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Originally Posted by Unregistered
In Singapore, at least for most, the main emphasis is on academic success, we train that very well, but we forget other facets of life like character building, which is actually very important, with the extra time free from studying and the environment that encourages one to follow their passion, both directly, other pathways in life are financially sustainable (eg sports) and indirectly, the society doesn’t have a stigma against non practical pathways (eg must be an engineer/lawyer/doctor). It teaches children to look past the $$ and appreciate the finer things in life like purpose and passion. Lots of people become a plumber, a farmer or an electrician and they make a decent living, but can the same be said here?
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I think one can only "look past the $$" when one have the basic survival needs met. As parents, my philosophy is that my parental responsibility is to ensure that our children have the necessary skills needed to at least sustain themselves. After that, they can go ahead and pursue anything that they are passionate about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Even our own Doctors, we haven’t done a good job in choosing them. All we have are interviews and admission tests. But we don’t require community service which USA and Canada looks at before we admit doctors to medical school. Students can just get the grades apply and speak about why they want to be Doctors without any basis or experience to root their judgement on, how can their word be taken if they haven’t observed how it’s like to be a doctor.
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I don't think the selection process is to be blamed. The selection process is actually quite similar between SG and US/CAN. In US/Canada, they also place a very strong emphasis on GPA (CAN) or MCAT (US), extracurricular activities and interview performance.
I think the key difference is that Medicine in US/CAN is a post-graduate degree, so students start medical school at a much later age (average is ~24-25 years old) and therefore more mature from their other life experiences). Mature students are clearer about their goals and are also better at managing interpersonal relationships compared to 20 year olds.
I think the medical training system in SG is also partly to be blamed. The emphasis on good communication skills and respect for patients' autonomy is not as strong, compared to the Western societies.