My 10 - year chronology in China

A journey always starts with a path, and the success of the path starts with a dream. I started my journey at Shandong University on Feb 12, 2006. At that time, China was a mysterious land to many people in the world, including me. After I arrived in China, it was Spring Festival, with nights full of noise from firecrackers and celebrations. I had never seen such a celebration before.

After reaching Shandong University I was as excited as my other class fellows to begin the life of a medical student, leading to the noble profession of a medical doctor. Here I will mention some important events in last 10 years of my life in China.

1. 2006, my first year of Bachelor of medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Anatomical Dissection: It was 7:58 am one day in May in Building No. 1, Anatomy west side classroom was full ofstudents, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Three students were from South Africa and two were from the US. Professor Sun Jinhao had not yet arrived in class. There were four deep freezers and the students were sitting around them.. Suddenly one of the freezer’s upper lids opened and the cadaver inside it started rising up gradually, like the climax scene in a horror movie. Most of the women in our class ran out, some shouting for help, but some of the men,including the class representitive Imran Khan, and I were trying to figure out the situation. Out of nowhere our classmatefrom the US, Maceo, stood and took the lid and put it above the cadaver and started pushing it down; Ali Arslan,Zeeshan Madni and Rizwan Khan were helping him but it was useless. This was a shocking scene in the first dissection class. Suddenly Professor Sun entered in the class and he pressed a button and the cadaver went inside the freezer in no time. Since that day no one’s tried to sit near the freezer.

Later I attended the Asia Health Expo in Karachi, Pakistan, representing Shandong University. It is always a great experience for me to represent SDU at international forums from Shanghai to Sydney and Beijing to Strasbourg. I always feel excited when Shandong University is written next to my name. Conferences and seminars always bring a wave of inspiration to our brains. Visiting different medical schools and universities also lets you compare differences in teaching methodology in different countries.These seminars and conferences also give you a chance to get to know more people in the scientific field.

2. Medical Campus Rush Hour. Students in China are very hardworking, especially medical students. I used to see a phenomenon every day in the morning at 7:50 and at 1:20 pm called “Medical Campus Rush Hour”. Hundreds of Chinese students rush to classes just 5 to 10 min before they start and the crowd diminishes in no time. For a medical student, the most important part is consistency and punctuality. Self-study also plays a pivotal role in the field. Most students don’t study for half the semester and when they start they try to devour the books, which is wrong. “Just try to finish one book, one at a time and keep the big books for reference”, Is what our professors used to tell us. Since 2012 I have been trying to help the junior students learn and guide them to be the best doctors in the future, as youth are our future.

3. The year of Beijing Olympics.2008. Long-awaited, the day arrived finally. Then the world witnessed the showpiece of miraculous performance and the opening ceremony was simply amazing. The tickets sold like hot cakes. I and most of my friends managed to see the opening ceremony at home. The best part of the year was Professor Niu Jun, my mentor, was honored to carry the Olympic torch. Professor Niu is a very famous surgeon. He performed the first NOTES scarless surgery in China in 2009. His research publications are immense. He is a world renowned hybrid surgeon. Hybrid is a new term used for the surgeons who perform research and surgery. I am lucky to be the student of Professor Niu.

4.2010. Internship year. I was in Pakistan in my hometown for an internship in the fifth year of my MBBS degree. It was a long day in June. I came back home at 2 pm after 36 hours of emergency night medical training at the district headquarters hospital. I was in front of my house when a motorcyclist had an accident with the truck and was severely injured. I rushed to the site with my first aid kit and gave first aid to the patient, who had a severe fracture of his right leg. Soon the ambulance arrived at the scene and I accompanied the patient to the hospital and assisted in a successful operation. The patient was back on his feet after rehabilitation.

Sometimes the doctors have to sacrifice their own time to comfort others. The importance of doctors is seen in the situation of floods, earthquakes and natural disasters. We should act spontaneously to help those in need and serve humanity.

5. The success starts here. Shandong University has given me the opportunity, the pathway to success. The journey I started on Feb 12, 2006 is propelling me to success but still I have to learn a lot to find the right location of my pathway. Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the professors, my friends and family for all their encouragement throughout these years. SDU is the platform that guides you to success. The success starts here.

Written by Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz (Ali), PhD student at the Shandong University School of Medicine on a CSC (China Scholarship Council) Scholarship.