UK medical degree within reach
ASPIRING to build a career path in medicine with a reputable qualification from the United Kingdom? The Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed Malaysia) is the right place to begin.
Established by the well-respected Newcastle University under the Russel Group in the UK, NUMed Malaysia in EduCity is its international branch campus providing undergraduate degrees, namely the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biomedical Sciences.
In the UK, The Complete University Guide ranked Newcastle to be among the top 10 universities for Medicine.
In NUMed Malaysia, students are assured of a quality education as what a student in the UK would receive.
Of the 430 Newcastle graduates in medicine comprising of students from the UK and Malaysia this year, the top graduate was from NUMed.
Besides having some 20% of the academic staff who are from the UK, all other lecturers are trained to the UK standards with academic qualifications in teaching and training.
The programmes of study are identical to Newcastle’s UK-based provision, which will lead to the award of the same degrees, conferred by Newcastle University, UK.
By choosing to study at NUMed Malaysia, students will obtain a reputable UK qualification from an internationally recognised university at a cost significantly less than that of studying for the same degrees in the UK.
For 2017-2018, fees for MBBS is RM95,000 per annum for five years for Malaysian students, around 40% less than the cost of obtaining the same degree in the UK.
For BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences, the annual fees are RM40,240 per annum for three years.
While all five years of the MBBS programme are delivered in Malaysia, there are also opportunities for students during their fourth year, to spend up to 14 weeks in the UK, said NUMed Malaysia Provost and Chief Executive Officer Prof Roger Barton (pic).
“They can do what we call the six-week student selected component in the UK where they can choose an area of special interest.
“Adding on to that, we also have an eight-week elective at one of our affiliated hospitals at the north east of England.
“There are also opportunities for students to apply for vacation scholarships so that during the summer, they can go over to the UK for eight weeks to do research with the team in Newcastle,” he said.
Biomedical Sciences students on the other hand, would have to finish their third year in the UK after completing the first two years in Malaysia as it is a research intensive year.
“Newcastle as a university overall, is a well-respected Russel Group university in the UK, one of the research intensive universities but its particular strengths are in medicine and biomedical sciences so it has got a long history in teaching in those fields over 180 years of doing so in the UK.
“We have a strong reputation for teaching as well as science and that’s one of the reasons why we’re invited here by the Malaysian government,” said Prof Barton.
NUMed Malaysia is complete with skills laboratories and simulation suites where students will learn how to conduct procedures and practise medical emergencies.
Barton said there are a mixture of types of teaching for MBBS, which also involves small group clinical skills teaching and contact with patients right from the start of the course.
A one-year Foundation Certificate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences is also available, the successful completion of which will lead to progression to the MBBS and the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences programmes.
There are currently some 650 students in NUMed Malaysia and the university aims to slowly grow to about 1,000 students on site.
While there are no entry scholarships offered by NUMed Malaysia, there is the Vice Chancellor’s NUMed Merit Awards, given to high achievers with academic distinction in their previous year of study. Each award is for one year, equivalent in value to 10% of the annual fee.
For eligible Malaysian students, the MBBS programme is recognised for sponsorship and student loans by MARA, the Public Service Department (JPA), PTPTN and Yayasan Khazanah.
For more information, log on to www.ncl.ac.uk/numed or follow them on Facebook at fb.com/ NewcastleUniversityMedicine Malaysia.