AUCMS gearing up for bigger things
CELEBRATING its 10th anniversary next year, Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) in Kepala Batas, Penang, is gearing up for much bigger things.
Established in 2002 as a premier medical college specialising in Medicine and Allied Health Sciences education, AUCMS will soon be known with a new name.
The nine-year old college, which was founded by its executive chairman Datuk Dr Zainuddin Wazir, has been promoted to a university college and is expected to be known as Allianze University College of Medical Sciences or Allianze University College soon.
Dr Zainuddin said the college’s new name and logo will be officially launched by the Higher Education Minister in a couple of months.
News of the “promotion”, he said, arrived in July last year and since then AUCMS has been putting its plans in motion.
Among them are two new complexes that will be located within walking distance from its campus in Bertam.
Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS was planning to start construction on its two hectare medical hospitality and tourism complex, and one hectare sports complex this year.
Both premises, he said, would also feature accommodations for some 3,000 students and teaching facilities.
“Both projects cost over RM100 million. We are waiting for the local authorities approval for the buildings. Hopefully, they will be ready in 2013,” he said.
As part of its huge plans, AUCMS will also be the first private college in the country to have its own hospital, which is about 10 minutes away from its campus.
The 200-bed hospital will specialise in cardiovascular respiratory medicine and serve as a cancer centre, and also generate 5,000 to 8,000 jobs.
Dr Zainuddin said the hospital will not be a teaching hospital when it begins operations in the first quarter next year.
“It will be a medical facility, where our own graduates will find jobs as medical practitioners. They will be given the priority,” he said.
With things going well for AUCMS, Dr Zainuddin said the college is planning to introduce its medical degree programme in September, for 200 students.
The college has also applied to the National Accreditation Board (LAN) to introduce various new degree and diploma programmes.
“We hope by July this year we can introduce at least five new degree programmes such as the Bachelor’s in Pharmacy, Nursing and Medical Sciences, and 10 more diploma programmes. We also hope to include alternative complimentary medicine programmes.”
AUCMS’s programmes comply by the rules of the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA).
The programmes are Doctor of Medicine (MD), Diploma in Science (UiTM), Diploma in Pharmacy, Diploma in Physiotherapy and Diploma in Nursing, and Pre-diploma in Science (UiTM).
The college also offers the Certificate in Pre-Medical Studies and the Certificate in Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-Basic).
AUCMS’s medical degree programmes are offered in collaboration with four local and international universities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Indonesia’s Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), and Ireland’s University College Cork (UCC) and the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway).
The Bachelor’s degrees in medicine, surgery and obstetrics, for instance, are offered via Irish twinning programmes, meaning students complete their courses both at the AUCMS campus in Kepala Batas and Ireland.
Dr Zainuddin said students, who pursue their medical education locally, benefit tremendously from their learning environment.
“The system we practise here ensures that students are exposed to local government hospitals and community clinics that are never short of patients. Patients here also respond well to medical students pursuing their clinical training and are comfortable with them because there is no language barrier.”
Dr Zainuddin obtained his first degree and Master’s degree from UKM and served in the government sector before pursuing his sub-speciality in cardiotherapy in Australia.
He said going overseas for a medical degree may not always be the right choice, if the chosen university or college was of substandard.
He added that Malaysian medical schools have to be on par with other reputable organisations in order to produce competent and respectable medical professionals.
AUCMS, he said, was a good example as the college complied with the standards and quality set by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), and was led by a team of experienced medical practitioners.
Students can also get scholarships and loans from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN).
AUCMS offered Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) holders a good opportunity to pursue medical sciences through its Foundation in Pre-Medical Studies and Diploma in Medical Studies programmes.
The 11-month foundation programme, he said, allowed students to go straight into their degrees, whether in medical sciences or alternative complimentary medical programmes such as dentistry.
“This is a fast-track programme for those with at least five credits in their SPM while the three-year Diploma in Medical Sciences programme requires three credits,” he added.
Source - NST