Malaysia's healthcare system needs a tweak!

public healthcare in Malaysia - to par up to the UK

Upon completing my course with Chevening and returning to Malaysia, I want to look into the inequality system of the public healthcare in Malaysia - to par up to the UK. There is a constant rise in skill deficit among healthcare experts. This stems from a recent encounter with my mother, which made me conduct extensive research regarding the issue. In November 2016, she almost completely lost her vision on her left eye. She then went to see private clinic ophthalmologist and he claimed that her eyes were dry and told her to use relieving eye drops. She decided to get a second opinion and went to another private clinic and the doctor said she had chronic retinal detachment and if she hadn't done any surgery on the very next day, she would lose her eyesight on that eye within a month. The private clinic was charging an exorbitant amount for the procedure and she could not afford that kind of treatment. My mother was then referred to a government hospital. The queue in the government hospital took more than three hours but she was left with no other option. The doctor told her she needed surgery immediately and asked if she could go to a private clinic because there was no space in the government hospitals for the next three months. This was unbelievable and unfortunately is the issue faced by many others. I would like to play a role in finding solutions to fix this issue in the healthcare system. Many doctors fail to diagnose a patient's condition in Malaysia. More and more people are suffering with cancer at Stage 4. I know of a specialist himself who had to switch to three different hospitals to detect what was his health issue. None of the doctors he saw remotely thought they should take samples of his blood to detect cancer. It was only when he suggested the third private hospital to do it, that was when they diagnosed him with stage four lymphoma cancer. Negligence in healthcare is something that should not be taken lightly in Malaysia. This is where I would like to bridge the gap between doctors in the private sectors and public clinics and hospitals. There is a vast gap between the rich and affluent and rural poor communities. The healthcare services and equity has improved since the 90s, granted. Nevertheless, today the lowest income group and aborigines are still in need of healthcare services. There are hundreds of places in Malaysia with no access to medical service. And remote areas like these need more investment in preventative care and mobile clinics. My goal is to ensure everyone has the rights to have access to preventative health and medical care.

Word count :459 words

Raanita, what Chevening essay is this for? Did you plan to use this for the Post Study Plan? If you did, then let me tell you right now, this essay will not work. It does not contain the required elements of a post study plan upon your return to Malaysia. The reviewer does not care about the experience of your mother. He only wants to learn about how you plan to advance your career using the newly gained information from the UK.

The reviewer's concern is actually all about how the UK projects in Malaysia will fit into your post study plan. You are expected, upon graduation, to help promote further UK-Malaysia relations through your career development and cooperation with UK agencies in your country In this instance, you sound like you are just focused on improving healthcare in your country for your mother. There is no sense of national concern and application of your newly acquired skills. There is no reference to the UK health projects in your country and how you can help them promote it. There is nothing in this essay that tells the reviewer you will be a worthy Chevening alumna upon your return to your country. This is the kind of essay that can get you disqualified from consideration. If there is no UK project in your country as represented in your essay then you will not qualify for the scholarship. The way you wrote this essay, you just made sure you will be disqualified.

So change the whole essay. Read the sample post study career plans in this forum from the other applicants. Imitate their format. Find a UK agency involved in the area of medical development or the health sector in your country. Learn about their projects and how you can possibly participate in it upon your graduation. Develop your essay around 2 topics, your personal career plan and the UK cooperation plan. Your mother may be mentioned in passing for the personal career plan but should not take up more than 10 percent of the presentation. The rest should pertain to your personal career plan. The other 50 percent, should be focused on the UK health projects collaboration. Only then will your essay qualify for consideration.