JOINING the pantheon of Management and Science University’s (MSU) successful alumni doctors is Dr Nur Zahirah Ahmad Tarmizi, a proudly established doctor that has moved from one education achievement to the next without breaking a sweat or missing a beat.
After scoring straight A’s in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Zahirah was offered to study International Baccalaureate at Kolej Mara Seremban when she was just 16 years old.
While her passion was always to become a doctor, she kept her horizons open in terms of which specialisation within the career, which Zahirah only discovered after establishing herself as a doctor.
“I (began) my career at Hospital Tuanku Jaafar in Seremban, before I was transferred to Teluk Intan, Perak to be the Doctor-in-Charge of Maternal and Children Health Clinic. I then found my passion in aesthetic medicine when I was already a medical officer, and started going for courses and conferences to learn more about aesthetic medicine,” she said.
In 2016, Zahirah left the government sector and began her own private practice. However, the reality of starting up a business, more often than not, is challenging. Likewise, Zahirah persevered through the trials while establishing her career as an entrepreneur cum medical doctor.
Now an LCP-certified Aesthetic Doctor, founder and medical director at Lara Aesthetic Clinic, Zahirah explained that aesthetic medicine is an art.
“We learn the skills, but there are various techniques to be applied and it all depends on the individual. Each person requires different techniques to fit different facial features or skin problems. This career is close to my heart because I am mostly surrounded by women who are not just goal-driven in their careers, but also give proper attention to their overall outlook,” she said.
Struggle before success
While constantly reminded of the pleasant journey she was fortunate to have to be where she is today, Zahirah is also constantly reminded of the gruelling challenges that hover in her career as an aesthetic doctor.
“There are just too many competitions, but they are manageable as you just need a unique selling point. The public is not aware that medical aesthetic procedures should only be done by professionals and certified doctors,” she said.
“We face challenges whereby botox and fillers are also being done by beauticians and they cause a lot of complications, and (produce) unnatural results, making the stigma towards aesthetic injectables even worse. People are already scared of doing injectables due to safety issues, and how the media portrays that you will look unnatural by doing so. It is even more challenging to convince the public,” she said.
Zahirah continues to aim for the sky and in doing so, sets a high expectation upon herself to be a role model and torchbearer for MSUrians who aspire to be successful in their careers.
Intakes for the MBBS programme is in April and October, and qualified students are required to sit for the Medical Entry Test (MET) at the MSU campus in Shah Alam to determine their aptitude for the MBBS programme.
For details on scholarships and fee waiver, call 03-5521-6868, enquiry@msu.edu.my, or visit www.msu.edu.my
