SAINS@BERTAM, 6 May 2022 – The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (IPPT) in Bertam recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) Taiwan.

The MoU was signed through a virtual ceremony conducted using the Webex video conferencing platform, and streamed live in the official IPPT Facebook.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan symbolically put his signature in this ceremony, witnessed by the Director of IPPT, Professor Dr. Tunku Kamarul Zaman Tunku Zainol Abidin.

The purpose of the signing was to initiate collaboration between the two institutions with the hope that it will result in promoting academic exchange, joint scientific research and the development of cutting-edge ideas that will be of benefit to the surrounding communities.

According to Faisal Rafiq, during the pandemic in 2020-2021, USM recorded a successive year of growth in international students’ intake and enrolment despite the restrictions imposed on cross-border movements.

“For example, in 2021, there were 2,544 international students registered in USM, up from 1,073 in the previous year.

“We are thankful for the increase; however, we do not want to rest on our laurels and will continue with bold initiatives to attract more international students.”

“We look forward to not only work together in the clinical and academic realm, but also in exploring potential research opportunities between both parties, to further develop this collaboration for mutual benefits,” he added.

“I too, would like to extend my thanks for this opportunity in signing the MoU to benefit each other, and we plan to have more Taiwan-Malaysia collaborations in many other areas and on current medical issues,” said Dr. Der-Yang Cho, Superintendent of CMUH.

Der-Yang added that the MoU signing was a very good beginning for CMUH to move to the next stage of fostering collaboration with USM.

 

CMUH, which has 7,000 inpatient beds and hosts over 100 professors, aims to become the world-leading Chinese and western medical centre.

Text: Mahirah Mahyidin/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Photo: Norizan Ishak