John Oliver H. Sayseng

I am a licensed medical technologist in the Philippines. I had my hospital-based laboratory experience in San Lazaro Hospital-STD/AIDS Central Cooperative Laboratory, and I interned at Cardinal Santos Medical Center as a medical technologist, where I was in charge of blood banking. I am well disciplined, responsible, friendly, and fun to go with. You can have a conversation with me in any topics that you want to talk about, no matter if it is science, religion, politics, life, or entertainment and fun.

Choosing Taiwan & Applying for School

Upon learning that Taiwan is giving academic and economic support for aspiring international students who want to study in the country, I immediately took the opportunity to apply for admission. There are a lot of things that I admire about Taiwan’s quality of education. First, numerous universities in Taiwan are part of the QS world ranking and QS Asia ranking in a remarkable spot. Second, as a healthcare professional, I am aware that the healthcare system here is one of the best in the world, thus making me more curious on how the system works here. Third, I chose Taiwan because it is one of the safest countries to live in. Lastly, Taiwan is indeed just a couple of hours away from my home country, the Philippines.

In December 2017, I contemplated applying for a scholarship in Taiwan and contacted a friend studying there for information. After preparing my documents, I sent them to National Yang-Ming University (NYMU) in January and to ICDF in March. I was accepted at NYMU but didn’t get the ICDF scholarship, leading me to postpone my studies. In 2019, I was accepted at Taipei Medical University (TMU) with a tuition waiver but missed out on the MOE scholarship. Considering abandoning my plans due to financial constraints, I informed TMU’s Office of Global Engagement of my decision. However, a staff member advised against it, and at a Taiwanese academic expo in Manila, I learned a TMU professor was willing to offer me a scholarship. After discussing with my family, I accepted the offer and commenced my studies at TMU in September.

Experience at Taipei Medican University

Taipei Medical University is my university of choice, and I am currently studying International Master’s Program in Medicine. The courses that I’ve already taken and is currently taking are, seminar, research design, research ethics, experimental methods and principles, animal models for human disease, cancer genomics and proteomics, artificial intelligence in genomics, cell biology, signal transduction, and Mandarin language course.

In my stay here in Taiwan, as a student, I enjoyed a lot of things. First, I love the culture, how disciplined the people around me are. Taiwanese are really good. They always wear their widest smiles. Second, the professors in my university were all professional and teaches well, as a matter of fact I may consider myself as idolizing them because they are really smart and knows a lot of things regarding research. Third, I love how complete their laboratories are, equipment, reagents and other research related things were readily available. Lastly, the community, the weather, and foods here are nice.

Comparison

Comparing my educational background and experiences back in my university in my home country, I can say that the quality of education here exceptional, the facilities and equipment were far more complete, thus making me work more efficiently. I am amazed how well equipped the laboratories are in the university that I am currently enrolled, they even have western blot and polymerase chain reaction machines here wherein back in my country, there’s only rare number of universities and facilities that actually has this kind of machine. The quality of higher education here is amazingly exceeded my expectations. The professors were all experienced in the fields that they are teaching.

Benefits of Studying in Taiwan & Future Plan

Studying here in Taiwan really gave me a lot of learnings and experiences. I have learned a lot of techniques in laboratory settings, with all of these learning and experiences, numerous doors had opened for my future career, whether if it’s clinical laboratory, research laboratory, academics and many more. Being a student and soon to be alumnus of a university in Taiwan makes me more competent in every aspect of my professional career, knowing that the quality of education here in Taiwan is far more higher than that of any other Asian countries and universities. To have a degree from a fortified university in Taiwan assures me a brighter future in healthcare, research, and academic industry.

After finishing my master’s degree in Taiwan, I plan to immediately return to my country due to its need for experienced healthcare professionals. Amid the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines, like many other countries, has suffered significantly, recording a high number of infections and mortality rates daily. As this problem persists, I feel the need to return as a better and more experienced healthcare professional. The scarcity of healthcare professionals in the Philippines makes us more vulnerable to various diseases. I aim to help by providing aid and assisting my compatriots in fighting this infection and other diseases.

Important Achievements

Having a scholarship grant from one of the best universities in Taiwan is already an achievement for me. Being privileged enough to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to be enrolled at Taipei Medical University for my master’s degree is indeed one of my proudest attainments. Though I haven’t participated in any of international events or competitions here in Taiwan, I have a goal to graduate with flying colors. Hopefully, there will be a life changing outcome for my master’s thesis regarding breast cancer, for my future career and for the future of those who are battling against this illness. With all these in my thoughts, I know this is already an achievement for me and for the future generation.

Advice for Prospective Students

For the future foreign students who may want to come and study here in Taiwan, I just want them to feel the comfort of Taiwan, the people, culture, and high quality education. They should be goal-oriented. Take all the opportunities that Taiwan may give to them because there is nothing wrong to try and try no matter what the outcome will be, just like in research, never give up onto your experiment because no matter how bad your first few tries were, a good outcome will still prevail in the end. Focus on studying and enjoy the serenity of Taiwan.