Penang Medical College

Penang Medical College (PMC) is a partnership in medical education between the Penang State Government and the Irish Medical Colleges of the National University of Ireland (NUI): the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the University College Dublin (UCD). The College delivers a medical programme that combines the best of Irish and Malaysian medical education: an Irish medical degree (the MB BCH BAO conferred by NUI) and clinical experience in Penang. Thus, graduates are well qualified and well versed in the disease patterns and the healthcare system of the country in which they will eventually practice: Malaysia. PMC is a non-profit institution committed to developing professionals capable of independent practice.

Students undergo 2½ years of pre-clinical training in Dublin with the Irish partner colleges. They then return to Penang Medical College to complete their clinical training. For students who require further education to meet the College's high admission criteria, PMC added a First Medicine Year to its programme in 2007. This course is taught in Penang.

Having grown quickly from its foundation in 1996, the College held its 10th Anniversary celebrations on 1st July 2006. The first 14 students graduated in 2001 and 7 further cohorts of students have since graduated, bringing the total number of graduates to 460. The output of PMC is now approximately 120 graduates per year. PMC graduates go on to serve as Medical Officers and Specialists in Malaysia and various parts of the world. Some foreign graduates who have returned to their countries of origin are already making great strides as medical researchers, medical specialists and as government administrators and teachers.

Partnership

PMC is a partnership with two of the oldest and most respected medical schools in Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and University College Dublin (UCD). PMC students undertake their pre-clinical studies at either RCSI or UCD, where they gain a comprehensive understanding of the biomedical sciences necessary to enter clinical training. Upon successful completion of their pre-clinical studies, students return to pursue their clinical training in Penang. During their period of clinical training in Penang, the students remain registered as full-time students of either RCSI or UCD.

Clinical training

Clinical training is undertaken at the PMC Campus as well as at the Penang General Hospital, the Seberang Jaya Hospital and other approved clinical centres in Penang.

The Clinical School comprises the departments of
* Medicine
* Surgery
* Obstetrics & Gynaecology
* Psychiatry
* Paediatrics
* General Practice and Family Medicine
* Public Health and Epidemiologyas well as Anaesthesia & Critical Care Medicine, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Radiology and Legal and Forensic Medicine & Ethics.

The internal standards and quality of the PMC course are ensured through the office of the Academic Dean and full-time Heads of Department at PMC as well as Heads of Departments from the Penang General Hospital.

External standards and quality are assured by periodic review by the Malaysian Qualification Authority (MQA), the MMC (Malaysian Medical Council) and the IMC (Irish Medical Council). The Sri Lankan Medical Council accredited PMC in 2002.

Degrees

Upon graduation, students of PMC are conferred with the MB BCh BAO degrees of the National University of Ireland (NUI) as well as with the Licentiates of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

International recognition

The MB BCh BAO degrees are recognised by the IMC (Irish Medical Council), MMC (Malaysian Medical Council), Sri Lankan Medical Council as well as other regulatory bodies throughout the world. The degrees allow the holder to pursue postgraduate training worldwide.

Penang Medical College is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools published by the WHO as well as IMED (the International Medical Education Directory).

PMC is committed to providing quality medical education with an emphasis on clinical training appropriate to the environment in which the majority of its graduates will practise.

Registration

Medical graduates obtain their full registration when they have served one year as a resident medical officer at a hospital or hospitals recognised by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Malaysia Medical Council. Thereafter, they are required to serve an additional three years as medical officers in a government hospital.