386. "Your intern has run away!" my assistant said.

"Your intern has run away!" my assistant Mr Saw said to me on Monday when I came back from my RES course of 3 hours in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 2 months. Mr Saw considers interns as pests wasting his time to teach them but he obliges when I ask him.

The young bespectacled short lady from Tampenis Junior College had phoned me for an internship as she was offered a place in the BioMedical course in Murdoch University on the introduction of Mr David Teo, a campus recruitment agency.

I told her to come on Sunday April 4, 2011 at 10am to try out one day and to be interviewed. Her father dutifully drove her to the Surgery at 9.30 am.

Her A level results did not qualify her to study veterinary medicine at Murdoch University. "3 As are needed," she said. "If I do very well in the BioMedical Course, I can join the 2nd year of Veterinary Medicine."

I reviewed her background. She had done some voluntary work at the SPCA cleaning the kennels and handling dogs. However, there was no documentary proof. "Are you sure you want to study Veterinary Medicine? You will need to study very hard and be top in the Bio-Medical course to get into the 2nd year. Nothing less than that." I asked her again. "Can your family afford to pay $300,000 for the course?"

She had better O level results than her A level. Something happened during her 2nd year of Junior College adversely affecting her academic performance. There are many young ladies from brand-name schools with unbelievable straight As. The last lady I spoke to had 6As and would have qualified to study veterinary medicine. If only her parents have the money. Yet this girl said her father could support her.

Well, I gave her an opportunity to work as an intern. She worked with Dr Vanessa on a busy Sunday afternoon. The next day, she did not turn up. Nor did she phone to thank me or said goodbye.

Sometimes I wonder why I should bother with giving 2nd chance to young people who don't make the grade to study veterinary medicine overseas?