Toh Hong-keng decided to study medicine after retiring from working as an executive based in Hong Kong. - Photo: Handout via SCMP
HONG KONG (SCMP): Toh Hong-keng, 70, a retired Malaysian executive based in Hong Kong, recalls gently grasping a baby by the neck to pull it from its mother’s womb during a delivery at a hospital in the Philippines.
“Everything happened so fast. My god. To experience it is ... you feel so good about it,” he said, recalling his first time assisting in such a procedure.
One might think Toh was a senior obstetrician, but instead he is potentially the world’s oldest medical graduate after earning his degree from Southwestern University in Cebu on Saturday.
He told the Post that other than learning complicated medical knowledge and frequently taking exams over a five-year period, he had to go through a gruelling one-year hospital placement where he worked a 30-hour shift every three days.
“I am really excited I am graduating. I hope there will be more mature medical students in the future,” said Toh, a father of three adult children and grandfather of two.
“At times I feel it’s unreal ... I was surprised that I was able to survive and, and complete it, and graduate.”
About six years ago, Toh was still the vice-president of product marketing and channel sales for a company in Hong Kong. But he did not wish to scroll through social media all day after his retirement at 65 years old.
During a trip to Kyrgyzstan, he met two young Indian medical students, who gave him the idea that he could also pursue a medical degree overseas.
For Toh, studying for a medical degree was more like a quest for knowledge on his bucket list rather than a career endeavour.
“Because especially at this age, you don’t have much time left. You don’t know when you’re going to go,” he said.
“I may be able to join [Medecins Sans Frontieres] or at least I can use my knowledge to take care of my own health during retirement and that of my family.”
Toh Hong-keng says studying for a medical degree was more like a quest for knowledge on his bucket list rather than a career endeavour. - Photo: Handout via SCMP
Toh said his fond memories of studying for his first degree in chemistry and control engineering and then a master’s in technology and development in the United Kingdom had also fuelled his passion to learn more.
He chose Southwestern University since it was the only such English-speaking institution he could find that had no age limit for students, he added.
But Toh said pursuing a medical degree could also be a bitter pill to swallow, especially for someone at his age.
In his final year of study, he was required to do a one-year placement where he worked at private and public hospitals separately, gaining hands-on experience in specialities such as obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, internal medicine and surgery.
He had a three-day cycle where he had to work from 7am to 7am on the first day, followed by either a 7am to 12pm or 7am to 5pm shift the next, before a 7am to 5pm shift on the last day.
Toh said he and his fellow medical students could only rest and nap on a desk during the taxing 30-hour shifts.
“Sometimes I was so tired, my god,” he said. “Sometimes there were not even chairs to sit on.”
But he said his classmates, who called him “Sir Toh”, were all very caring and would ask him to rest late at night.
Toh also needed to revise for exams after his shifts, which he said was difficult to find the energy for.
“There is much medical information we need to memorise. It was indeed difficult for me, even up to now,” he said.
He also failed paediatrics in his third year, which extended the duration of his studies from four to five years.
Toh said his classmates’ encouragement was key to surviving his studies, and they would also tell him he had inspired them.
Toh has said his fellow students encouraged him to keep going whenever he encountered challenges. - Photo: Handout via SCMP
“There are so many times I wanted to give up,” he said, but his younger fellows would encourage him by saying “sayang” in Tagalog, a phrase which means that giving up would be a waste.
“The young people would take me out for coffee and talk to me. They’d say ... you want to help the poor, you want to help the suffering, so you stay on.”
Toh said some people might think he had wasted money and time, but he felt it was about using both to gain new knowledge.
“I say to myself, you can do it for two years, then it’s good enough, right? Just do as much as I can,” he said.
He decided he would not proceed with the postgraduate internship programme or board exam in either the Philippines, Malaysia or Hong Kong due to his age.
He said he would find work in sales and marketing for medical devices or consumables.
Toh said his other dreams included travelling around the world and writing a book on nutrition and weight management with one of his older friends, who is a medical doctor.
“If [being] a medical doctor is really your dream, particularly for those who are already in the healthcare profession, don’t hesitate, go for it,” he said. “If I can do it, you can too!” - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
