from Maldives to Universiti Sains, Kelantan, Malaysia

Info to Maldivians about Universiti Sains, Kelantan, Malaysia

Paediatrics is also a 4 year prgramme. Year one is like MRCP part I, Year 2 no exam, thats where I am now, Year III is like MRCP part II, Year 4 is for the dissersitation presentation. After your IIIrd year exam you will be like a consultant, in other words, you will be BOSS, Duty is working days 8 am to 5 pm with 1 hour break 1-2pm, if you are on call continue the night, no post call offs, same for all years . 1st year is more theory, of course the donkey works also there. case presentations for year 3 mostly, sometimes year 2, what is PBL sessions .? .. classes once a week, working wiht guide.. and the thesis start 2nd year . accommodation difficult to get unless u r single or may b if u do nto have a child. but have to book after comming here. lots of guest houses r here ranging from 25-75 RM a night, one is inside USM as well


For USM you can apply any time, the earlier the better, Intake is in June and Dec. It is required to do 3 month attachment before USM and you decide on the programme. How ever till now it is always USM who wants foreigners for some known reasons. All Masters programmes are for 4 years. Different fecculties have different structures. But all most all have to give a year 1 exam. Exams are not easy as well. Pass rates are not as expected. It is a a combine exams inmost faculties meaning all three medical universities (UM, USM, UKM) will do same exam at the same time incuding viva questions. it is required to do a dissersitation also.

Uni does not ask for a credit in bank. Only the sponsor letter is enough. So far they trust us. USM is the most expensive as far as tuition fees are concerned. 5000 RM for 6 months, about 12500 a year including all fees. how ever living is cheapest here in Malaysia.
Workload is high here, but i understand it may differ from discilpline to another. Teaching also same difference.

Get a driving liscence before you fly here, Taxis are not easily available. Even buses.

For Maldivians there is no need for entry visa. But before you enter they should get you registered in immigration for work permit. Once it is registered no need to wait for visa document. Usually visa document is taken from Malaysian embassies located abroad. There is none nearby to Maldives.
Pendaftar means registration. Amyrhan is the boss there. He is the one to contact for it. His extention is 4477. Operator in USM has
Once they get you registered you can come with family also. It only takes 2 days for visa here. But the thing is Mr Aziz who goes to Immigration with our pass port some times get busy so it takes some times more han weeks. But you can always flirt with him to get visa rapid. The lady you should also must know is Norslinda , commonly called Linda. I thik her no is 4040. she is in charge if post graduate. She will know what is happening to your application and reply to mails soon. There is another cute gurl there I forgot her name though. She is also quite helpful.
Accomodaion here, inside campus by the way campus and hospital is same block. Google earth has a nice view of this univerisiti. Aaaa, accomdation 2 maily. One is international house, where family rooms are with 2 rooms kitchen. It is quite nice, 300 ringit per month, fully furnished, but u have to buy fridge ( 600-800 ringit), wqashing maching (250 ringit). TV also. Flat screen is only 5000 here. You can get Astro TV dish, u can have any channels then, but no time to watch tv after PG starts. Another hostel apartments just infront of new international house is also there. This one is old. Not good for family. I have not seen family rooms there. But the single ones I have seen is like Male’ rooms for rent. Small and all the pints coming off. It is 100 ringitts a month. No kitchen there. So you have to eat in café’. Usually Amyrhan will give these rooms for a month for you and you have to get either a room from international house or move outside. But if you can make a sob storey he will extend it to 3 months, that is till you finish attachement almost. But they usually kick you out. Real kick out. When you come you can also stay in the guest house which is infront of this old hotel. But it cost 55 ringit a night. So for a day it is ok. But not too long. Food is ok inside. There are about 6 cafes inside u can get food. Some café;s I still have not tried even.
To come to Kelantan you can take flight Air Asia or MAS. MAS is expensive. May be 15o ringit I think one way. The Air Asia is cheaper not very much, but u have to buy inflight food from there. And also from KLI to go to local air ort u hae to take a taxi for 10 ringit. So it is better get into MAS. U can also take bus from KL, Putera station, it is 30 ringit one way, the bus stops just 5 min from hostel. Not even 5 min. it is 8 hours long but if u take on night it is ok, u just sleep and wake up to see USM. U can get more cargo in bus they do not charge a sen extra like flughts excess baggage costs. Local flight only allow 15 kg, 10 ringit every extra kg. About this local flight u can ask my father in law, Mohamed Ahmed, he just visited here.
Money, the easiest way to carry money is get VISA card from bank of Maldives. VISA debit is ok, u can take ringits from ATM just across road from hostel. Also from super makets. The rate is almost same even after bank of Maldives charging u 25 ringit. U can even pay USM with it. U can take 1000 – 1500 ringit a time dending on which ATM u use. To change dollars u have to go to city which is another headache, it is about 15 min from here by bus. Transport is not that easy here. Buses r there. But I have not tried new ones. Buses are quite nice but I think u have to wait about 15 min to get a bus., to catch a taxi even
longer. It is better u get yr car licence from Maldives and buy a second hand car from here. U can get one for 5000 ringit, a good one, even 2000 cars also there, but may have some problems.
Super markets, there is a 15min walk distance super market from hostel. But good onesu have to ake a taxi, u can go to them by 2 ringit if u take combines taxi, it is like a bus, they take max 4 people including u. TESCO is newly open here. U can get anything from here. But it is little far.
Studies, most forigners r not happy, they say USM is only worried about yr work. Work work work. God knows better.
You grt your visa only after registration. The day u land here u do your registration and go to Mr Aziz he will tell u the rest. It is 84 ringit a year.

What else? Let me know.

To come by bus, when you reach KLI, take Airport shuttle and go to KL centre. From there you have to take KTM and then go to Putera Station. From Putera station you can take bus to Kelantan. The bus is called Transnational. It takes 8 hours to reach there. I think once a day mostly. Make sure you take a direct bus if you do not want to be in the bus for more than 8 hours. On the way to here they will stop for about 45 min so you can get out off bus, piss, pray, eat, rest and stretch your self. So there are 3 stations to remember. KLI airport to KL centre to Putera centre then Kotabharu. One more thing, Kotabharu bus station is about 15 min drive from USM. But if you ask them they will drop you just in front of USM in another bus or same bus. Confused? Read again. You can get some maps from google also.