Professor Dr Shajahan Yasin
MIRI: Bright students from Sabah and Sarawak are urged to take up medicine as there is still a shortage of doctors here.
Making the call was professor Dr Shajahan Yasin, director of curriculum, of Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway campus.
Speaking to reporters, he described these two states as ‘areas of need,’ where he had been making frequent visits over the past four years to recruit local students.
He said last year, the response was fairly encouraging as the university managed to take in five students from Sarawak and three from Sabah to pursue medicine in the university.
However, Dr Shajahan noted that there were 500 to 600 applicants every year and only about 40 students from East Malaysia applied for the programme.
“We are trying hard to get more students from Sabah and Sarawak and many of them don’t get in because they don’t have the information on how to apply,” he said.
He said although many applied, few are chosen as the university only take in 120 to 130 applicants every year due to its strict criteria of selection.
Besides having good results particularly in STPM, A levels or UEC exams, students have to undergo interviews and additional tests, he said.
Established in 2005, the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences is equipped with the latest state of the art technology and facilities.
Every year the school receives cohorts of students from around the country.
Its MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) programme is both recognised in Malaysia as well as in Australia.
The programme has been accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC); where this accreditation will allow its graduates to practise in Australia and New Zealand without additional examinations.