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Medical school for Malaysia

Monash will establish a School of Medicine and Health Sciences at its Malaysia campus after the University Council endorsed the proposal last week.

Professor Edward Byrne.

The school will offer the undergraduate medical course Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from 2005, but for the first two years students will study through the Clayton campus while the new Malaysia campus is being built in Bandar Sunway.

Students who complete the course will receive the same degree as students studying the MBBS at Monash in Australia.

Vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said the school would provide benefits and opportunities for the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, as well as the broader university, both in Australia and Malaysia.

"The school provides added opportunities to establish transnational teaching and research programs," Professor Larkins said. "In particular it will enable us to establish collaborative arrangements in the clinical and research departments of Monash in Australia and Malaysia."

The course will be identical in structure to the course taught in Australia but will be modified to reflect the Malaysian culture.

Dean of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Professor Edward Byrne said that although the school would have a separate identity, it would be subject to the same high standards of teaching as all courses in the faculty.

Monash Malaysia pro vice-chancellor Professor Merilyn Liddell said the medical school would bring an enhanced profile to the campus, giving it greater public prominence and thus attracting high-quality students across all disciplines.

"It will produce well-rounded graduates capable of providing leadership in the profession and will develop synergistically with the School of Arts and Sciences, with links to biotechnology and medical bioscience," she said.

The new school will complement the current teaching areas at the Malaysia campus -- the School of Business, School of Information Technology, School of Engineering and School of Arts and Sciences.

It will help to redress major shortages in Malaysia's medical workforce. The Malaysian Government has set a goal to increase the number of doctors from current levels of one doctor per 1400 people to one per 800 people by 2020.