Here’s something some of you might not know. My dad is actually a doctor. Dr Lim, obviously.

*Cue all the “so how did you turn out like that” comments*

Anyway - Honestly, my dad advised me against it. Namely because, to become a doctor isn’t easy - you have to spend roughly 8 years preparing before you can actually practice. 5 years learning (longer if you decide to specialize), and 3 years serving the government (unless you’ve served abroad for 10 years). You’ll have to relocate to serve even if you have a family - which is why I was born in Kota Bahru, Kelantan. Not to mention all the lifestyle sacrifices you have to make - can’t be treating patients with a hangover from partying the night before right? Something that I definitely can’t do, with the life I live.

Anyway, most of the children ended up following in our mothers footsteps, and ended up pursuing communications related degrees & careers. He’ll still like one of us to have an accounting degree though (none of us do). Sorry Dad.

On a brighter note, I did learn how to maybe one day save a life, and if I didn’t pursue this line of work, you wouldn’t be reading this now, would you?

So recently me & Advertlets Bloggers went down to MAHSA University College as part of a project to learn about Basic Life Support (CPR), and also to find out more about the courses offered. Check out this video, edited by none other than yours truly:

FYI: The girl hosting the first part of the video (interviewing Careen) is Nadia, and she’s actually a medical student. And Melanie Hwa who hosted the second part of the video (interviewing Andrew from MAHSA) actually originally intended to study medicine.

Here are the bloggers that attended all in one photo!

Here’s the basics of CPR, for your information:

Assessment & Activation

If you should find anyone collapsed, you should check responsiveness by tapping on their shoulders and shouting, “Are you alright?”. Well, if that person did not response, he should be dead unconscious, so shout for help, call 911. And then comes #a. Airway.

#a. Airway.

Make sure that the airway of the person is not blocked, back by placing one hand on their forehead and 2 fingers of the other hand on the bottom of the chin and tilt their head back slightly. Then lean over and put ear close to victim’s mouth. Check for chest movement/ breathing sound/ breath on cheek. If there’s no breathing signs, open airway and provide rescue breathing. Yes, this is the romantic part.

#b. Breathing.

Using the thumb and forefinger of your hand, pinch the victim’s nose shut. Be on your knees, shoulder apart and keep your other hand under the person’s chin, lifting it up. As you keep an airtight seal with your mouth on the victim’s mouth, give 2 full breaths. See the chest of the victim rising as you exhale.

#c. Circulation.

After giving 2 full breaths, find the person’s carotid artery pulse to see if the heart is still beating. The carotid artery pulse is beside the person’s Adam’s apple. If there isn’t any pulse, then you will have to provide artificial circulation, that is to give external chest compression. Find the notch where the bottom rims of the two halves of the rib cages meet in the middle of the chest(in layman’s term, the middle line between two nipples). Then put the heel of one hand on the sternum next to the fingers that found the notch. Put one hand on top of the hand that’s in position. Keep fingers off chest wall to avoid injuries. It will be easier to do this if you interlock your fingers. Make sure that you keep your arms straight and locked throughout 50 intervals of relaxation and compression. The proper rate of chest compression would be 50 to every 2 breaths.

Now that you know some of the basics of First Aid, let’s tell you more about MAHSA!

MAHSA University College offers the following courses:

• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Nursing
• Pharmacy
• Physiotherapy
• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Sciences
• Environmental Health
• Postgraduate Studies Centre

Some of you may have gotten the impression that is a government college. It’s not! It’s a private college. They wouldn’t have such a nice Facebook page if they were a government college. Some interesting things - the Dentistry course is mainly taken by Malaysian Chinese students (I wonder why). There’s quite a bit of diversity -  for example, they have the MAHSA Chinese Language Society (recently organized a mooncake festival gathering), MAHSA University International Students &  the MAHSA Punjabi Students & even the MAHSA Alumni society.

I figure the place seems pretty fun, and the students do love their college - check this pic to the right from the recent Mooncake festival organized by the Chinese Language Society.

Also, check out the MAHSA Operations blog - written by Andrew of MAHSA - it’s surprisingly personal, gives an insight into what it takes to run the place and the culture in MAHSA and isn’t about hard-selling the place.

From here: MAHSA University College Facebook Page

What sets Mahsa University College apart from the rest is that it emphasizes on hands-on clinica training for its students, even during their first year!Mahsa also collaborates with various foreign universities such as The University of Northumbria (UK), Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and many others.

It also owns its very own Community Clinics and collaborates closely with Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.You can find out more info at www.mahsa.edu.my

It’s also located conveniently - they have two campuses, one in Jalan Universiti (that’s near Jaya One), and the other one in Pusat Bandar Damansara (near HELP College). So it’s great if you don’t wait to study all the way in Kuala Lumpur or Bukit Jalil or god forbid, OUT OF THE KLANG VALLEY.

Lastly, this is for you Dad. From your only useless son