Dean's Message
Medicine, as a
profession, has attracted the brightest and most able students. Why is
this so? Medicine is a demanding profession. The course is long and
arduous, and whatever discipline one chooses, further years of
post-graduate study will be necessary. Not only that, but because of
the rapid advances in the biological sciences, current medical
knowledge becomes obsolete in less than ten years, forcing the medical
graduate to remain a student all his professional life.
Nevertheless,
places in medical schools continue to be eagerly sought after. The
reason is, I believe, that the practice of medicine brings a degree of
job satisfaction and sheer enjoyment unrivalled in any other
profession.
The constantly
expanding store of medical knowledge has led to profound changes in the
undergraduate curriculum. The emphasis now is not so much on facts, as
the synthesis and analysis of facts, and the thorough understanding of
basic principles, so that the graduate is armed with the ability and
the means to pursue self-education.
Medicine, too, is
about attitudes. Respect for our fellow human beings, the desire to
help others, and a willingness, not infrequently to sacrifice our
comfort in doing so, are essential qualities in a good doctor. These
views on medical education reflect the philosophy of Penang Medical
College and the Vision Statement of the Ministry of Health.
The advantages of
the PMC arrangement are that the student spends less time abroad and
pursue their clinical studies in the environment in which they will
subsequently practise, becoming familiar with the spectrum of diseases
which they will subsequently treat.
On behalf of the
PMC , I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Student's who
are joining PMC after 2 1/2 years of Pre-Clinical
Study in Dublin, Ireland.
I wish them success
in their medical studies.
Professor Amir
S.Khir
Dean and Foundation Professor of Medicine
Consultant Endocrinologist
PMC Medical Faculty
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