singapore as well as in Australia.

This is a shot of RBWH and I must admit it is indeed old ... physically. Our very own Sunway Medical Centre beats it flat...the girls laughed at me when I compared. "Mum, is there a need to compare? No comparison la!"

When Grace drove into the grounds of the medical school, I looked at it with good feelings as it was the building that she received her training and teaching.

At the front , it was clearly stated of its association with UQ's Health Sciences faculty.

Just after that, a statue of the great Greek Physician, Hippocrates, portrayed UQ's connection to medicine and a calling to teach her protege with integrity and dignity.

A glimpse of the entrance to the Medical School boasts of a state of Art and steadfastness. I was glad of being given a chance to see the building although really my excitement was not well received by the girls. " Eh, Ma...this one also must take, ah?" Must...they do not understand that it's my personal journal of part of their lives...that part that is shared with me...



But of course, there was a good reason why Grace brought us there. It was the place to collect our tickets to her convocation on 22July2009.

St. Lucia

The main campus for undergraduates of UQ is at St. Lucia. Like any other university in the country, it houses international students of all colours. Grace told me the local students prefered QUT and Griffith while UQ has more foreign ones. I personally would go for a state universtiy cos I am old fashioned...I like old , reliable things and people.

Daddy noticed a range of micro wave ovens displayed at the student centre and many Asian students cooking instant noodles...to which when I suggested to the girls would they do that... I received the gravest ever comment on my stinge. Actually, it's not the stinge...it was rather their ability to go through difficult challenges and finding a way out and also the ability to put up with lesser things in life. I was sorely misunderstood.

This is part of the campus ground where students gather for connection and play. I remember this place quite well because it was the very place that I waited for Grace to finish her mental health paper when she first went there in 2007. I prayed almost every moment throughout the paper. My sister in Penang has been a bulwark of strength and our prayers for Grace were heard and answered throughout her medical studies. It was indeed by the grace of God that she made it. I also remembered taking 2 buses with her to St. Lucia from Chermside on a cold, chilly morning at 6am for her paper at 9am in St. Lucia. At home, it would have been peanuts to send her to her exam centre. But in Brisbane, where things were foreign and expensive, she had to rely on public transport. I wept cos I could not bear to see her having to trudge in the cold and to take so many buses before she arrived at the exam hall. The following year, I insisted that daddy went to Brisbane to help her get a second hand car to help her through the various hospital postings and to make life easier. These are the things parents do for their children and you would if you were one, I believe.

So, this is part of the story of the past for Grace's stay in Brisbane... a good place.