Page 5 - CUHK MEDICAL ALUMNI Newsletter Issue 2 Vol 9 2018

FEATURES
04

ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENT

MASTERS CANTONESE TO

ACHIEVE DREAM OF

BECOMING HK DOCTOR

“I get the opportunity to give back something
because this is the community I grew up in.”

- Dr Arora Namrata

（羅南醫生, MBChB 2011）

r Arora Namrata was determined, her classmates. “They were like… These days, she speaks Cantonese
Dever since she was very young, what are you doing here?”, Dr Arora wherever she goes…she says it gives
that she was going to be a doctor. The laughingly recalls. her a real sense of belonging: “I get the
fact that she had left her home country opportunity to give back something
of India at the tender age of five with Juggling Cantonese and studying because this is the community I grew up in.”
her father, a marine engineer, mother medicine was a huge challenge. She Dr Arora is especially thankful to Professor
and older brother to a place where attended Cantonese classes on campus Lai. “I shall always be grateful to him for
and also took private tuition. That was
Cantonese - a totally foreign language giving me this chance. He saw the spark
to her then - was widely spoken, didn’t not all. She urged all her campus friends in me and saw that I really wanted to be a
discourage her one bit. and roommates to speak to her ONLY
in Cantonese. “I told them if I didn’t doctor.”
Growing up, she did not speak Cantonese. understand, I would let them know. So I S h e a l s o f o n d l y r e m e m b e r s
“I went to international schools. I didn’t immersed myself totally into it.” Her parents Professor KH Lo who was in charge of
feel the need to pick up Chinese. I was supported her by taking Cantonese OSCEs at the time. He would constantly
living in an expat bubble,” she says. And, lessons with her when they visited on encourage her to speak Cantonese more.
like most expats in Hong Kong, she only Sundays. Even today, her husband and
knew the basics like “jo-sahn” and “mgoi”. parents are her biggest pillars of support. She has forged lifelong friendships with
her campus mates…“spending days and
When it was time to apply to a university Her first year was especially difficult. She nights cramming for exams together and
to do medicine, she was faced with the had to face the Objective Structured celebrating together,” she says.
option of either going to the UK or to a Clinical Examination (OSCEs) - a form
medical school here. of performance-based testing used to Her advice to ethnic minority students:
measure candidates’ clinical competence. “Pick up Cantonese as early as you can.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I could take up She had to face local patients - the first It can be a bit overwhelming but don’t
medicine in Hong Kong because they real test of her Cantonese-speaking let it scare you.”
always said language was the barrier. I ability. “I was dreading that exam more
realised it would be difficult but I thought than any other exams in the first year.” Dr Arora, who is now studying to do a
to myself…let me try this.” Still, she pushed on. diploma in paediatrics, is determined
to teach her now six-month old son
When she was called for an interview by Her perseverance paid off and today, Cantonese when he grows up!
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr Arora is a family physician in a public
she faced Professor Paul Lai from the hospital. “Local patients will walk into the
Department of Surgery and currently consultation room, take one look at me
the Director of the Office of Medical and go like ‘Heyyy…’ and when I start
Education. He asked her if she was talking in Cantonese, they go…‘Oh you
willing to learn Cantonese in order to speak Chinese.’ With elderly patients
communicate effectively with patients. especially, they feel they can connect
She replied: “Yeah…if you give me the with you when you speak in Cantonese.”
opportunity, I would love to.”
Dr Arora is also happy to be able to
Going into medical school at CUHK help ethnic minority patients as she is
as the only ethnic minority person in able to communicate with them in her
class, she received ”funny looks” from native language.