KUALA LUMPUR, 18 OKTOBER 2022 – A memorandum of understanding between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the National Heart Institute (IJN), the primary heart centre in Malaysia and one of the leading Cardiovascular and Thoracic centres in the world, was signed online. Thus, the UiTM and IJN Memorandum Exchange Ceremony was held to strengthen the agreement and uphold the longstanding heritage of excellence in the sphere of academic and research collaboration. This Memorandum of Agreement has been proposed and initiated by the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (UiTM) and the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery (IJN).
The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Professor Datuk Ts. Dr. Hajah Roziah Mohd Janor, Vice-Chancellor of UiTM and Datuk Dr. Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim, Chief Executive Officer of IJN, witnessed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fazah Akhtar Hanapiah, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Hasri Samion @ Mingan, Chief Clinical Officer of IJN.
In order to create specific collaborations in several areas, including the planning and execution of various Postgraduate Expertise programme related to Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiology (adult and pediatric), Cardiac Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and other areas related to Cardiovascular and Thoracic treatment, UiTM and IJN have agreed to implement several joint ventures. In addition, UiTM-IJN consented to set up a shared learning and research framework. Therefore, this collaboration could benefit both parties and raise the standard of expertise in Cardiovascular and Thoracic care.
According to the Vice-Chancellor of UiTM, Professor Datuk Ts, Dr. Hajah Roziah Mohd Janor, she firmly believes that the collaboration would empower and strengthen special joint ventures in various fields for both parties. “The goal of this collaboration is the planning and implementation of various postgraduate specialist programs to increase the number of experts for the country. I am confident that with this collaboration we can further improve the level of education, research and expertise related to cardiovascular & thoracic”.
“With this collaboration, UiTM and IJN personnel are both involved acting as supervisors to monitor, teach and train trainee doctors in the specialty programs that will be carried out, thus introducing a joint framework and share the same objective to create, preserve and convey knowledge and contribute to the social, cultural and economic well-being of the people of the country,” she added.
In compliance with the vision, mission, and objective of creating top-notch Cardiothoracic Surgery professionals to address the demand for services throughout Malaysia, UiTM and IJN has initiated a Master of Science in Surgery (Cardiothoracic) and Doctorate of Cardiothoracic Surgery programme. This Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) will make it possible for UiTM and IJN to work closely together in putting this goal’s implementation plan into action.
The Postgraduate Specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery is a six (6) year training programme divided into two (2) years of Master in Surgical Science (Cardiothoracic) and four (4) years of Doctorate of Cardiothoracic Surgery. The Malaysian Qualification Framework (MQF), the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), and the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) had given their approval on the previous 28th of July 2022 for this programme to initiate. The UiTM-IJN Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist Programme also collaborates with leading Universities in Malaysia, namely Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH). This collaboration has resulted in significant academic and research impact that is highly innovative, improves service performance, and generates high-quality expertise in Cardiothoracic treatment for both parties.