5 University Hospitals to Propel You for a Career in Medicine

While there is an over-saturated number of doctors these days, specialists are very much in demand especially in rural areas. So for all you aspiring doctors out there, here are a few of the top institutions that have their very own medical centres and hospitals for training. Keep an eye out for them when looking for a place to study as they will prepare you to be fully equipped in a saturated industry. 

1) Universiti Malaya Medical Centre

Image via Wunderdoc

UMMC (formerly known as University Hospital) is the No. 1 University Hospital in Malaysia and is designed to cater for the education of medical students from University Malaya. It was officially opened on August 5, 1968 to serve the three main areas of teaching, research and service. Equipped with clinical departments for teaching and research laboratories, this medical centre has cooperated with the Faculty of Medicine in UM to provide facilities for medical education, training, research and internship. Hence, there is a high chance that young doctors studying at UM with good academic records will be recruited and given the chance to train overseas in selected University Departments.

2) Sultan Azlan Shah Hospital, Specialist Training Hospital

Image via wikimapia.org

The government will be partnering UTAR to open their very own specialist training hospital. The land was donated by the late Perak ruler, Sultan Azlan Shah, hence the name. Located near UTAR’s Kampar campus, the hospital would serve the public and would be used to train medical students. It will be streamlined to the courses offered by four educational initiatives by MCA; TAR UC, UTAR, Kojadi Institute and the Institute of Childhood Education Studies and Community Education. The hospital will offer treatment using traditional Chinese medicine as well as western or conventional medicine. 

3) KPJ Healthcare University College

Image via Archimedicx

Kumpulan Perubatan Johor (KPJ) is the only Healthcare University College in Malaysia with more than 26 specialist hospitals and over 1,000 experts in the network providing state-of-the-art facilities. The University College offers over 30 programmes in six specialist Schools; school of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Sciences and Behavioural Science and Humanities and Business Management. From certificate to philosophy, many other well-renowned medical institutions from Indonesia and Philippines to Saudi Arabia and even the United Kingdom have been proposing potential collaboration with KPJ’s healthcare programmes.

4) UKM Medical Centre

Image via Tissue Engineering Centre

The National University of Malaysia’s medical and specialist centre was created by merging the Faculty of Medicine and teaching hospitals, Hospital UKM, to meet the needs of medical services education as well as medical research. This strategic combination brings together the research capabilities of academic and clinical facilities established by the hospital staff. This private academic medical centre is one of the four university hospitals in Malaysia administered by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Their integrated medical curriculum is based on bio-medical knowledge and clinical skills, emphasising the importance of medicine, community, personal and professional development of students. UKMMC consists of two premier research centre located within the campus; the University Organization of the United Nations – International Institute of Global Health (UNU-IIGH) and UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI) that prides itself in its specialist doctors and more than 15 clinical specialty programmes. 

5) Clinical School Johor Bahru

Image via Monash University Malaysia

The Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ MBBS programme is similar to the one conducted in Australia, which is running concurrently in three campuses – Clayton, Malaysia and Gippsland – and has been accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC). This accreditation has provided an independent assessment on the quality of medical education provided by Monash University Malaysia and will allow its graduates to practise in Australia and New Zealand without additional examinations. All MBBS students during year three to five will be based in Monash 1 building at the Clinical School Johor Bahru. Students get to learn practical and clinical skills using state-of-the-art equipment and simulation facilities. A mandatory three-month attachment in Australia in Year Five gives the students an opportunity to complete their degree by gaining a wider experience of General Practice in the Australian setting.Find out more about Monash University's Medical courses here