Narasi Perjuangan - Justin Nathaniel Jaya

Against The Odds

Hello all, my name is Justin Nathaniel Jaya, you can call me as Justin. I am a new medical student who was recently admitted into the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Indonesia. In particular, I was able to get into the International Class of Medicine (KKI) through the pathway of the SIMAK UI independent testing (Ujian Mandiri). Whereas regarding my high school, I have graduated from Sekolah Pelita Harapan Lippo Village with an International Baccalaureate diploma after having attended there for 13 years.

To first discuss my struggles and motivation in pursuing medical school in the University of Indonesia, I would first like to express my thoughts on why I specifically choose this university over the others. Starting the beginning of my Diploma Program in grade 11, I began to look upon my possible career options in which I knew at the time that I had interests within the field of biotechnology or health related sciences. As such, it took several months before I decided that I wanted to become a medical doctor. However, the next step was deciding which country I would like to end up staying throughout the duration of my career, whether it be overseas or end up working back in Indonesia. Eventually, I was advised that if I wanted to work in Indonesia it would be most ideal to first study in Indonesia, since it would take the shortest duration overall to graduate as a doctor and also have necessary certification to conduct my medical practice after working as a co-assistant for 2 years.

By this point I was having the plan of applying to several medical schools in Indonesia that has international programs that would be beneficial for my specific needs as by that point I was not fully fluent in my speech and familiarity of the technical medical terms in the Indonesian language. Therefore, having the opportunity to learn medical school in English would be of benefit, and if possible also having some experience of learning overseas. It was during my research of possible universities that I ended up finding 3 universities with international medical programs that highly interests me: University of Indonesia, University of Gadjah Mada, and University of Airlangga.

More specifically, what highly interests me regarding Universitas Indonesia’s medical program is their unique approach to teaching medicine from various aspects of the study and not simply focusing on the medical theory. Therefore, as a medical student, I would have several opportunities to conduct medical-based research while also having specialized courses that target my integrity and professionalism as a doctor, translating into treating my patients with respect while prioritizing their best interests. Furthermore, the double degree involving cooperation with other international universities such as with the University of Newcastle for the Master of Research highly interests me, as I believed that education and experience from other countries will genuinely help to develop our education quality back in Indonesia, alongside strengthening international ties with international medical organizations. Other than those reasons, I had also realized and been told by many people including my parents, school counselors, and other doctors that I should pursue UI as it is the best university of Indonesia alongside being the best medical school in the country. As such, if I wanted to pursue a future career in Indonesia, it would be the best possible starting line as I would have received the best education quality and networking system with other students, alumni, and medical professors.

Regarding my motivation to getting into the Faculty of Medicine (FMUI), I had several different reasons inspiring me to pursue becoming a doctor. A key driver in my pursuit of medicine is my personal experience of seeing my grandparents age and suffer from mobility issues due to progressive sarcopenia. Their condition had progressively begun to limit their amount and range of activities. It has given me the motivation to try improving their condition, or at the very least help others prevent living similar lifestyles as they get older. My grandparents helped me realize the value of physical health and how one’s quality of life drastically improves once one is more physically fit. One of the primary ways to combat sarcopenia is by staying fit and mobile through proper training and exercise regimen. This treatment method is particularly within my field of interest and expertise. I personally lead a highly active lifestyle, training 3-4 hours a day, and have experience coaching a few of my friends and family members with training guidance. My mental clarity and overall well-being improved significantly when I started devoting myself to a fitness-based lifestyle. As such, I started encouraging everyone around me to take more care and attention to their health, as health is of greatest paramount. I believe that investing in your health when you are healthy is much easier and financially beneficial compared to when one is in a sick and dire condition. Likewise, each time I try motivating and coaching others to start living healthier and better lifestyles, I always have the mindset of providing people with a proper foundation to succeed in their long-term goals. Without a firm foundation, people would simply be given false hope and be set up for failure. So whenever someone seeks advice from me regarding nutrition or exercise, I invest time and effort in the person to assure their success in their fitness journey while also ensuring the knowledge I provide is credible through months of daily self-based study.

Having piqued my interest, I had mainly developed my knowledge basis by watching videos on proper nutrition for a personalized case by case scenario and also about reliable training techniques from experts with decades of experience and credibility. To further put this knowledge into use, I formed and led a fitness social media platform with my friends to share free and practical information on training and nutrition by dispelling fitness myths and providing quality information to the public and community. I personally feel that Indonesia has significantly lacked much education within the field of nutrition, and I am trying to change the perception that living healthy lives is difficult for people to follow when in reality it is achievable.

Due to my interest in fitness and muscular development, I stumbled upon finding Testosterone esters (steroids) easily being sold online without any mention of any health risks/precautions. The shocking ease of procuring lethal non-pharmacological-grade steroids deeply concerned me, driving my curiosity to delve into some endocrinological research. To learn about the lasting biochemical interactions that anabolic steroids and SARMs can have on people’s fertility and hormonal suppression.

Additionally, I have observed that metabolic syndromes are the most common form of illnesses in Indonesia’s patients, such as pre-diabetes or hypertension, mainly curable via lifestyle habits. Therefore, with my prior coaching experiences, I will become better suited to guide my patients throughout changing their lifestyle habits as I have personally gone through this same challenging process and also successfully guided others to become healthier. Furthermore, as a knowledge-seeker of the natural sciences, I am intrigued to continue finding innovative ways to treat patients through developments in healthcare products and care of the patients. I also feel that by becoming a doctor, I will gain more recognition and credibility to positively impact my patients’ lives directly and indirectly through various forms of interaction, including the use of social media to educate a wider audience.

Starting in my early SMP years of grade 9-10, I had begun being interested in the field of biology/biotechnology and research. At this point in time, I was not yet interested in becoming a doctor and instead was focusing on my research projects regarding topics of possible alternatives to wound healing patches for burn wounds within my school’s Applied Science Academy club. However, as I continued to progress, I realized that I began to shift my interest away from creating new forms of technology and more towards learning about medical professions as a doctor.

Moving on to my SMA years in grade 11-12, I had only then prepared myself into getting into medical schools. At first, I was thinking of applying to medical universities overseas in UK, which required me to conduct a mandatory UCAT exam which I had rigorously studied for several months. In the end, I didn’t end up doing quite well on those exams and got rejected by all 4 medical schools. It was then when I began researching more into studying medicine in Indonesia. At first, I had highly underestimated the difficulty and rigor associated with getting into Indonesia’s best medical school. I had only realized by the beginning of grade 12 (SMA 2) that there was a highly rigorous test that most UI candidates must take to be accepted into the university, the SIMAK UI independent testing. Upon further research, I found out that there was only 2 possible ways to enter FMUI’s international class (KKI), either through the non-testing route (Talent Scouting) or through the testing route (SIMAK UI KKI). Having started a bit too late in the revision process, I began placing most of my hope into the Talent Scouting route as I believe my IB school grades were high enough to get me into the university without even having to take the SIMAK exam. However, just in case, I continued to review the questions and content that would come up within the national high school curriculum. Just as the results for the Talent Scouting were announced, I got the news that I had not been selected as a candidate for the medical school I had hoped to get in. It was quite saddening to me for the first 1-2 days, but I ended getting back on my feet and continue to study with more motivation than beforehand.

What was quite difficult for me to catch up in content was my lack in any prior education for the subject of Physics, which I did not choose as a class in my IB curriculum (since only 2 science subjects were allowed). As such, I had to take private lessons for about 6-7 months trying to cram in as much topics as possible before the exam. Nearing the end of my high school journey, exams had already been finished and school was about to end. My friends were already getting acceptance letters into their universities while I was still waiting and preparing for my upcoming SIMAK exam in about a months’ time. It was around this time when I decided to join a Bimbel group preparation camp specifically for my SIMAK exam, where we would be learning rigorously for 3-4 weeks from Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm with 2 breaks in-between. Additionally, me and my friends also often partook in extra class sessions from 6 to 8 am or 10 to 12 pm, whereas on Sundays we would be doing our exam tryouts to gauge our progress.

Around halfway into the study camp, I had also conducted Ujian Mandiri (Independent testing) for the two other Indonesian medical schools I was planning on getting into (Unair and UGM). Both of which ended up in me not getting picked during the selection process. So finally, it was the last straw, where UI was my final hope of getting into the medical school of my aspirations, in which I continued to grind and force myself to study for the exam. Although me and my friends were way behind in the our abilities to solve Physics questions, I still was able to push through and cram in dozens of formulas and solving methodologies to complete those commonly reoccurring questions on the exam. As I recited those exam questions the night before I couldn’t quite get much sleep, but I’ve known that I did the best I could and that I should be proud of my hard work and struggle.

Once the exam was over, I knew I did it with decently high enough confidence that I did okay. It was a couple of days where me and my friends were de-stressing from our studies, as we all went home and awaited our SIMAK results. After a couple of days, I received a WhatsApp message, where I was contacted by the administration group for the Faculty of Medicine to have passed through the first phase of the selection process and would be undergoing an interview phase. I was highly ecstatic for this announcement, but I knew the work was not done yet. So, I prepared myself for the interview and completed it, although with even less confidence than my exam. Surprisingly, as the day of the announcement came up, I had been chosen to become a student in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Indonesia (FMUI)! It was a shock and a relief but I finally could conquer my first challenge in becoming a future doctor.

In my stay at FMUI, I hope that I would be able to be committed to my studies as a medical student and stay focused throughout the entirety of my journey. I am confident that I would be able to pursue excellency in my studies and build my integrity as an academic and a doctor yet will still have goals to retain a healthy work-life balance.

My future hope along the journey in FKUI is that first and foremost, I would like to graduate from this university as a doctor who has the passion to serve his patients with their wellbeing as the priority. Secondly, I hope that I would develop a lot of my knowledge and experience in not only the medical space, but also with my communication and social interactions with other doctors, patients, and professors. As such, these useful life skills will be helpful in building future relationships and partnerships in my possibilities of future careers.

My short term goal is to graduate as a doctor, but my long-term goal in my medical career is to actual pursue a specialist degree in endocrinology (hormone), specifically due to my interest in wanting to open a hormone therapy clinic. I mentioned previously in my interest in hormone therapy based on my hobby background of health and fitness and have observed how in Indonesia there has not been an established or well-recognized treatment center for hormone therapy, compared to overseas in USA, Australia, or UK where it has become quite available nationwide. Furthermore, there has not been a saturated market yet for hormone therapy, so being able to create a well-established clinic in Indonesia could allow for more branch clinics to be available for the masses in multiple regions nationwide (especially with the help/support of the government).

In the future, I would also hope that I can become a doctor that holds his integrity to his medical practices and gives the best advice with the knowledge I have amassed over years of study. I want to also become a doctor that can have a long-term positive doctor-patient relationship where patients are able to be open and honest about their conditions because they feel comfortable in doing so, thereby allowing me to give the best form of treatment to them. Lastly, I want to become a doctor that is not only economically driven/commercialized and have the capability to help certain patients in need of financial aid. Although I do realize the reality in which money does play a major role in order to survive financially as a doctor, it should never be the main goal, especially when the goal of making money overshadows the patient’s wellbeing.

Lastly, my advice to my ‘adik kelas’ or juniors that want to get into FMUI or anyone other faculty in UI is that, as long as you can put in the long hours of hard work and commitment, there is always a chance you can get into your dream university. You may be constantly facing rejection from universities, friends, grades, etc., but if you know the end goal and focus on it with perseverance, you will reach your goals. The only way you can never get in, is if you lose hope and stop trying, whether you fail the first time to get in, you still have more opportunities in the following year to get in. One last thing is that time management is important to be able to be successful in any task, but more specifically discipline. Some people say they lack motivation to reach their goals, but I say that “motivation gets you started, but discipline keeps you going”!