MEDICAL students in Myanmar face many challenges and difficulties before they graduate as doctors.

Nevertheless, the number of medical students increases every year.
The reason for this is obvious: Being a doctor is one of the most respected professions.

Second year student Ko Kyaw Thi Ha says choosing to study medicine was an easy decision for him to make.

“Medical knowledge is of great value to mankind and I have always been interested in learning about it. So for me it was something I’d always wanted to do,” he says

He shares some experiences from his studies at university with The Myanmar Times.

“For one thing medical school is totally different from high school. We have lots of reading assignments and life is not very easy but I don’t regret it at all,” he says.

Some students say they went into medicine because their parents want them to be doctors, like Ko Moe Htut, a final year medical student at Yangon University of Medicine (2).

“I am partly trying to get this degree because my parents want me to,” he says, although he admits that there were other factors involved in his decision.

“In addition to pressure from my parents, there were some other things that pushed me towards medicine. Everyone thinks highly of doctors and there were no other professions I was interested in when I finished high school, so I went into medicine.”

There are four medical universities in Myanmar: Two in Yangon, one in Mandalay and another in Magwe.

High matriculation scores are the key to gain entry into medical programs and these vary from year to year. In the 2006-07 academic year, the scores required for entry into the program were 493 for female students and 465 for male students. Students must also pass a medical check-up that removes colour-blind students and those with infectious diseases. Usually, it takes a medical student six years to get their degree.

Besides the K8000 that has to be paid at the start of each academic year, students must pay K800 per month. But there are other costs during the year.
“I have to buy books from outside for supplementary readings that our teachers advise us to do. Sometimes that’s very costly,” says one medical student at the Yangon University of Medicine (2).

Students receive a degree when they finish their studies but can only practice on their own after working for three consecutive years at a public hospital.
After gaining their bachelor degree, students can go on to do further studies. According to one doctor working for an NGO, most students specialise in surgery or obstetrics and gynaecology.

“It’s easier to make money in those fields. As far as I know, more than half of medical graduates choose different careers after they have finished studying.
“Some go into business and many others choose to work for foreign pharmaceutical companies.”

To recoup the costs invested in medical institutes and training for graduates, the government discourages doctors from leaving Myanmar for good.

Medical students are required to sign an agreement to pay K500,000 in compensation to the government if they leave the country forever.

While some graduates may not be practicing doctors, many others are proud to be contributing to society.

“I’ve been fighting to rid Myanmar of tuberculosis for many years. It’s extremely exhilarating for me to see one of my TB patients completely cured of the disease,” says one doctor who works for an NGO.