First silent mentor training centre launched
KUCHING: Sarawak’s first Silent Mentor Training Centre was launched by Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian in conjunction with the Academy for Silent Mentor (AFSM) Conference 2018 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching recently.
The launch was witnessed by AFSM chairman and founding director Professor Dr Chin Kin Fah, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences deputy dean Professor Dr Mohammad Zulkarnaen Ahmad Narihan and the training centre’s public fund raisers Datin Amar Kathryn Wee, Ong Ngok Shoon, Zhang Su Ling and Chen Shyang Ren.
According to a press release, the training centre is the culmination of a Memorandum of Agreement between Unimas and AFSM that was signed in Kuala Lumpur on March 23 last year.
The memorandum aims to set up a silent mentor centre in Unimas’ Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Kota Samarahan campus.
Following the memorandum, the ‘i-Silent Mentor Programme’ was then launched in May last year in Kuching by AFSM with the aim to promote consented body donation for the advancement of medical education as well as helping to facilitate the development of humanity among healthcare professionals.
The newly launched centre will serve as a complementary training centre for Unimas medical and nursing students.
In addition, it will also serve as a resource centre for anatomy and basic surgical skills as well as soft skill module takers as the students will be the volunteers at the centre.
Aiming to nurture good humanistic values and empathy amongst the medical and nursing students in Unimas, as inspired by selfless acts of the donors, the Silent Mentor Centre will be the avenue for postgraduate surgical skills training and advanced clinical development, particularly for medical and health practitioners.
The establishment of this temporary silent mentor building with its three freezers enables AFSM and Unimas to kick start the silent mentor activities in Sarawak.
AFSM Sarawak is now seeking to raise donations for its permanent centre which will include workshop area and appreciation hall at Unimas.