Malaysian medical students arrive in Ireland

InsideIreland: NUI Galway and UCC recently welcomed the first intake of Malaysian students after a partnership with Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS), Kapala Batas, in northern Malaysia.
The twinned medical programme is offered by both universities and around 100 Malaysian students split equally across the across the two universities are to study in Ireland for the first two and a half years of the five-year degree.
The new partnership however is the outcome of discussions which began in 2005 when the Ministry of Health in Malaysia approached the Irish universities, seeking to develop sustainable Malaysia-based medical education capacity into the future.
An agreement was signed in 2009 in Penang and students will gain qualifications from both the Malaysian and Irish professional accrediting authorities.
Professor Gerard Loftus, Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at NUI Galway, said: “The programme is a very exciting augmentation of the strong tradition we have in the education of Malaysian medical students over the years.
“The Malaysian Government recognises that our Malaysian students achieve high clinical standards. I am particularly pleased also that the many very able and committed people who have worked on this project from the outset back in 2005 are here today, when all their efforts come to fruition.”
Current NUI Galway student, Mohamad Sharifudin Dzulkefli said: “Studying in two institutes of higher learning in Ireland and Malaysia really gives us a lot of advantages in terms of knowledge as well as experience.
“NUI Galway has a lot to offer for the AUCMS students. Gaining basic medical knowledge in Ireland and applying it during the clinical years back in Malaysia gives us the upper hand in the medical field.”