Aiming to become the top 'meducationist'.
AUCMS offers route to career in medicine
A DECADE ago, a degree or a diploma scroll would be enough to ensure a promising career ahead. But how things have changed since.
Recent statistics from the Higher Education Ministry reveals that 30,000 graduates remain jobless six months after graduation.
One of the main factors is the ever changing economic structure and landscape, which inadvertently creates a mismatch between the workforce churned out by institutions of higher learning and demands in the job market.
However, there is one sector that has proven its resilience despite the changes in the global economic climate and it is none other than the medical and applied sciences sector.
Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) executive chairman Datuk Dr Zainuddin Wazir said a survey conducted in the United States showed that medical and applied sciences topped the list of preferred tertiary-level education.
"The main reason is job security and this reflects the global trend," said the renowned heart surgeon.
Apart from job security, there are also other factors that make medical and applied sciences studies attractive.
Dr Zainuddin said it was the social status of those working in the medical field.
"The community tends to appreciate medical doctors, nurses, physiotherapist and those involved in saving lives and helping patients."
However, choosing the right institution institution of higher learning is no simple matter.
Not all graduates from universities or colleges are able to meet stringent job market demands.
This is where AUCMS came into the picture.
Dr Zainuddin, who is also the college's chief executive officer, said AUCMS had a clear vision in producing well-trained graduates who would be able to function according to the employers' expectation.
What differentiates AUCMS from other institutions is the fact that the core prime movers of the college, like Dr Zainuddin himself, are trained medical practitioners themselves.
"Our teaching staff are trained practitioners recruited from renowned medical and training institutions globally.
"We have the best brains in our advisory council," he said at AUCMS main campus in Bertam, Kepala Batas, Penang.
As of the teaching staff, Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS was aggressively recruiting industrial-savvy lecturers both from locally and abroad.
"Currently, we have lecturers from India, Pakistan, Myanmar, the Philippines and Britain. We are in the process of recruiting lecturers from Ireland and Australia."
Dr Zaniuddin, who aims to position the college as the top "meducationist" in the country and the world by 2015, said its strategic partnership with local and global players enabled AUCMS to produce excellent medical graduates.
Apart from its twinning medical degree programme with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, AUCMS also has a longstanding collaboration with Universitas Sumatera Utara in Indonesia.
AUCMS is also offering a bachelor degree in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics in collaboration with National University of Ireland and a bachelor degree in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics in collaboration with National University of College Cork, Ireland.
The collaborations have allowed AUCMS to cater to up to 500 medical degree students.
AUCMS is expected to introduce its own medical degree once it is granted a university-college status.
The college also offers pre-medical certificate intensive programme that prepares students for the medical degree.
AUCMS also offers comprehensive diploma-level courses in nursing, physiotherapy, pharmacy, medical sciences and medical laboratory technology. To complement the modern medicines, AUCMS would be introducing alternative complimentary medical programme.
AUCMS students carry out their training at existing public hospitals and there is a strong reason in exposing them to the real world.
"Upon entering the job market, the graduates will be working in this type of set-up and not the typical set-up at university hospitals. Therefore, our graduates not only perform better but are also safe practitioners."
To enhance job security for its graduates, AMCS will be opening its own 200-bed hospital in Kepala Batas this year. The hospital will eventually be upgraded into a 1,000-bed hospital.
Through its partnership with Tabung Haji, AUCMS has entered a rapid expansion phase. The college plans to open seven branch campuses nationwide by early next year.
He said this was in line with AUCMS's holistic approaches that comprise high-quality education, medical services and research.
Dr Zainuddin said the college was also looking at setting up branch campuses in China and Africa, with plans in the pipeline to enter the Australia, British and American markets.
Dr Zainuddin said in becoming a medical and applied science institution, AUCMS was promoting a holistic life-long learning process right from certificate-level up to the post-graduate level.
"As long as they have the right mindset and stick to our training programmes, I am fully confident that our graduates will excel."
Source - NST