The call?
There are so many things we take forgranted, or at least I take forgranted in Malaysia.
Of course since I'm studying medicine, it's always interesting to find out on how the healthcare in other countries are like.
Some of the things I hear and see in Cambodia are so shocking that you won't even think that such practices exist.
Chern-chern and Yew On are dentists formerly from DUMC and now teaching in the one and only dental school in Cambodia. They are under the OMF and have been serving in Cambodia for 7 years. Chern-chern is an orthodentist and both of them can make a really comfortable living if they chose to practice in Malaysia. But they are here in Cambodia, receiving less than 1/20th of what they could earn, staying in a humble aparment above the market, staying and working in Cambodia to train up young Cambodian dentists. It's a sacrifice especially to raise up 2 boys in Cambodia, accepting a much lower pay and an uphill battle to change the bribing culture in university.
They were sharing some of the things they have experienced in Cambodia.
Do you know in Cambodia, you can bribe for someone to sit the Year 12 exam for you, then pay USD 7000 to get a place in Medical School? You can bribe all the way to passing your university.
And if that's not worst to make you question the competency of doctors, some medical and dental students only study for 1 or 2 years, and then quit school to set up their own clinics!!!!
I can be a super qualified doctor there, being a 3rd year medical student!
Imagine, 1st year medical students practicing as full fledged doctors! And the health ministry doesn't clamp down on these clinics, but allow them to operate. I won't even want to see a "doctor" in Cambodia if I'm ill!
The country is so poor that even in Baray, which is not a really small or far province, most children don't get even the basic immunization jabs. There's no health checks for pregnant mothers, you give birth at home yourself.
And if you don't have money, you can just wait to die if you are involved in an accident. No doctor would treat you unless you pay, even at the government hospitals. It's not just because the doctors are being cruel and money minded, but unless they do that, they can't even afford to support their families with the pay that they receive from the government.
Children die from diarrhoea, a simple treatable disease. People get paralzyed by polio. And of course, from the remnants of the Khmer Rouge a lot of men have only 1 leg. We have 10 local pastors there, but they only have 18 legs. 2 of them have both loss a leg each.
Of course since I'm studying medicine, it's always interesting to find out on how the healthcare in other countries are like.
Some of the things I hear and see in Cambodia are so shocking that you won't even think that such practices exist.
Chern-chern and Yew On are dentists formerly from DUMC and now teaching in the one and only dental school in Cambodia. They are under the OMF and have been serving in Cambodia for 7 years. Chern-chern is an orthodentist and both of them can make a really comfortable living if they chose to practice in Malaysia. But they are here in Cambodia, receiving less than 1/20th of what they could earn, staying in a humble aparment above the market, staying and working in Cambodia to train up young Cambodian dentists. It's a sacrifice especially to raise up 2 boys in Cambodia, accepting a much lower pay and an uphill battle to change the bribing culture in university.
They were sharing some of the things they have experienced in Cambodia.
Do you know in Cambodia, you can bribe for someone to sit the Year 12 exam for you, then pay USD 7000 to get a place in Medical School? You can bribe all the way to passing your university.
And if that's not worst to make you question the competency of doctors, some medical and dental students only study for 1 or 2 years, and then quit school to set up their own clinics!!!!
I can be a super qualified doctor there, being a 3rd year medical student!
Imagine, 1st year medical students practicing as full fledged doctors! And the health ministry doesn't clamp down on these clinics, but allow them to operate. I won't even want to see a "doctor" in Cambodia if I'm ill!
The country is so poor that even in Baray, which is not a really small or far province, most children don't get even the basic immunization jabs. There's no health checks for pregnant mothers, you give birth at home yourself.
And if you don't have money, you can just wait to die if you are involved in an accident. No doctor would treat you unless you pay, even at the government hospitals. It's not just because the doctors are being cruel and money minded, but unless they do that, they can't even afford to support their families with the pay that they receive from the government.
Children die from diarrhoea, a simple treatable disease. People get paralzyed by polio. And of course, from the remnants of the Khmer Rouge a lot of men have only 1 leg. We have 10 local pastors there, but they only have 18 legs. 2 of them have both loss a leg each.
Chern-chern and Yew On were dating when they were studying in UM when they felt the call of God in their final year, and after marraige they went over to Cambodia.
The impact they are making there is wonderful. They have bible studies with the dental students, teaching them about Christ-centred marraige..where even non Christians join because they are interested to learn. Chern-chern and Yew On also raise up compassionate dentists. The powerful way how their expertise is used and multipled many folds because the students they teach would then pass it on, and impact the rest of the nation as they return to serve in their provinces once they graduate.
posted by Sarah at 4:25 PM
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