A little more about me

Hi there! My name is Thilini Tharushika and I am 16 years old. Currently, I am a student at International Medical University in Malaysia. I was born in Sri lanka and moved to Africa when I was 2 and a half years old with my parents. I grew up there, was schooled there and gladly it became my second home country.  

Basically, I have lived there for over 10 years therefore, I got very fluent with the native language called Kiswahili. The food there is quite unique and mouthwatering. Most commonly people eat cooked or steamed green bananas, otherwise the second most common meal is maize porridge (known as ugali in Kiswahili). Since I have got no siblings, during the time that my parents work, I would remain with a Tanzanian nanny at home who looked after me and that is how I got really fluent with the local language because we had a language barrier and I was forced to learn the language in order to communicate with her. 

Languages kept adding on my list and now I speak English, Kiswahili, Sinhala and French.   

      

I have two favorite things that I love doing in my free time which are reading books and dancing. One of my favorite authors is Charles Dickens, I've read his books since I was a kid. The final but most interesting thing you should know about me is that I like to be myself, and I don't pretend. For instance, I don't dress up for occasions; I am what I am😊

School Education

I finished nursery, primary and high school all in Africa under one school named Hopac international. I still remember how I packed my bags a week earlier before my first day of primary school since I was too excited 😆

For O/levels, we had to pick subjects and since I was certain that I wanted to peruse something in the medical field later on, I made sure to take chemistry, biology, math and physics which additional subjects English, french and business as it was mandatory to take 8 subjects. 

To promote my perception into the medical field I joined a two-week internship at a private hospital during the summer break where I observed medicine from the point of a provider rather than as a patient. I experienced how miscellaneous a doctors' role can be; it's never just about carrying out a surgery or about prescription but also the sympathy and the solicitude that comes along providing an effective care. 

It was entrancing to grasp the field from a more intricate side than just the biology course. I observed a wide range of medical procedures from CT and MRI scans to root canals and how tests are taken in the pathology laboratories. 
I gained a valuable understanding of the workings of surgeries as well, with the chances to perceive and speak to the doctor regarding a medical career and identify the challenges accompanying a career as a doctor such as the proactive balance between work with long hour shifts with family and social life.


Now, here I am in IMU doing the Foundation in Science pre university course with the expectation of being able to do the MBBS degree next year. 

The first few steps...

Bachelors of medicine and bachelors of surgery is the undergraduate degree that I am targeting. Moreover, it has been a dream since I was young. Health is such a golden treasure and indeed a mysterious resource that every human being must preserve. Whenever I fall sick, questions run through my mind about what would happen to my dreams in case I lost my life. Infections are the greatest hindrances toward our wellbeing disabling us from achieving our goals. This stirred up my heart to pick interest in medicine so as to save human life. Sometimes, our expectations are crushed. Things do not always work out as we want them to therefore it is always good to have a plan B. In case I do not make it to the medicine undergraduate degree, I'd make a change in plans and shift my path towards either chiropractic or psychology which both have a lower cGPA than medicine. 

Although the cGPA for medicine is 3.4 out of 4, I have my fingers crossed expecting the good to happen. Hopefully, if I get into the course, I shall have five more years at IMU in which 2.5 years will be the basic medical sciences and the remaining years shall be the clinical training.

International Medical University (IMU) has a pleasant atmosphere with lots of cheerful faces all around the university,  lecturers are supportive moreover, IMU has transfer programmes  to partner universities overseas.

 Since I am an international student, according to the laws, I am not able to peruse my internship here thus, I have decided on returning back to Sri lanka for it. Sri lanka has only recommended four universities from Malaysia, if students are to return back for the internship and IMU is one among the four and this was my biggest reason to choose IMU. However, as each day passes, I discover more reasons as to why I am happy being here. For anyone wanting to join the university, welcome!