KUCHING: Six doctors attached to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) are currently involved in the Malaysian Medical Gazette (MMG), a website created by medical experts to share their opinions on current issues on health.
Formed under the umbrella of the Malaysian Integrated Medical Professionals Association (Mimpa), the website is also intended to provide a platform for medical professionals to participate in research activities, with the aim to enhance their outlook towards recent developments in the field of medicine.
Those from Unimas include ex-director general Of Health Ministry and currently the university’s Professor of Public Health Medicine Tan Sri Datuk Prof Dr Mohamad Taha Arif, who acts as the site’s patron.
The other five from the university are the site’s founder Dr Dhesi Baha Raja (Public Health, Unimas), Dr Irwilla Ibrahim (Public Health, Unimas), Dr Diana Joseph Jawa (Public Health, Unimas), Dr Noor Baizura Jamali (Public Health, Unimas) and Dr Musalnizan Mustalkah (Public Health, Unimas).
A statement issued by Dr Dhesi said the website has accumulated 3,212 unique visitors in less than 72 hours since the launching of MMG on September 19 this year (last Thursday), which showed that the Malaysian community is very receptive of its efforts and initiative.
“Through the Malaysian Medical Gazette, we highly recommend all medical students, lecturers and practitioners to contribute their ideas and views in order for us to share their valuable input.
“This site will also help young medical practitioners, nurses, lecturers, dentists and pharmacists to share their views and contribute their ideas instantly while waiting for online journals to publish their write-ups which usually takes a lot of time and does not reach the community instantly and directly,” said Dr Dhesi.
Meanwhile, other members of the 15-member team include doctors and professionals from the Ministry of Health, private specialist centres and private practice.
In the MMG, various doctors, dentists and pharmacists work together as a team to empower the community with accurate medical knowledge where they find interacting with physicians and surgeons on the bleeding edge of digital health is a consistently thrilling experience.
Dr Dhesi also noted that most medical personnel are still not prepared to embrace and fully utilise social media, choosing to poignantly struggle to come to terms with a phenomenon they recognise as important and yet are reluctant to take a stance because social media is unfamiliar to them.
For this reason, he said MMG is expected to be the turning point of valid and reliable health information propagation, which will be handled by qualified medical personnel.
“It is also expected to give opportunities to the medical fraternity to write in their views, articles, experience and studies. In other words, a hub of information that is accessible to the whole community by using simple and understandable language and not being too technical about it,” Dr Dhesi added.
Those who want to visit the website can go to http://www.mmgazette.com, its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mmgazette) and also its Twitter page (@mmgazette).