All families, when they meet our team, ask us about admission process, expenses, documents. They all ask things which are rather stressful to them at the moment, and they are completely logical in their concerns. But what happens after the student arrives in China, and finishes their first semester is also very important and not as widely visible, as it should be. You will not hear about them in admission process, but knowing about them beforehand makes the first semester easier.
The Language Barrier Outside the Classroom
The problem of language in Chinese medical schools is a non-issue inside the classroom: education is provided in English, so students do not face language barriers while studying. However, the language barrier, or rather a problem of communication in everyday life, can be stressful for students outside the educational environment.
The solution to this problem is exceedingly simple, obvious even, although few students would actually do it; the solution is to learn how to communicate adequately in Mandarin, in order to ease the stress of everyday life in China. Many schools offer foreign students assistance in learning elementary Mandarin: it is critical to take this course seriously and get at least basic skills of speaking and listening, which would allow the students to avoid the majority of day-to-day communication challenges.
Homesickness and Distance from Home
At first, the homesick feelings may be overwhelming, especially while struggling to adapt to new surroundings, which appear to be fundamentally different from those familiar and comfortable at home. Not being able to participate in all the events that happen at one’s homeland, seeing everyone around engaged in their everyday life in the place of their residence, and experiencing the first stage of adapting to a new culture are some situations that may constitute homesickness in the first months.
Therefore, staying in touch with people back home is crucial: do not limit your communications to family, but also try to socialize in your own student community. It is important to adjust to a new cultural environment, and it gets substantially easier when you already have a support group, who you can rely on and who are also adjusting to new circumstances. If possible, try to find a university with an active Pakistani student community, which would help you to adapt.
Finding Halal Food and Eating in General
The situation with food in some cities may be better or worse, depending on the city, but the variety of halal meat products and foods in general is very limited, compared to what is available back home. This may appear to be a rather small inconvenience at first, but the ability to have a hot meal, which you know and like, plays a substantial role in alleviating homesickness. Moreover, the necessity to learn the local markets and restaurants, which are suitable for a Pakistani student, adds to the pressure in the first months.
Therefore, studying the local Chinese grocery market to find a supply of halal products, which are to some extent familiar in terms of taste, is a worthy endeavor. Asking senior Pakistani students about their experience in this regard may give some valuable insights. It is also wise to learn to cook dishes from home, especially if you have a particular favorite. Most large cities have some Pakistani or Muslim restaurants, with a sufficient supply of halal products. This situation has improved substantially in recent years, and the resources available are now sufficient to address this challenge.
Adapting to the Cold Weather
Weather in China varies from region to region, and most students, who come from Pakistan, are not used to severe winter cold.
Therefore, it is critical to properly estimate the weather conditions of the city you are going to, and buy the appropriate winter clothes well in advance (there are always plenty of discounts in the early autumn season). Asking senior students for advice on this matter is also essential, as the weather varies from region to region: it is unreasonable to ask for universal recommendations, yet it is critical to obtain individual experience from people, who already live in your future city.
Academic Load of the Medical Curriculum
The academic load in Chinese medical universities is serious, but it becomes even more stressful when faced with additional challenges of a foreign education, homesickness, and a significantly different cultural environment. Therefore, adapting to a new learning environment is a major challenge.
The major advice here is to develop a system of continuous learning for the first year, without cramming the night before the test. Getting to know your teachers (or their assistants) is a very important part of the process, and it is amazing how willing most of them are to give you assistance and advice in case of problems. Many foreign students significantly underestimate the importance of this kind of guidance.
Adjusting to a Different Educational Environment and Teaching Methods
The teaching methods and educational expectations in Chinese universities vary significantly. For most Pakistani students, it comes as a surprise at first: they realize that they have to learn much more actively than was the case back home.
Therefore, it is crucial to develop a proper educational strategy, which would account for differences in teaching methods in your home institution and the Chinese one. This process is made easier by consulting senior students and learning from their experience in this regard.
Making Sense of the Financial Situation
The financial situation in a foreign country has to be handled very carefully. Being used to a certain level of life at home, foreign students often realize that their budget is significantly smaller than they have anticipated. Managing everyday expenses in a foreign currency in the long run (for a semester or more) also becomes a challenge. Moreover, the financial support from Pakistan is often difficult to manage, especially from the perspective of a young student with no prior experience in these matters.
Therefore it is very important that you plan your expenses wisely according to your income. Set a monthly budget and keep track of it consistently for future planning. It is also a good idea to consult your family members in Pakistan and discuss your finances regularly instead of discussing only when you need something from them. It is also extremely important to research the most optimal way to receive money from Pakistan.
NLE Exams: Staying on the Course
As most Pakistani students know, the National Licensing Exams (NLE) are held on returning to Pakistan. Hence, in most cases, students who start studying abroad do not feel much pressure in regard to the NLE; however, the more the students prepare for their further career in Pakistan, the more their concerns about the NLE grow.
It is extremely important to stay on track with your NLE preparation. Many students, unfortunately, procrastinate all the mandatory preparations to the final stage. This practice may cause them unnecessary stress since it may put significant pressure on them. Hence, the only possible way to adequately prepare for the NLE is to start as early as possible and continue until the final months before graduation. Starting from scratch in the last three months is significantly harder than reviewing difficult topics in short monthly sessions.
Getting Through the First Year Successfully
Many challenges, listed above, have one thing in common: they are all rather common for a Pakistani medical student, and there is little reason to fret, as most of them will become a thing of the past when the first year is done. It is hard to say if the academic load of these universities is higher than it is in Pakistan, yet the adaptation process, which a student has to go through, definitely increases the pressure they are under. Therefore, those students who went through the first year successfully are, in most cases, those who knew roughly what to expect.
All families, who have already discussed the idea of sending their child to study MBBS in China, or all those who are thinking about it at this very moment, should keep in mind all of the challenges you will have to face in your first year. It is important to discuss these challenges openly, to prepare for them, to know what to do if they arise. This will make the process significantly easier than if you go into the unknown, without prior knowledge of things to come.