Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I want to request you to help and guide me so that I can get admission to a good university in UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey or anywhere whose degree would be acceptable across the world. I want to proceed with my career in MBBS. I am in FSc (Part-2) and will complete my FSc in September 2022. I scored 449/505 89% in Part-1 and 1003/1100 91% in Matric. I will be attempting MCAT but I really want to have an alternative. I have been doing several Model United Nations. I have also participated in Pakistan Youngs Physicists Tournament in 2017 and stood 3. Also tell me if I can have any scholarships in universities. (Rimsha Shahid, Karachi)

Ans: Please note that 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 Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) 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 few scholarships for doing medical courses so please be careful when planning your studies abroad.

Q2: Dear sir, I am writing to you to get your expert opinion regarding my eldest daughter who is studying in class 7 in O-level school. She wishes to pursue her career in 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-level, it will also ease her from overburden courses. I will be waiting for your guidance and response. (Tasbeeh Nazeer, Islamabad)

Ans: 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 exam such as MCAT due to the syllabus they follow during their intermediate or higher secondary years.

Q3: Respected sir, please tell us the scope of PhD Psychology and the research area on mental health of war-affected children in Europe. (Muhammad Azeem Kamboh, Peshawar)

Ans: Psychology has a broad domain and there are very few highly qualified psychologists in Pakistan. The increasing social issues in society such as incidents of terrorism, violence against women, crime, etc need more research in this area to overcome this situation 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 with PhD in Psychology, therefore, will have greater prospects both for research and teaching in this area.

Q4: Respected sir, I have done Matric with Science (797 marks out of 1050) then I had ICS (with Math, Computer and Stats and got 804 marks out of 1100 (in Math, I got 162 marks out of 200). After my intermediate I applied to university for BS Mathematics because of my interest. I appeared in exams for the 1st semester in three subjects. I got an A Grade but in the other three subjects, I got an F Grade which is considered to be a fail. Now, I am depressed because of my result. What do I have to do now, whether I change my subjects (field) or join the second semester of Math and afterward again appear in these subjects in which I failed? Kindly give me some solution, guideline or advice so I can carry on my studies with good marks. (Nasmah Chattha, Gujrat)

Ans: 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 Math as much as you can. I’m sure you will improve your grades in the three subjects that you failed. However, you would have to look at the reasons for 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’m 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).