USM, PENANG, 26 January 2017 – The Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education has officially accredited all the Medical Sciences programmes at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) as a result of its latest assessment of international universities.

“Such accreditation reflects the Iranian government’s recognition of the standard of higher education in Malaysia especially in the field of medicine at USM, and we could hold promotional activities in a more aggressive manner there with the upcoming intake of students for the 2017/2018 academic session,” said the Dean of School of Medical Sciences (PPSP), Professor Dr. Shaiful Bahari Ismail.

“This move is not only limited to undergraduate programmes, but we hope to expand to other programmes as well in the future.

“This recognition is truly in-line with the Malaysian Cabinet’s aspiration in giving approval to universities to admit international students for professional programmes at five percent, including in the field of medicine,” he added.

“Through this collaboration, student and staff mobility from both countries could be further enhanced.”

“Therefore, I would like to urge the Iranian students in Malaysia to share this information to those back home in Iran, along with the news on other promotional activities in the near future,” said Shaiful Bahari.

Meanwhile, the Scientific Counsellor and Director of Iranian Students in East Asia, in representing the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology & Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kuala Lumpur, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan said that, he looked forward to Iranian medical sciences students coming to Malaysia and joining USM for tertiary education.

 “I believe USM will be able to host and provide the best and most qualified infrastructure for the students during their studies here in Malaysia,” added Abbas, in his letter to the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail.    

At present, USM has two international students for the MD programme, a student from the Maldives at USM-KLE International Medical Programme in Belgaum, India and an Iraqi student in PPSP at the USM Health Campus, Kubang Kerian.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin