Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: I want you to guide me so that I can get admission to good university in UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey or anywhere whose degree would be acceptable to all parts of the world. I want to follow my career in MBBS. I am in FSc (Part-2) and would complete my FSc this September. I scored 448/505 (89%) in Part-1 and 1002/1100 (91%) in Matric. I will be attempting MCAT but I really want to have an alternative. I have been doing several Model United Nations (MUNs). I have also participated in Pakistan Young Physicists Tournament in 2017 and stood 3rd. Also let me know if I can have any scholarships in universities. (Azkia Mahmood, Karachi)A: Pursuing a medicine degree overseas, particularly in the West, is very expensive or hardly affordable. One has to be very careful when choosing to do MBBS in Turkey, China or Cyprus as most of these are not fully recognised by PMDC and you may be asked to do additional exams or get your degree accredited again in Pakistan. The other important thing to remember is that MBBS in UK, Canada, New Zealand or Australia may require additional pre-medical/foundation programmes if you have not done your A-Levels. Please note there are either no or very little scholarships for doing medical courses; so please be careful when planning your studies abroad.

Q2: My eldest daughter is studying in Class 7 in O-Level school. She wants to go in for medical. Her tutor told me to switch her in Matric system to avoid one year waste, including 20 marks deduction if she appears in medical exam after O-Levels. (Nauman, Islamabad)

A: I think you are right. It is always recommended that students do their FSc rather than A-Levels if they wish to pursue a medical degree in Pakistan not only because they have to study one more year but also when it comes to equivalence from IBCC please also note that FSc students are likely to score better marks in competitive examinations such as MCAT due to the syllabus they follow during their Intermediate or higher secondary years.

Q3: Please tell us the scope of PhD Psychology. And the research area on mental health of war affected children in Europe. (Muhammad Amjid, Peshawar)

A: Psychology has a broad domain and there are very few highly qualified psychologists in

Pakistan. Because of increasing social issues in the society such as incidents of terrorism, violence against women, crime etc. more research is needed to overcome this and psychologists will play a key role. As you said the other important area is the state of mental health of war-affected families and children particularly in the region of Middle East and Eastern Europe. People having PhD in Psychology; therefore, will have greater prospects both for research and teaching this area.

Q4: I had done Matric with Science (799 marks out of 1050) then I had ICS (with Math, Computer and Stats) and got 804 marks out of 1100 and in Math I got 162 marks out of 200 marks). After my intermediate, I applied in university for BS Mathematics (as I like and have interest in Math). I took exams for the 1st semester in three subjects and got A-grade but in other three subjects, I got F-grade which is considered to be fail. Now, I am depressed because of my result that what I have to do now, whether I change my subjects (field) or join the second semester of Math and afterwards again appear in these subjects in which I failed. So please give me some solution, guideline or advice so that I can carry on my studies with good marks. (Naxish Arbab, Gujrat)

A: There is nothing to be depressed about. I think you have done well in your Intermediate and Matric and at times you do not get the required results due to various reasons. Please try to improve your study pattern and schedule, and practice Maths as much as you can. I am sure you will improve your grades in the three subjects that you failed. However, you would have to look at the reasons of your failure and understand your deficiency in each subject. I think you should continue in your second semester and reappear in the remaining subjects working hard and effectively planning your study hours. I am sure you will improve your grades this time.

(Syed Azhar Husnain Abidi is a renowned educationist in Pakistan, with more than 20 years of experience as provider of education counselling services. He has represented Pakistan in over 100 national and international seminars, conferences and fora. He is a recipient of the most coveted civil award Tamgha-e-Imtiaz).