336 students graduate from IMU
KUALA LUMP UR: It was a joyous occasion at the International Medical University (IMU) as 336 graduands celebrated their graduation at the convocation ceremony that was held yesterday in IMU’s campus in Bukit Jalil. With the celebration, IMU graduates achieved a milestone that marked the completion of their postgraduate and undergraduate studies in various healthcare programmes available at IMU.
On top of Class of 2018, eight graduands made history the same day as the first to graduate from IMU’s Master of Pharmacy Practice, a platform for aspiring pharmacists to improve their skillsets to create an impact on their professional practice. This is the first of its kind to be offered in a Malaysian private university and focuses on three areas of specialisation within research, namely Clinical Pharmacy, Social & Administrative Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management.
“All the first cohort students have worked exceedingly hard during their time at IMU as they recognised the value of having a postgraduate qualification and how directly this impacts their professional practice and career. I am very confident that these cohort of students will apply their learnings and various other capabilities in continuous improvement and strive to make healthcare better in all areas they practise in this next phase of their careers,” said Dr MariKannan Maharajan, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director, Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy.
Muhammad Daniaal bin Radzali, one of the eight master programme students, shared that he decided to enroll in IMU’s Master of Pharmacy Practice because of the focus on three areas of specialisation within research.
“I chose clinical pharmacy as my study programme here. During my final semester as an undergraduate, my curiosity in research got the better of me. I felt the need to expand and acquire more knowledge in the field of pharmacy. Now that I’ve completed the programme, I am eager to apply and expand my knowledge in the real world,” he said.
In his address to Class of 2018, Dato’ Dr Gan Ee Kiang, Chancellor of the IMU, spoke about the digital revolution that healthcare is currently going through, in particular with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, and reminded the graduating class to keep themselves abreast of these changes for their professional and personal advantages as well as be agents of change.
“Industry 4.0 is making the biggest impact, especially when the industry has been in dire need of a transformation to change the way doctors and healthcare professionals currently provide patient care. New technologies are being utilised to make sense of the huge amount of health-related data we produce every day. You will be in the thick of this revolution as it currently takes place. This is an advantage as you’ll be nurturing your professional and personal growth in tandem with Healthcare 4.0. I advise you to make the most of what’s happening in healthcare and go beyond being just a user and participant; why not be part of the revolution and be the ones to develop and implement these smart technologies?” said Dr Gan in his address.
Among the suggestions he provided for fellow graduates to embrace these changes were to use social media as a platform to create, share and consume medical knowledge, joining online communities, creating blogs or podcast, and signing up for classes involving app development and robotics. To ensure that IMU also stays relevant with these changes, the university has also taken proactive measures in the adoption and implementation of Big Data so that its graduates are well equipped with the right set of skills and knowledge. Last October, IMU was recognised by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) as the first university to introduce data analytics in healthcare programmes while its Institute for Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI) has collaborated with FusionEx to launch Malaysia’s firstever medical research centre powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Vice-Chancellor Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, in his speech, also resonated with the message that Dr Gan shared with fellow graduates. He also reminded them to not forget the humanity part of healthcare.
“One thing that technology, no matter how advance it gets, can never replace the human touch. As much as technology can help make healthcare more efficient, more advanced and in some cases, more successful, it will never have the unique human quality to console, support and be compassionate, kind, gentle and empathetic. Do not forget to develop what is uniquely human - your judgment. There are things that machines will do better than a human being but there are also many other things that humans will excel in. To become today’s successful practitioner is to have the ability to complement both machine and humanity,” said Prof Abdul Aziz.
A prize presentation ceremony was also held on Friday, Nov 2. Among the numerous award winners were three Tun Zahir Merit Award winners Shamir Das A/L K.N. Kavidas, Bachelor of Science (Hons) Psychology; Tan Ying Wen, Bachelor of Science (Hons) Nutrition; and Wong Pui Mun, Bachelor of Science (Hons) Chinese Medicine. All three were thankful for the scholarships given to them during their studies at IMU that allowed them to fully focus on their education without having to worry about money.
“Obtaining a full scholarship from IMU was a huge privilege for me, one that lifted a massive burden from my shoulders,” said Shamir Das, who also thanked his lecturers for playing a huge role in pushing him to do his best.
“One thing this journey has entailed is the discovery, understanding and awareness of myself as a person and with that I am going into the real world with a truer version of myself,” he said.
Also looking forward to the future, Tan expressed her relief of how her tenacity over the past three years has finally paid off.