Saturday, March 22, 2008

Let the seniors teach the juniors






  1. BE,

    Cheap, how many % your husband contribute from his tax towards your education ?

    In the US, alumni is very strong on network. Certain private IV league college only accept their own alumni's children.

    There is good and bad in that way, good is that IV league will prob. maintain their status quo, and bad is that the lesser connected is left behind, is that a fair competition, NO, but sad , a lot of times that is fact of life.

    My nephew wanted to go to the best IV prep school in his town (where the founder of CNN (Ted Turner) used to go, there was no way that boy could get in but his uncle (hubby) wrote a recommendation letter for the boy and of course he got in cos both the maternal grandfather and maternal uncle were both alumni of the school.

    His alumni network of friends are so powerful that some of them are in the W.House who are president's advisers; and a lot of them are captains of a lot of industries.

    But, if you ask me if I like that system or not, I say NO. I strongly believe in free market !

    I think any professional that offer certification is providing fairer share to the market , and professional journal/newsletter is one tool of providing trends and latest skill developed.

    To me if the economy of a country is good and if you are in an industry that has need, even the monkey in class can get job but if a country economy is not good and you are in a profession where supply exceed demand, even the smartest and most connected could not get a job.

    When I first graduated in Computer science in the mid 80's, the economy of Australia was in its peak then and also computer industry then was in dire straight of cs graduates, even oversea student like me was highly sought after even though our student visa strictly stated only allow work 20hours. Employers were so short of computer science grads, they volunteered to go beyond their mean to apply visa for us. Likewise in US, there is an acute shortage in health care providers now, there is no need to concern about having a job.

    I think it is all depend on a country economy, and the industry.

  2. Anonymous8:19 AM


    About your statement: Likewise in US, there is an acute shortage in health care providers now, there is no need to concern about having a job. I wonder how true it is as I am a qualified MD from Malaysia and I haven't found it easier to get a MD job in the US if compared to France. But if you know how better infos, please kindly share with me, would truly appreciate it.

  3. Jamy,

    Actually, the tax my husband has to pay would still be less than what he paid for my education in US. As international student I have to pay around USD20k for my master. Besides, those international students in my class do not have to pay tax, but still manage to enjoy the cheap and quality education.

    As for the powerful alumni network, I would like to refer more to the knowledge sharing in an healthy way.

    I used to think that since the French students don't have to pay much out of their pocket and the University has to income source from the student, they will provide very awful education. But I'm wrong. We actually have very prestiges professors.

    I think Jamy refers more to nurses. To be a physician in US without US certificate is very difficult as far as I know. Letti, a doctor from Malaysia has to take some medical papers to be certified as doctor in US.

  4. Nathalie,

    How long have you tried in the US and how long you tried in France ?


    I do believe any foreign medical professions need to sit for the local board exam to get their license before they can practice, be it MD, OT, RT, nurses and etc.

    Yes, foreign certification is most likely not recognized here because we have very different system here from other countries but we do have acute shortage of medical professionals, especially in geriatric population.

    I do believe taking the local certification is on one favor because of our high liability rate here, MD or nurses likewise. Safety is our main focus here so I do believe to get yourself familiar with local rules and regulation is a high priority for us medical professions.

    The sky is the limit for med professions. I would not practice anywhere else in the world. A lot more options, a lot more freedom and a lot more $ too :).