NUS Medicine Welcome Tea

Just a quick update, I have gone for the NUS Medicine Welcome Tea a few days ago and was hoping to share my experiences here. Despite the increasing involvement of technologies, I have yet to see anything regarding NUS Medicine Welcome Tea to prepare myself better.

Hopefully, this short post would give you an understanding of the Welcome Tea!

First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS to those who have made it to NUS Medicine :)! Getting here is not easy, and that is just the start of a lifelong journey!

Anyway, once you are made an offer to study NUS Medicine, you will be invited to this event regardless of whether you accept this eventually or not (I mean who will not accept it, right? But still, there are some people who do!).

Once you’re there, you basically wait for the Professor of the Medicine school to come down (I think the Dean or Assistant Dean came down) and he will be giving you the reasons why you should join NUS Medicine.

A few initiatives they were going to implement this academic year is the opportunity to do caregiver training! Sounds exciting right? Apparently, the majority of the people there (~90%) said they would go for this training. For me, not really! I had these training in my nursing attachment!

Nonetheless, he also mentioned a few changes that are going to happen in the school and how we will be the caring doctors the society needs. After that, the seniors from NUS Medicine gave a sharing about how life is as a Medicine student and how Medicine is not just about books (I mean why would people have that misconception? Okay, maybe being too long in Nursing helps me understand the Medicine students schedule better, and hence that dissociation from the mainstream perceptions), but also fun!

Once the sharing was over, we were split into groups (tagged right from the start at the registration counter) and we moved around MD6 for a tour! The tour essentially is like what HOP2016 is! They showed us the simulations that we will use in the future (labor simulation, Harvey, resuscitation, dummy machines that can recreate conditions, intubation and blood drawing simulations). Got the opportunity to do intubation again and also to draw blood! Looks easy, but there are definitely a lot of consideration when it comes to applying the theoretical part to it.

Besides the simulations, we were also showed how our batch might be the first to use virtual reality for anatomical dissections and how these exposures can be effective and beneficial for us.

Once we were done, we headed off to the BUFFET! Haha, honestly, the fried fish was super delicious! I think that was my highlight of the buffet haha.

Managed to meet two new friends who will be accepting NUS Medicine, and will be going for MEDICAMP! MEDICAMP is going to take place in the first week of July and I cannot wait for it! So excited!

BBDC – BTT theory

About 2 weeks ago, I booked my Basic Theory Test (BTT) at BBDC.

2 days ago, I did questions to revise my knowledge for BTT after a 2-week respite from it. Surprisingly, I still remembered most of the information and managed to hit a 90% passing score.

Today, as I sat for the paper, I literally clicked the answer before I even finished the question. I guess that’s one good thing about the practice papers.

For those who have yet to take the exam, BTT and FTT are done at level 2 room 1. The rooms will be opened 15 minutes prior the actual time (so be there early!).

Once you’re there, you would need to produce your pink IC and they would look for the sheet of paper with your computer station and your password is also indicated within. Once you’re settled down, they will brief you on the exam procedure and just wait for the screen to prompt for your password.

Once entered, you are ready to go!

BTT is quite easy. For those who did practice questions (from the book or from the practice booklets the school has), you would be able to clear within a span of 10 minutes plus. I managed to finish it in 5 minutes but checked for the next 5 to prevent me from getting careless (and then having to re-book the whole thing again).

AFTER GOING THROUGH TODAY’S EXPERIENCE, ONE TIP I WOULD GIVE FOR THOSE TAKING BTT (AND ARE SUPER CONFIDENT OF PASSING) is to GET A NUMBER FOR Provisional Driving License (PDL) REGISTRATION.

Seriously, the Queue machine is beside the exam room, and there’s no harm getting the queue number first.

For me, I didn’t know about that. By the time I exited and get my Queue number, there were already 30 odd people in front of me. If I had taken my number first, I would be done within 30 minutes or so. However, I didn’t get my PDL until almost 2 hours later.

PDL registration is quite fast. All they did was to check if you are wearing glasses, made sure you can tell the colors from the chart and tested a bit on your visual acuity (with specs if you have). Upon completion of the eye checks, you will need to pay $25 via NETS or some cashcard (I think?) and they’ll print your PDL for you.

It is literally like a sheet of paper, just with your information on it.

Oh, while looking for a photo image of the PDL to show you guys how it looks like, I stumble across this photo (from http://drivingsg.blogspot.sg/2011/11/theory-in-nutshell.html)

Image Credits to drivingsg.blogspot.sg

As you can see in the highlighted portion, he said he made a mistake laminating the PDL. Regardless, he later further commented that it’s okay if you laminated it, but you would need to provide a permanent marker for the instructor to mark the dates down on the PDL.

For me, I decided to keep it sealed in a zip-lock bag to prevent the ink from getting erased. One of my friends had that problem, and he was not allowed to participate in the driving classes until that has been rectified.

Anyway, back to the topic, I managed to get 49/50 for my BTT! And I have my PDL! It’s time to start booking my driving classes!

Oh wait… I do not have enough credits in my account to book from home…

 

EDIT: Okay, omg. I would need to go back to BBDC to settle my PDL again -__-

EDIT2: Okay, after a bit more investigation, I discovered that the system has yet to update itself, so I’m just going to wait and see how things goes over the coming week. Otherwise, I guess it’s another trip to BBDC!

10 minutes before 12

A few days ago, I was hanging around Brightsparks forum when a noticed that people had already been given an offer to study Medicine in NUS. I was so anxious (and excited) at the same time thinking that my results would have been released as well.

I headed over to the Joint Acceptance Portal and log in.

Nothing, no offers.

I then start to feel sad and worried that my dream of studying Medicine in NUS is going to be crushed. Again and badly.

I was hanging out with my friends til late at night until one of my friends came to check on me. Curious, I asked why that sudden concern. It was later revealed that another friend had been accepted and because one of my friends did not hear back from me, the assumption was made to be a negative one.

I headed over to the forum and checked the board again.

Turns out, I was supposed to check it from myaces portal instead of the Joint Acceptance Portal given that transfer applications would be notified differently. Knowing this, I immediately reset my password to myaces portal (because I have forgotten about it) and logged in.

After clicking the “Application Status” button, my anxiety and nervousness were greeted with a huge dismay. The page was seemingly the same as what I had a few days ago. I headed back to the forum and one of the transfer students asked me about my application status. He asked if my status was changed to “has been processed” and I told him that it had always been that.

His reply threw me off.

Mine was processing but changed to processed around 6 I think! No results though as the myaces page is not update yet >< let’s hope for the best 🙂

Oh! No wonder mine looked a bit different when I logged in.

Turns out, my application status when I checked that time was “HAS BEEN PROCESSED” and it had been changed from “Is processing”.

Further digging and information provided by this transfer student made me realized that the portal will update at 12 midnight and the results would be out.

Turns out, application status does indicate something. “HAS BEEN PROCESSED” tells you that either you have been accepted or rejected. However, you would need to wait til 12 midnight for the myaces portal to be updated to view.

Thankfully for me, I didn’t have to wait very long. The time was 11.50pm when I made this surprising discovery.

Let me tell you.

That 10 minutes wait was surely not the most pleasant feeling. I knew the outcome was either an acceptance or rejection. No in between.

Multiple thoughts flooded through my mind, recalling the days of my interview.

Did I do so badly that I got rejected? But I remembered the interviewers being quite impressed? Maybe it was that few stations which had little impact?

For some reason, I already knew at the back of my head that I would be accepted. However, I don’t want to hold onto this thought, only to be smashed in the face with a rejection. This was my form of protection.

5 minutes left.

My breathing was going insane. If you were to take my vitals, I think my heart rate would hit above 100, blood pressure exceeding 140/90, respiratory rate above 20. Maybe it was high. But I know my heart was going to come out and I felt difficult to breathe.

Nonetheless, I managed to calm myself a bit just before I go into shock.

When the clock struck 12, I quickly alighted from my bus stop and logged in.

Initially, I thought I the application status would be changed to “Outcome has been released”. However, seeing that the “application has been processed” made me kind of sad.

But, I noticed that application status page was slightly longer than usual.

Guess what?

I GOT ACCEPTED INTO MEDICINE!

After 4 long years, 14 rejections, thousands of dollars spent on various entry examinations and applications, days of being so sad and depressed; I finally got in!

I think Jeremy Renner’s gif definitely described how I felt that day.

I wanted to accept my application immediately. However, to play safe, I headed back home to do it.

Oh boy. This was one intense night. I had to spend 30 minutes logging in and out to check, taking screenshots sending to my friends, making sure that I did not read it wrongly.

I FINALLY GOT ACCEPTED!!!! AND I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT IT 😀

With both feet into Medicine, now it’s time to focus on being the best doctors I can ever be and achieve the many goals I’ve set!

Lost sleep for the entire night form the excitement, but I guess all is worth it :)!

 

Driving with BBDC (I)

After so many months of contemplating, I have finally decided to move my lazy ass up to Bukit Batok Driving Centre and start preparing myself for the driving license.

I tried looking for more information online, from websites to blog, to help me understand and make better decisions (and get more understanding about the process), but couldn’t find anything useful except for a few blogs.

As such, I would be sharing my experiences throughout this process and hope it really helps you understand better!

Disclaimer: This information provided here (and the subsequent posts) are not of 100% accuracy. If you want more accurate information, you can always call the driving schools for more details.

One fine day, you decided to sign up for classes for a driving license and you have absolutely no idea what to do…

So, now what?

Firstly, you can look for schools which you can go to (Regardless of you taking private or public lessons because whatever administrative stuffs needed will and can only be settled by public schools!) and drop by their places and register.

Among all the schools, I’ve picked BBDC because CDC (the one in ubi) is closing down soon (and will be relocated to Kovan) and the other one in Woodlands is too far for me. I would rather go to BBDC. Based on the stats their staff showed me, majority (80-95%) of students passed the theory and practical test within one try. Time, being one important factor, made me decided to opt for school instead.

Getting there

Anyway, to go to BBDC, head over to Bukit Gombak MRT station, walk towards the left (when you tap out) and you’ll see a long queue (or maybe not, but there’s a small A4 size sign) for the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus comes every 20 minutes and it starts at 0650 each day. If you happened to miss the shuttle bus, I would suggest taking public transport (187,188, 945, 985) there.

Once you’re there

Go over to the informational counter, tell them you want to register for a driving license and they’ll give you a queue number. I would suggest going during the weekdays before lunch (i.e. 12pm) or after dinner (prob 7-8pm?) because there would be lesser waiting time.

Stage 1: Consultation phase

Once your number flashes on the screen, you’ll proceed to the first counter. This is the counter where the staff will talk to you about their school and how their school is actually better and cheaper. They also cover important aspects which I think it would be good to find out from them.

This is also the time where you need to decide between manual (takes an average about 25 practical lessons before sitting for practical) or automatic (About 20 lessons).

Oh yah, the license I’m taking is class 3A (meaning a license that allows me to drive automatic motorcars [or cars]). Most of the information I share thereafter refers to license 3/3A only. So if you’re interested in other licenses, you can pop by the counter and ask.

*One more difference between manual and auto is that there will be an extra auto lesson for those taking manual*

At the same time, here’s some important information which I should share with you as well.

Image courtesy from BBDC

Above is the training structure of the course for license 3/3A. I think for different licenses, there will be different structures (and they might change over time), so keep a look out on their website!

Throughout the entire course, you can choose to take private theory and practical or both by the school or you can mix (i.e. private theory, school practical and vice versa). However, fees are applicable (check with school!)

If you choose to take theory in school…

You would need to attend BTL (basic training lesson) 1.01 and 1.02 (~$17 each module) and FTL (final training lesson) 2.01 and 2.02 before you can apply for the FTT (final theory test).

On top of that, in order to sit for the BTT (basic theory test), which will allow you to apply for PDL (provisional driving license – license that allows you to practice driving), you would need to pass (90% grade) the school’s very own evaluation (~$5 per paper).

Essentially,

BTT practice (optional) > BTT evaluation (compulsory for school students) >BTT (actual)

BTT (Actual) + BTL (1.01 and 1.02) + FTL (2.01 and 2.02) + FTT practice (optional)> FTT evaluation (for school students) > FTT (actual)

Once you’re done with FTT + practical driving evaluation by the school = Traffic police practical test.

Passing the practical test = Driving license! (woohoo! Meh, looks like I’m still far from it)

If you’re worried about passing the evaluation test, fret not, you can book practice sessions and attend them (~$3 each session, 4 sets of paper for practice).

• Each paper comes with 70 questions (Except for one set with 50+)
• Each paper can be done up to 3 times (I think)
• Personally, I booked 2 sessions (1 session do 2 sets and redid once per set to familiarize)
  • Prior that, I spent1-hourr scanning through the BTT book (free from the school if you decided to take theory under them) before I went ahead with the sessions.
• And you can take them on the day you register and open account!
• I cramped 2 sessions (Each about 45 mins, with 10 min break in between session) of practice together before squeezing the evaluation immediately after!
• Most questions were repeated so it was easy to get 50/50

Once you clear BTT, you can apply for PDL.

If you decided to take private BTT…

Then you would need to find your own study materials and practice. One of my friends signed up under private and had to borrow materials from my other friends to study. Also, she would not need to take the other lessons for BTT and FTT.

All she have to do, is to self-study, apply for BTT and FTT, pass them and apply for the license.

Essentially,

BTT booking > Self-study at home >BTT (actual)

Once you clear BTT, you can apply for PDL.

I think this is a lot cheaper (and saves time from the other lessons), but because of some miscommunication, I booked the school instead. Oh well.

Stage 2: Registration phase

Over at this stage, the staff will bring you to a computer for you to input your information and tadahhh! You’re done, you have an account set up. Now, for stage 3.

Stage 3: Other administrative work

Once your number has been called, this is where you’ll sign the forms for insurance (for yourself in case you kena accident or something) and also understanding some terms and conditions.

*Good thing about learning driving from school is that not only you are insured, but if you accidentally langa (hit) the car, you won’t have to pay for it!

Other than that, you also make a payment of $200 with $96++ going to opening an account and the other $100++ for you to book classes and practical lessons.

Stage 4: Theory lessons

When the administrative work has been settled, it’s time to book your theory slots! You can either use computer they provide at their own centers (or go back home and log in from BBDC website) and start booking your time slots.

Since I was free today, I decided to cramp 2 practice session and clear my evaluation! Now it’s time to sit for my BTT and then apply for PDL

Nonetheless, if you’re interested, you can always drop by this page for more information about driving! I will be adding new posts about this process and hope it can help more people.

That’s all for part I! Stay tune for part II!