Here we go again!!!!!!!!. Another medical school! We already have 30 medical schools churning out thousands of underrated doctors and now we have this news! I am not sure when the government is going to stop all this nonsense. We have the highest number of medical schools per capita of the population. Any university can set up their branch campus here, but the question is , is there enough human resource aka academics to run these schools? The answer is a big NO!
Is it rather ironic that the government which has always prevented the universities from building their own hospitals before, seem to have taken a U-turn in this case. New economic model perhaps! Actually, Monash University Malaysia has already started to build their own private teaching hospital in Sunway which should be ready by 2013 but they will still use JB hospital. So, this will be the second university to do so if at all this plan becomes a reality. It is very difficult to run a private hospital in Malaysia with medical students running around. Patients come to private hospital for better care and comfort, thus most of the time they would not want medical students to disturb them. The situation is different in US as all hospitals are considered private hospitals.
Somehow I feel, this foreigners are not given the true picture of the situation down here. Further more, this foreign universities are not investing any money for the campus etc. All the money comes locally from the government, GLC and local investors. Good example will be Newcastle University in Nusajaya where the entire campus is being built by Khazanah !
Johns Hopkins University to set up medical school and hospital in Malaysia
By WONG CHUN WAI
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said a site at Serdang in Selangor had been picked to set up the facilities, which would become a medical research hub for the region.
The medical school, he said, would offer a four-year programme, adding that it would be a private initiative between Malaysian and American investors.
It will be Malaysia’s first private teaching hospital with research facilities.
Speaking to Malaysian newsmen here on Friday evening, he said an agreement would be signed early next month.
The Prime Minister did not give details of the project but it is understood that a Malaysian public listed company would be involved in the medical city plan, estimated to cost RM1.8bil.
There are Johns Hopkins University campuses in China, Singapore, Italy and the United States. The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, is a private, non-profit institution.
Earlier, Najib met Dr Mohan Chellappa, the president of Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, where the Prime Minister was believed to be given an update on the 600-bed private hospital.
The prime minister said Johns Hopkins Medical International was a world-renowned medical school and had adopted a different curriculum compared to other schools.
“They are using the ‘Genes to Society’ curriculum, which is a more personalised medical approach,” he said, adding that the school provided a four-year programme and planned to take 100 students each year.
“Johns Hopkins has got a very good name. The idea is to create Malaysia as a hub,” he added.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in welcoming the move said the presence of such a prestigious research facility in the country would boost Malaysia’s health tourism industry.
This, he said, was another feather in the cap for the country’s healthcare industry and would also prompt more Malaysian-born specialists and other health care professionals to come back and serve in the country.
Liow is currently in London in an effort to persuade Malaysian professionals involved in healthcare to return home and serve the country.
“I am here to convince them to return home and serve. I believe many will find it more gratifying to work in Malaysia now,” he said when contacted.
He is also speaking to Malaysian medical students and fresh graduates to convince them to return home once they complete their studies.
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[…] the program was first initiated in 2010, I was sceptical as usual. I wrote about it over here and here. I felt that probably JH was not given the true picture of our health care system. I heard […]