Medicine is concerned with the training of knowledgeable, caring, competent and skilful professionals, who understand health and disease. The NUMed Malaysia curriculum is designed to provide a general medical education for all types of doctor, and a foundation for your later career specialization. Our integrated approach sweeps away the traditional divide between pre-clinical and clinical training, and focuses from the outset on the development of your clinical competence and understanding.
From the beginning your teaching is structured through interdisciplinary units of study, and your learning is hands-on, task-based and focused on clinical cases or conditions. There is an emphasis on critical thinking and the development of your powers of clinical reasoning. You are expected to take responsibility for your own learning, with your teachers acting as guides to support and facilitate the process. Throughout the programme, supervised study projects introduce you to clinical research methods and allow you to study topics of your own choice in depth. You will develop also the key skills of communication, information handling, reflective practice and decision making, and the appropriate attitudes required for professional practice as a doctor.
(Stages 1 and 2)
Phase I extends over two academic years and is divided into two Stages. During this Phase you learn about normal and abnormal structure, function and behaviour. Our approach is interdisciplinary and contributions come from a variety of basic and medical science disciplines, and clinical relevance is emphasised throughout.
You cover eight subject areas:
People as ‘patients’ play an active role in Phase I, and you come into contact with them from the very beginning through links with community based medical practitioners.
In Stage 1 you are attached to a pregnant woman and her family for the Family Study project, and in Stage 2 you undertake an in-depth study of a patient with a chronic illness. Your early clinical experience is gained through regular clinical skills teaching in the laboratory, and hospital and community visits. You will meet real-life patients as early as the first semester of Stage 1.
Spanning three years, this Phase is divided into Stages 3, 4 and 5. Throughout Phase II you undertake your clinical learning in the Government Hospitals and Community Clinics of the State of Johor. These will include Hospital Sultan Ismail, Hospital Sultanah Aminah and Hospital Permai, and Klinik Kesihatan Gelang Patah, Klinik Kesihatan Taman Universiti, and Klinik Kesihatan Sultan Ismail.
Stage 3
In Stage 3 you undertake an initial 15-week introduction to clinical practice and a series of essential junior rotations, which provide you with clinical experience in a range of specialties including:
Stage 4
Stage 4 begins with a 12-week course in clinical sciences and investigative medicine, followed by a 30-week period of student-selected components (SSCs) and elective study. During this period you select three topics, each lasting six weeks, in clinical and non-clinical areas. You may be permitted to select one or more of the SSCs from the clinical placements offered by the Newcastle Medical School in the UK. These student-selected components are followed by an eight-week elective period, which gives you the opportunity to experience medicine almost anywhere in the world, including the UK.
Stage 5
In the final year you are again attached to the Government Hospitals and Community Clinics in Johor for the senior rotations in:
The student-selected choice strand of the curriculum runs throughout the programme and provides you with the opportunity to study topics of your own choosing. In Stage 1, you are provided with an induction to the student-selected component (SSC) programme, which develops your skills in information retrieval, analysis and critical appraisal. The student-selected component in Stage 2 provides you with the opportunity to undertake a literature review on a topic of your own choice.
In Stage 4 an 18-week period allows you to choose a separate topic for each of the three SSCs; however you may combine SSCs into an extended period of study if you wish to arrange something more ambitious. Also as part of the SSC strand in Stage 4 you will undertake an 8-week period of elective study. You may have the opportunity to undertake one or more of your SSC periods in the UK.
Highly motivated and able students enrolled on the 5-year MBBS programme have the opportunity to step aside from their mainstream medical studies to intercalate an additional one year period of study which will take place in the UK. This opportunity may be particularly attractive if you wish to explore an area in greater depth and gain experience in research. The options include (but are not limited to):
Following successful completion of the intercalated year of study, you will be awarded either a BSc Honours degree or a Masters degree, as appropriate, and return to the Malaysian campus to conclude the remainder of your MBBS programme.