Quest International University Perak (QIUP) today inked an MOU with Kaplan Medical which will see QIUP as the Examination Centre for the Northern region of Malaysia for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).
Signing on behalf of QIUP was Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Nicholas Goh, witnessed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr Raman Narayanasamy while Chief Executive Officer of Nugrahan Sdn Bhd, Mr. Parthiban Shanmugam signed on behalf of Kaplan Medical witnessed by Dr. Inder Pahal, Global Director Institutional Partnerships of Kaplan Health.
Mr. Nicholas Goh elaborated that this move is in line with QIUP’s continuous efforts to ensure that its programmes are of global standards and the smart partnership with Kaplan Medical is a great way moving forward.
“ I am proud to be associated with Kaplan Medical where QIUP will act as the Examination Centre for the USMLE in the northern region. This is part of our continuous efforts to build our MBBS curriculum to global standards.
“We are working towards embedding USMLE syllabus into our current MBBS curriculum which will be a value add for QIUP MBBS students and graduates as they will be trained to sit for this international examination even before graduation.
“This move also enables International students pursuing their medical studies in Malaysia an avenue to secure their residency in the United States and realize their dreams of becoming a specialist doctor as they are not allowed to pursue their housemanship in Malaysia after completing their medical studies here” added Mr. Goh.
Kaplan Medical, the world leader in the USMLE preparation training for more than 40 years, has helped tens of thousands of students and physicians pass their medical licensing boards with high scores. Kaplan’s courses are mapped to corresponding exam content and include only the highest yield material to help students prepare and succeed on test day.
Dr. Inder Pahal, Global Director Institutional Partnerships of Kaplan Health said that QIUP and Kaplan shares the same values which is to provide the best for the students.
“Although the USMLE is primarily a US based examination, it is now accepted all over the world. These examinations ensure that students learn to put into practice what they learn in class.
“In essence, we want students to think like a physician from the first day of class and make the best physician out of a students. Similar to QIUP’s vision of making a student hit the ground running, we share the same vision of providing the best for students.” added Dr. Pahal.
Mr. Parthiban Shanmugam congratulated QIUP on this proactive move and ensured that Kaplan Medical will provide all the required assistance to make this smart partnership a success.
“I congratulate QIUP for being proactive in ensuring its students get the best by providing an additional avenue for them to be prepared for the USMLE.
“The declining number of medical physicians in the US and lack of specialists in Malaysia is a compelling reason why medical graduates should be looking at sitting for the USMLE as an alternative pathway. The declining supply of physicians in the US presents an opportunity for local and international medical students to pursue their specialization and practice in the US” added Mr. Shanmugam.
QIUP recently received full accreditation status for its Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme after the first cohort of students successfully completed their Clinical Professional Exams (CPE).
The CPE, which was held in Hospital Taiping, saw all 47 students passing and qualifying as doctors. In their exams, eight out of the 47 candidates scored distinction making QIUP one of the best in terms of CPE results.
QIUP received praises for the excellent CPE results including from external examiner, Prof. Dr Kua Ee Heok from the National University of Singapore who commented that QIUP students definitely met the mark and exceeded expectations and were very well prepared. He was confident they will make excellent physicians in future.
The USMLE is a flexible three step specialist licensing examination providing everything a medical student needs to become a specialist. Students can sit for the first two steps of the USMLE in Malaysia. For the third step they can apply for selection to institutions in the US. This approach cuts down on the duration of overall training and allows medical graduates to become specialist by the age of 30.
