Internship in Hong Kong Improved Skills of IMU Medical Biotechnology Student

An International Medical University (IMU) Medical Biotechnology student, Seow Yi Thern had the opportunity to do a three-month internship at Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Consortium (SCRMC). Yi Thern relates to us this experience in Hong Kong. “When I first went to SCRMC, Hong Kong for internship, I’ve set up goals which will be achieved at the end of the three months internship. I hoped that by then, I would have improved my personal and social skills as well as developed in areas that needed to be improved. At the end of the internship, I’ve achieved those goals that I set before I enrolled into internship programme. Practical skills and in-course knowledge that I learnt throughout three years in IMU have made me a well prepared individual for taking the challenge and be a more confident person in facing and solving problems in a working environment as well as in the future. I am proud of what I have learnt and are able to apply the course knowledge into real practice thereby earning the admiration of other research teammates and making me a better person in terms of confidence and hard work. When I first came to Hong Kong, I experienced language difficulties more than I had expected. I thought I could communicate well in English and Mandarin therefore shouldn’t be a problem, however the majority of people I worked communicate in Cantonese. Initially, I was reserved in my communication, but in the course of three months it improved. After a long stay in Hong Kong and communicating with others in Cantonese, my communication skills has improved, an area which I would like to pay more attention to in the future.” The use of skills and knowledge gained in university Skills and knowledge that might be improved to work in a professional environment Even though I have learnt and developed practical skills during degree courses, I found that lifelong learning is the prerequisite while working in an organisation or research institute. The participation in a series of seminars and talks has made me enthusiastic in learning new things and looking for new ideas. It was interesting to hear the ideas and discussion between professors from different field of research, these meetings are of importance because they provide me a better understanding among different scientists. Working in another country with persons from another culture The internship provided me an opportunity to get immersed on a deeper level in another culture. It was really a great experience to see how other people live and how they communicate with each other. It also helped to look at things from a different perspective for instance behaviour and attitude towards each other. Apart from language, I did not experience difficulties caused by different cultural backgrounds yet I found that an interesting and open attitude of some people has helped a lot. Having an internship abroad was also a good way for me to see whether I could work outside the Malaysia and learnt to be a more independent person. I hardly experienced problems during practical sessions and I truly believed that adaptation to other country culture is the bridge to communicate with each other. The influence on future career plans Before my internship in Malaysia, I had some doubts about my future career. I was not sure if I would like to continue in research or start working after finishing my Bachelor’s degree and I also did not know what type of research I would like to do. However, after I went through this internship, I have seen which elements of my career I prefer and I found that I am enthusiastic to continue doing research. Lastly, I would conclude that internship served as a basic platform that benefit us in developing practical skills, interpersonal skills as well as making a decision in the future career pathway and for further studies.