He almost walked away from medical school

Wilson Ong Ying Fa, MBBS Class of 2016
NUS Medical Society – Christine Chong Hui Xian Bursary

Wilson Ong still vividly remembers the day he decided to become a doctor. He was in Secondary 1 when his mother became seriously ill. Her life was saved when a surgeon performed emergency surgery to remove a ruptured cyst. There and then he decided his future.

Yet, many years later when he had the medical school application in front of him years later, he hesitated. Wilson’s father works as a driver while his mother is a housewife, and he worried about their ability to pay for a medical education. “I didn’t come from a very rich background and, honestly speaking, I worried about whether I could afford to pay the school fees.” He was about to choose a cheaper course when someone told him that the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine could help students facing financial constraints.

Thanks to the NUS Medical Society – Christine Chong Hui Xian Bursary, Wilson was able to seize the opportunity to study medicine at NUS Medicine.  His bursary spurred him onto success as he felt very strongly that he wanted to uphold the belief that the donors to the NUS Medical Society – Christine Chong bursary had in recipients like him.

Wilson has now graduated and plans to pay it forward. “There are many people who have the passion for medicine and who have the potential to be great and caring doctors,” he said. “These people should not miss the opportunity to study medicine because of financial constraints.”