SEVEN members of the Irish Medical Council recently visited the Perdana University-Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (PU-RCSI) campus in Serdang, Selangor.

During their visit, they met with the PU-RCSI faculty, students and clinicians. The Irish Medical Council members were very impressed by the progress that had been made in the clinical placements of students, the teaching facilities in hospitals, the expansion of the faculty, and collaborations on postgraduate research, courses and examinations.

PU-RCSI offers a five-year medical programme, established in 2011, and the graduation ceremony of its first batch will take place in 2016.

Accreditation for the undergraduate medical programme is provided by the National University of Ireland (NUI), the Irish Medical Council and the Malaysian Medical Council. Graduates of the medical programme will be conferred the MB BCh BAO from the NUI.

Professor Cathal Kelly, the chief executive of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, spoke about the collaboration with Perdana University during his quarterly visit to the institution.

"What is especially 'unique' about Perdana University is that it is a public-private partnership (PPP). Indeed, the PU-RCSI collaboration is part of a larger project, the Academic Medical Centre (AMC), which is developing a centre of excellence for medicine in Malaysia. The AMC plans to build a custom-built medical campus, primarily composed of a private teaching hospital and a research centre," said Kelly.

PU-RCSI School of Medicine comprises the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, psychology, clinical pharmacology, epidemiology/public health medicine, pathology, microbiology, and the medicine and surgery departments.

The academic staff at PU-RCSI School of Medicine includes scientists and clinicians from Ireland, Malaysia and other countries.

Professor David Adams will become the dean of PU-RCSI School of Medicine this month.

Professor Anthony Cunningham has served as the dean of foundation studies for three years and during that time, he has led the academic and administrative teams, consisting of staff from the RCSI in Ireland and local appointments, supported by a programme office in Dublin, Ireland.

"The PU-RCSI School of Medicine is founded on the principle that the patient's interest is paramount in clinical teaching, medical practice and research.

"The objective of the school is to provide the education and experience that will enable our graduates to enter postgraduate training in any speciality of medicine, and this is what drives us in all decisions we make in relation to the programme," said Kelly.

"RCSI has a long connection with Malaysia and we very much look forward to continuing this relationship for the benefit of educating health professionals of the future.

"Perdana University is an ambitious project to establish an international centre of excellence in education, and we at RCSI are very pleased to partner the university in its undergraduate medical programme."

Source: NSUNT