Jonathan Mamo is a 25 year old student who lives in Qawra in Malta and also lives in Xaghra in Gozo, a smaller island than Malta.
 

Do you live with your parents or on your own?

I live with my parents just 10 kilometres away from university but for a while I used to live next to university in a flat on my own.

 

How’s university life in Malta?
University life in Malta is very relaxed. It is a relatively small campus with a few thousand students with lectures in general finishing at around 3 or 4pm. Then when you transfer to the Medical School for the clinical section of the medical degree then lectures finish by 1pm and then small group teaching can continue until 4pm.

 

In which study year are you?
I completed my undergraduate medical degree in 2007 and have been working as a trainee in hospital for the past two years. Since then I have been studying part time as a post-graduate student in Public Health.

 

How many years is medical school in Malta?
Medical School is 2 years for the Pre-Clinical Section and then 3 years for the Clinical Part. The system is rather rigid with very strict exam systems and does not allow for more than one exam retake session for each subject meaning that the dropout rate is very high in the first two or three years.

How many hours a week do you spend on your study? 

Well, because of my work at the moment I barely have time to open a book. Most of the time I’m so tired I just fall asleep. On my days off I don’t even bother to open a book just because it’s a day off from work! But normally a few hours of study a day work for me.

 

Is it possible for everyone to study medicine in Malta?
It’s easy for the Maltese to study Medicine in Malta because almost everyone lives at home with their parents. And there aren’t any yearly fees to pay! The government gives some very basic help on a monthly basis – something like 90 Euros a month – and this is for undergraduate study. This however appears to be in jeopardy as they may be removing this in the near future.

 

What do you think is the best part of the medical education in Malta?
I love studying in Malta just because its home and everything is so close. All my friends are here and the weather is brilliant. The study groups in medicine are small so there’s a lot of small group teaching so I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much had I studied medicine anywhere else.

 

If you can change one thing of the medical education in Malta, what would that be?
I’d make sure that the people who organise the curriculum attended more Medical Education seminars and conferences abroad because some of them still use the methods of teaching that were already outdated 30 years ago. However, some of the new tutors are really making an impression – pity there are so few of them!

 

You are involved in IFMSA and especially during international meetings you meet a lot of different medical students from all over the world. What do you think that is the biggest difference in study medicine in The Netherlands and Malta?
I have spoken to a number of people who study medicine in other countries and I find that the Maltese system is much more rigid than most of the other countries’ systems. Taking time out the course is very rarely possible and the chances you have to take an exam is just twice and even then you have to repeat the year. Anyone who takes up medicine has to complete the course in 7 years maximum otherwise he or she is no longer allowed to complete the course. From friends in the Netherlands I got the attitude that the system was a little more relaxed and that taking time off and taking an exam at a later date seemed to be much more within the accepted limitations.
As for Social, MMSA (the Malta Medical Student Association) is very active and actually has its own leisure committee which is given as much importance as the other subcommittees. There are always ongoing activities such as sports days, parties, and other organised social gatherings.
The classes in medicine are also very small with numbers ranging from 50 to 100 students per year; so the groups of people are actually friends within a year or so. I remember going out, on a regular basis with 30 or more of my classmates; to drink, swim and relax at the beach after a day of lectures and ward rounds.

Describe your life in 2020….
I’ve always wanted research to be a part of my life and I love to teach when I get the time. So I would like my work in ten years time to be a medically oriented job with regular research and teaching. I’d like to take some time to travel and make it a regular thing so by 2020 I would have gone around the world and to at least 5 countries from each continent. As to whether my life in 2020 is going to include me being married, with kids and a red, convertible sports car... we’re just going to have to wait and see!

Photo by sindändùne, shared under Creative Common License