Hi Nazia,
I did my elective at the Department of Anaesthesiology at UM in July 2005. I chose this place for three reasons: 1) I wanted to experience the health sector in a less-developed country; 2) I have family in Malaysia and wanted to visit them; and 3) I had heard about UM being a better place to do your elective as a foreign non-malay speaking student (IMU being a suitable alternative).
Soon after my arrival, I realised that the health sector in Kuala Lumpur isn't very different from most european countries. Apart from few differences, I found my elective in at UM to be quite similar to an elective in Denmark. However, the patients were different and suffered from different diseases than what we normally see in Denmark (Dengue-fever, Malaria, etc.).
Arrangements: I went to UM's medical faculty website:
www.ummc.edu.my and read about how one gets to do an elective there. You can download their application form there. One word of advice: Do not expect them to answer on email! I must have written like 20 emails to them prior to my exceptance, but never got any replies!!! The way to go is calling them and talking to them. Malaysians lead a different lifestyle than we Europreans do, so be patient. Use the postal mail service to send the application. You can find more information on their website - student resources - overseas elective students. You need to talk to Puan Rosnani Aziz, a very nice lady but not as effective as one could hope for.
🙂
I was quite satisfied with my elective there. As goes for anywhere else, you get what you ask for. So be active and don't be afraid to ask. You'll meet some real nice docs who are very happy to teach you, and then you'll meet some arrogant a-holes who think they're all that.
There's a hostel just next to the hospital (about 1 min walk). You can find more about it on the same website. Not much to say about this hostel, it's okay.. I found it kinda boring though. But that doesn't matter because the elective was all worth it.
One more thing: You might find it difficult to find nice eating places close to UM. There's the hostel canteen which is just horrible! It's free food for students, but that didn't make me wanna eat there more than 2-3 times during my entire elective. Just outside the hostel there's a nice foodstall, but I got kinda tired eating there every day. So here's the thing: Walk towards the ER at UM-hospital and cross the road to find a small side road perpendicular to the main road. Walk about 200 meters ahead and you'll find a large large of south indian restaurants. Now that's what i call good food (esp. the first one in the row which is the only airconditioned restaurant - and really cheap).
Hope things work out for you, lemme know if you need more help.
Cheers.