Education in caregiving
(From left) Sunway Medical Centre chief executive officer Dr Khoo Chow Huat, Sunway Group Healthcare Services managing director Lau Beng Long, Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, UTAR president Prof Dr Chuah Hean Teik and UTAR Internationalisation and Academic Development vice-president Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat at the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony. THE Bachelor of Nursing (Hons) programme in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) is designed to prepare students for their roles as registered nurses in increasingly multifaceted healthcare scenarios locally and internationally.
The students are exposed to legal, ethical and professional issues. This is in line with the programme’s aim to equip students with a strong foundation in the principles, theories and practices of modern nursing.
The learning process is conducted using the latest innovations in nursing education with emphasis on evidencebased practices. Extensive multimedia, skills laboratories and library resources are available to support students in independent study.
UTAR also creates an environment conducive to learning by providing simulation wards and skills laboratories equipped with simulation models. This empowers students to gain confidence and prepare before commencing their clinical posting.
“Nurses are the pillar of the healthcare system, providing care that enables us to live healthy long lives. The knowledge and power to help heal others is what keeps them going in challenging times,” says head of the nursing department Liew Siew Fun.
The programme is facilitated by a team of academic staff who are highly experienced in their respective fields. The programme’s industry advisors and external examiners hail from Singapore and Hong Kong.
These experts possess years of experience and are constantly reviewing UTAR’s nursing syllabus and examination papers to ensure quality and international standards are met. All this thorough planning allows the students to acquire the knowledge and skills to be competent registered nurses who can provide care across age groups in various healthcare settings.
Furthermore, students gain their experience of nursing care delivery in public and private hospitals as well as community health clinics. They are supervised by clinical academicians to facilitate and monitor learning.
The learning process is conducted using the latest innovations in nursing education with emphasis on evidence-based practices.
A noteworthy example that testified the excellence of UTAR’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) nursing programme is the achievement of graduate Angela Ong Yoke Fong, who obtained a distinction in the Malaysian Nursing Board Registration Examination in December last year.
She credited her success to the revision classes conducted by the FMHS nursing department lecturers for they had given her guidance in answering the questions confidently.
In a bid to boost its nursing programme, UTAR also sealed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sunway Medical Centre Sdn Bhd in August last year for future collaborations in advancing nursing education and creating career opportunities, as well as joint efforts such as career fairs, conferences, recruitment drives, health seminars, talks, workshops and exhibitions to benefit both parties and the public.
One way the university stimulates excellence is by providing scholarships to students with outstanding academic performance to pursue their foundation and undergraduate programmes.
The university also currently offers nursing scholarships to qualified candidates who are interested in the programme. Selected candidates will study the programme full-time at the Sungai Long Campus.
For more information, call 05-468 8888 (Kampar Campus) or 03 9086 0288 (Sungai Long Campus) or visit www.utar.edu.my.