Skip to main content

Fostering Excellence in Science and Medicine

The academic staff at NUMed is made up of highly skilled and experienced lecturers from a variety of backgrounds and specialisations.

3 September 2023

Did you know that some of the major discoveries in the field of healthcare – from insulin to heparin, and the sinoatrial node to ether anaesthesia – are made by medical students? This serves as a powerful reminder of what dedicated medical students are capable of achieving!

At Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed), an international branch campus of Newcastle University, UK, students in Malaysia can obtain a solid grounding from a top medical institution. With a history of over 180 years, Newcastle University offers students around the world prestigious medical education alongside valuable opportunities to be part of exciting medical breakthroughs. 

The academic staff at NUMed is made up of highly skilled and experienced lecturers from a variety of backgrounds and specialisations. Besides that, the university embraces an integrated case-led approach that facilitates the holistic treatment of patients.  

Besides that, pre-clinical and clinical medicine will be introduced to medical students, giving them the opportunity to actively learn about numerous facets of the human body as well as the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Medical students will be encouraged to further their knowledge of the clinical and medical worlds through hands-on experiences. This will provide them with a deeper grasp of the industry's most important problems and inspire them to consider how they might prepare for the future of medicine.

According to Dr Edmund Ong, Associate Professor and Consultant Physician at NUMed, there has been a wide range of research projects focusing on clinical and applied aspects of medicine available to NUMed’s medical and biomedical sciences students.

Learning about research helps medical students become better healthcare professionals by allowing them to read the literature and clinical research evidence more critically. The ability to learn and complete a research project, as well as the opportunity to present it at a conference or publish it as a paper, motivates students to advance their studies. 

“It gives students a sense of achievement and may encourage and inspire them to conduct research after becoming a doctor, to obtain a higher degree, or even to become an academic,” Dr Edmund said when asked about the advantages gained by students who conducted various research projects. 

According to Dr Roshan Mascarenhas, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Biomedical Sciences at NUMed, in the last two years, students have tackled projects related to human diseases such as cystic fibrosis, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, lymphoblastic leukaemia, pulmonary fibrosis, mitochondrial disease, and bacterial or parasitic infections. Some students have completed projects on understanding how human cells and tissues can be cultured in vitro, the development of the eye and functions of the human nervous system such as perception of noise or pain, and food security studies in the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We offer three summer research internships with the NUMed research team for Stage 2 students. In the past, these interns have worked on projects related to screening antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Johor rivers, identification of actinobacteria populations in mangrove sediments using Nanopore sequencing, extraction and evaluation of antimicrobial compounds from medicinal plants, characterisation of oxalate degrading bacteria from soil and root nodules, and molecular analysis of haematological malignancies,” said Dr Roshan. 

Make your medical career aspirations come true with NUMed fostering in your undergraduate journey. For more details on how to kickstart your medical journey with NUMed, email admissions@newcastle.edu.my, call 07-555 3800, WhatsApp 011-1231 5411 / 012-7849456, or visit the NUMed website at www.ncl.ac.uk/numed.