KUBANG KERIAN, August 2015 - A total of 30 students, with seven accompanying teachers from the Sekolah Antarabangsa Kelantan (SAK) visited Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) here recently to gain more insight into the medical studies offered.

According to the Head of Department of Pediatrics Hospital USM, Professor Dr. Hans Amin Van Rostenberghe, early exposure is necessary for students because it may result in a positive impact in the future.

"Such an exposure is capable of cultivating an interest in medicine and who knows some of them may become USM students in the future," he said.

The group of students, led by Dr. Noor Izani Noor Jamil of the School of Health Sciences, visited the Children Intensive Ward (NICU), Clinical Examination Laboratory, Hematology Laboratory and Centre for Human Genome.

Throughout the visit, they were given a briefing and provided the opportunity to meet the children in the NICU up close and were also given an explanation on how to wash their hands, on respiratory support and the opportunity to view the use of microscopes in the laboratory.

According to one of the accompanying teachers, Hasnaidi Hanip Yunus, this opportunity has been truly meaningful to him and the students.

"Seeing all those babies born prematurely and very small physically lying in the 'incubator' in order to maintain their body temperature definitely moved us," he said.

Others who were present during the visit were Dr. Surini Yusoff and two graduate students from the Department of Pediatrics.

Translation: Sharifah Zafirah Syed Nassir/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin / Text and Photo: Abdul Aziz Latif/Muhd Zulkifli Zakaria