We are proud to present you Omar (23), one of our most recognized medicine teachers and former manager nationwide. He recently achieved his medical degree from the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. During the last 6 years, Omar has established and provided almost all our trainings for the VU curriculum. Later, he continued to provide trainings and masterclasses for almost every medicinal university. “Teaching is mainly about finding a creative way to explain something in an adaptable and logic way.” Read all about his secrets of teaching and tips for studying in this interview!

What kind of a student were you?

Since early on, I have always been an ambitious and reliable student who liked to work as efficiently as possible. I would always try to challenge myself to push my limits and try new things. This resulted in me started studying at an age of 17 years in the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. Because of my broad interests, I participated in a variety of co-curricular and extracurricular activities, mostly concerning surgery and research. I think this developed my abilities a lot by learning various ways to find creative solutions. This way, I found out that the best way of studying was to consider things through logical reasoning. During my teaching career, I learned that this could be accomplished for everyone in their own specific way.

How did you end up in TentamenTrainingen.nl?

I have always liked to help others and provide well organized work to larger groups. Given my high grades, I applied for Tentamentrainingen.nl to start teaching in my second year. I was warmly welcomed by Martin (founder), who has always helped me to further challenge myself ever since. After seeing my potential in my first provided course, he promoted me to manager to establish Tentamentrainingen.nl in my faculty. Looking behind on that time, I am ever grateful for his trust and help throughout all these years. Now I am regularly invited other managers of all medical universities to provide trainings and masterclasses. Unfortunately, it pains my heart every time I have to say no due to my busy schedule.

What kind of a Teacher are you?

My main goal is to always provide what the students need. This can vary very much due to the diverse subjects in medicine. Just like tentamentrainingen.nl, I am mainly focused on achieving the highest quality of the courses. Therefore, high success rates greatly encourage me to optimize my courses to help the students as much as I can. I do this by taking time to listen to my students, besides the skills I learned in various didactic courses. This helps me feel the vibe and needs in every group, to which I adapt my teaching methods in order explain something in a way they find it most logical. Eventually, everyone has his own way of understanding in a comprehensive way. This results in everyone having fun while learning besides creating intrinsic motivation to study more. Given that this comprehendible way of studying makes it almost impossible to forget, it pleasures me to know I help them to become the best doctors they can be!

Where do you want to stand 10 years from now?

Aside from the satisfaction of aiding others, teaching enhanced my expertise and interest in many subjects. By mainly providing personally favorable courses concerning surgery and research, I developed a significant interest in these subjects. Therefore, I hope to be a reconstructive surgeon in ten years, still providing much education to others. Additionally, I aspire to enhance the healthcare globally to give something back to the world using my Arabic and Western background for example.

What’s the best tip you can share with new students?

The most important thing in studying is pursuing the common thread without losing your overview. The secret lies in differentiating between main- and side-issues. You can do this by practicing old exams or trying to explain the subject to others. Still think it is hard? We also learn you this in our courses, making it feasible for you to implement it in the rest of your career.

Geschreven door: Cato. Cato is communicatie-medewerker bij TentamenTrainingen.nl. Wil je reageren op dit interview? E-mail dan naar cato@tentamentrainingen.nl.
TentamenTrainingen.nl helpt universitaire studenten met hun tentamenvoorbereiding. We organiseren bijlessen en trainingen voor studenten van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Tilburg University, TU Delft, Universiteit Leiden, Universiteit Utrecht, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universiteit van Maastricht en de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Bekijk welke trainingen we deze periode organiseren op TentamenTrainingen.nl.
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