Newcastle University

Medicine Malaysia (NUMed)

- providing a British

medical degree abroad

Professor Chris Brink

Vice-Chancellor

Newcastle University

5 November 2014

1

2

EduCity

3

The University: Key facts

• A world-class civic

University in the North

East of England, UK.

• A member of the

Russell Group

• World top 1% (QS)

• 23,000 students, about

5,000 of whom are

international students

• Research grants about

£125m in 2013-14

• UK Student satisfaction

score 91%;

International Student

Barometer 92%

• 93.7% of graduates in

employment or further

study within 6 months 4

Two guiding questions

Responding to these two questions simultaneously is the

hallmark of a world-class civic university.

What

are we

good

at?

What

are we

good

for?

5

Medical education at Newcastle

University: a brief history

• The origins of medical education at Newcastle

University date back to 1834, with the establishment

of a School of Medicine and Surgery in the city of

Newcastle upon Tyne.

• Since that time, Newcastle has

been at the forefront of major

advances in understanding and

treating medical conditions such

as diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease

and cancer – particularly focused

on diseases associated with

ageing -- in which we are now a

world leader.

• The establishment of an international branch campus for

medicine and biomedical sciences – Newcastle University

Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) – in 2009 marked the beginning

of a new chapter in Newcastle’s medical history.

This is our NUMed story. 6

The NUMed story

• 2003: Newcastle University began to consider how best to expand our presence overseas, to further develop our global reputation (“Internationalisation abroad”)

• 2004: Approach from Malaysian government to establish an international branch campus for medical sciences degrees.

• 2008 : Following a three-year consultation period, the Malaysian Minister of Higher Education invited us to set up a campus in the Iskandar development zone in Johor, southern Malaysia.

• 2009: The first students are recruited to NUMed.

• 2009 – 2011: Build the campus.

• 2011: NUMed is opened formally by HRH The Duke Of York.

• 28 June 2014: The first cohort of medical doctors graduate

• 11 November 2014: Delegation from Korean Prime Minister’s Office to visit NUMed

7

Why Malaysia?

Right place, right time • Malaysia occupies a highly accessible geographical position in Asia.

• It is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society.

• Healthcare is one of the 12 National Key Economic Areas identified by the Malaysian Government.

• Growing demand for medical education in Malaysia in line with the government’s ‘Tomorrow’s Doctors’ plan to have a doctor to patient ratio of 1:400 by 2020.

• Under the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) the government announced plans to allocate RM15.2 billion to the construction of new hospitals, increasing the number of doctors and nurses and improving the quality of medical services.

• The Educity development: a plan by the Malaysian government to develop a 350 acre site as a multi-university higher education development in Iskandar, Malaysia – gave Newcastle University the opportunity to develop a brand new, state-of-the-art campus.

• As anchor tenant, we got favourable terms: “Build, Lease, Transfer” 8

How NUMed works

• A fully-owned branch campus for medicine – it is not a franchise or a twinning programme

• Currently NUMed has some 500 students and 100 staff. The target is for 1,000 students and 180 staff by 2020.

• NUMed offers full UK medical and biosciences degrees in-country. It is an extension of Newcastle University – the standards and programmes offered are equivalent and degrees are conferred by Newcastle University.

• NUMed students, as graduates of Newcastle University, receive full registration from the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK.

• One third of NUMed staff are seconded from the UK and the senior management team at NUMed all have many years of association with the University’s Medical School.

9

How NUMed works (continued)

• Strategically, NUMed is part of global reputation-raising, to help realise our vision of a world-class civic university

• Educationally, our aim is “Newcastleness” – students should have the same student experience in Numed as at Newcastle. E.g:

o A shared IT system allows NUMed students the same access digital lectures and learning resources as UK-based students.

o NUMed students can spend up to four months in the UK, either studying at the UK campus or gaining hands-on experience in a clinical setting.

• Research: NUMed aims to become a leading South Asian centre of academic medicine building upon Newcastle University’s strength in medical and biomedical subjects

• Financially, our goal is “break-even or better”. NUMed is not intended to be a money-spinner

• As international partner: NUMed’s state-of-the-art campus helps to meet Malaysia’s aspiration to become an international education hub, and developing its human capital resource.

10

Challenges

• Long term project

• Different regulatory environments

• Resources

• Staffing and leadership

• Building the campus

• Student recruitment

• Assuring the student learning experience

• Comparable student experience to Newcastle University UK

• Satisfying the UK General Medical Council

• Being first!

11

Rewards

• Realizing our Vision of a world-class civic university: Responding to the needs and demands of civil society on a global platform – “Excellence with a purpose”

• Raising our global reputation

• Provide a high-quality British qualification to students in South East Asia previously restricted either by limited quotas for overseas students in the UK, or by their own geographical or financial circumstances.

• Make a contribution to healthcare beyond our own borders

• Cultural diversity brings real strength to our academic experience.

12

Thank you. 13