Dr. Alison Lopez, MD (IMU – Class of 2013)
Good teachers, a great environment conducive to learning. . . These are often things we hear from our alumni. Dalhousie University and the International Medical University of Malaysia have had a partnership for over 20 years. Each year, six IMU students are eligible to complete third- and fourth-year clerkships at Dalhousie leading to a Canadian Medical Doctorate degree. The program is managed through the Glboal Health Office. See what some of our recent alumni are doing now!
Where are you originally from?
Malaysia.
Why did you choose Nova Scotia/Dalhousie?
In all honesty, transferring to Dal wasn’t part of my plan initially. I didn’t know much about Nova Scotia prior to moving here. In our med school, we rank all our partner universities and then you go through a matching system and I ended up being matched to Dal. I debated if I should go through with it since I barely knew anything about life in Canada other than it gets cold in the winter. Finally, I decided there was a reason I got matched to Dal and moved over.
What was the value of participating in the IMU Clerkship program at Dalhousie?
For me a major benefit of joining a North American school was the residency system. Where I come from, you have to do at least 2 years of intern training before applying to specialize and that can also take many years. In North America, you go into residency straight out of med school. I also was told by previous IMU students that the Dal programme gave their med students a lot of hands on experience.
Where are you currently located and what are your involved in?
I’m currently a 2nd year paediatrics resident at MUN.
What is your intent for practicing medicine?
I wish to pursue a fellowship in Paediatric Infectious Diseases.
Any additional comments?
Despite not initially planning on transferring to Dal initially, things have worked out great. It was hard work adjusting to a new med school/health care system but with time not to mention trying sort out applying for residency. It paid off in the end.
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