KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Have you ever dreamt of being a doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect, engineer or even a teacher but have doubts about your future prospects after reading the news about the challenges facing these professions lately?

Fret not, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is organising a career guidance conference from May 13 to 14 to help students make informed decisions when choosing a career.

It will be held at the Gardens Hotel and Residence Ballroom in Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur from 9am to 5pm.

MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said the career guidance conference is an ideal platform for parents and students to gain as much knowledge about various professions and industries from the professionals.

"As many as 21 speakers from 15 organisations including national professional bodies such as the Bar Council, Institute of Engineers, Malaysian Institute of Accountants, Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology, National Union of Teaching Profession and Persatuan Akitek Malaysia will share their experiences and insights into real-life challenges in their respective industry,” he said in a statement today.

He encouraged the parents of children aged 15 to 17 to attend the conference with their children as ultimately, they will be the final decision makers when their child is choosing a higher education course or programme. "We realised through experience and feedback received that many in the current generation of our workforce have expectations that are not aligned to the realities of work life. "This predicament is not confined to the realms of the medical fraternity but rather cuts through all professions hence we feel there is a need to educate students and their parents further on the various career options,” he said.

Dr Muruga said that the career guidance conference will be on a larger scale and ample time is set aside for questions and answers with the experts after each talk.

Admission to the career guidance conference is free, but seats are limited and advance booking is advised.

The programme is available at: www.mma.org.my/category/mma-Events/

For more information on the MMA Career Guidance Conference, contact Rafikah Nordin at tel: 03-40411375 (ext 113), or email: schomos@mma.org.my.