The cheerful smile etched on her face and the tinge of
make-up enhances her sense of grace.
Looking into her eyes one is mystified by feelings of
love, tenderness, enthusiasm and passion radiating through her.
A life of service – was the right choice for her.
Doctor Farah S. Abbas, 30, was surprised when she was
voted Best-Lecturer of the faculty by her students despite being a relatively
newcomer.
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| A dentist cannot work without an assistant. |
She has been working in SEGi University, Kota Damansara, under the Dentistry faculty for only eight months.
Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dentistry, 2005,
from the University of Baghdad, Iraq, made her stay in the field until today.
After graduation, she practiced as a full-time dentist
while being a part-time lecturer at Dijla University College, Iraq only then
moved to teach in Segi.
“I fell in love with SEGi at the first sight, the
structure of the building and the politenesses of the staff were strong
triggers which compelled me to join the college,” she says.
“A friend of mine recommended me SEGi and I took the
offer immediately.
“Dentistry is
my dream job. I believe it is something that you born with and something that I
meant to.”
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| Students nominating their favorite lecturer. |
Being a medical doctor was her first choice but
looking at the highly intense lives of surgeons, she changed her mind and opted
for dentistry.
She eventually found herself to be more comfortable
with this profession.
“Or may be seeing my father who holds PhD in
Engineering dedicated in education field professionally, I follow his foot-steps
and became a lecturer,” she said.
Farah does not regret the route she has chosen for
herself.
“I have more
practical experiences as a dentist than lecturing. It appears though that I do
love teaching.”
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| Dr. Farah polishing patient's teeth. |
Her passionate in teaching is to ensure every student understands the message delivered before she dismissed the lecture.
She will repeat her explanation in order to ensure her
students not only to understand her lectures but are embedded by them.
A new topic may not be easy to understand by just
reading, students may encounter new words that are beyond their vocabularies.
“Also, I’m trying to make my lecture to more student
centre, involved them in activities. I believed these would help them to memorize
easily.”
Farah pointed out that she tries to convey her
messages in a simple manner by giving them examples related to real life or
something that the students can connect with.
“She put
herself in our shoes. She will deliver the messages in a big picture until I
nod my head and say yes, I understand,” says Norhasliza.
Quizzes additionally are the best way to identify
whether the students are slacked behind.
“I had given out lots of impromptu quizzes. This is
the motivation tool I guess, students will study only when there is a test.”
“Every student have to learn no matter how clever or
dumb they think they are, it depends on whether they take the initiative and
the willingness to learn,” says Farah.
Farah stated that she likes discipline. She wants her
students to behave like adults. She hardly tolerates it if they slack on their
studies.
“I like Dr Farah,
she is very helpful and will have extra credit to mark up our scores if we get
a low grade for the test,” claimed Noor Sharina.
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| Fully equipped clinical for dental students. |
Apart from that, Farah explained that the education
style is huge variation.
Lecturer in the old days will not have much
participation; they come in deliver the lessons and leave.
They do not bother whether students understand or not,
it is our responsibilities and duty to do find out, she recalls.
“Since, the education is developing from time-to-time;
students are also different from the past, she says.
“Students now are more dependent on the lecturer.
“In other word, spoon-feeding, like easy come easy go.
“Somehow, you have to ensure the lessons that delivered
is understood by the students and also use different approach to explain it all
over again.”
At one point of time throughout the interview session,
she made me confused with regards to the term “dental surgery assistant (DSA)”
and “dentist.”
“Later on, she explained that DSA are students that
assist the dentist.
“Dentist cannot work alone without the assistant,”
said Farah.
“Same goes with doctor cannot handle without the
nurses. The dentist needs the assistant to handle the patient, and do preparation.
“I was glad that the appliances here are
fully-equipped, in order for students to do practice.
“Initially, I felt the challenge of teaching the DSA students
as they are not fluent in English and speak Malay regularly.
“Besides, most of them are in their thirties, I find
that I’m teaching the same generation as mine. Eventually I manage to do well,”
smiled Farah.
“I will give the best, try to understand students make
connection with them.
“Back in Iraq, I have one experience teaching an
elderly student who in his sixties.
“His English level was so bad and it was a big
challenge for me to interact with him. He can be my grandfather, she said
gleefully.
“Somehow, I feel awkward when teach someone older than
me.
“But his spirit of learning is what we can learn.
“He did well and graduated,” he said.
“Staying in the same spot is not good if you are in
academic field, you have to move forward to gain more knowledge and
experiences,” says Farah, and she was planning to pursue her Master in
University of Malaya.
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| Dr. Farah with Zoom member, Jan. |
Recently, she was conducting a research with a
colleague as required by the management.
Part of the research is concerning smoker and
non-smoker patients.
“A research is always the stepping stone before one
graduated. Every course is about the same, we all go thru the process.
“The greatest success is, seeing the students’ passes
the exams with flying colors, understand well, do a good job. This makes me
happy”.
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