Timberland Medical Centre eyes specialists, Unimas interns

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KUCHING: Timberland Medical Centre is currently knocking on the doors of every new specialist in town and abroad in a recruitment drive to strengthen and expand its services.

Currently, the hospital which opened its doors in 1994, has 14 visiting and 21 resident consultants practising at the centre.

“This is in line with the expansion of our new block where all registered and gazetted specialists of various fields are very welcome to join us,” said Timberland Medical Centre executive director Dr Patrick Lau on the sidelines of a healthcare public forum at the centre yesterday.

He also told reporters that a Memorandum of Understanding is also being formulated between them and Unimas to collaborate in various areas such as becoming a training centre for the university’s students.

Such collaboration, said Lau, would benefit both institutions and strengthen the state’s capabilities in producing quality medical practitioners.

“When students are here, they can learn from experienced doctors and improve their knowledge and confidence,” he added.

Since the completion of the centre’s new block in 2013, the rate of occupancy he said had risen to almost 70 per cent, further spurred by the affordable price tag on its quality medical services.

Meanwhile, the forum’s topic on ‘Early Detection of Common Cancers of the Digestive System’ was relayed by Singapore’s Changi General Hospital’s Gastroenterology associate consultant Dr Liew Shan Fap to 120 participants.

According to Dr Liew, the forum will act as a preparatory platform for the public as well as cancer patients and their family members to get further insights on cancer.

Admitting that he received a job offer from Timberland Medical Centre, Dr Liew, who is from Kuching, sees it as a golden ticket for him to return to serve Sarawak.

“If I can manage to return and work in Sarawak this year, all the experience and technology that I have learnt and acquired in Singapore can be brought over. This would ultimately improve the healthcare services here,” added Dr Liew.