Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malaya has its roots in Singapore when it was first established as the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905 to train physicians from the British colonies of present-day Singapore and Malaysia.[7][8] It was located within a former women's mental asylum at Sepoy Lines. The start of this medical school was significant in two ways. It was meant to train local men and women to bring Western medicine to the local population, and was handsomely supported by local merchants who took advantage of the tax exemptions of the time to not garner more wealth, but instead to give generously to public causes. One such notable donor was Tan Jiak Kim, a prominent Straits-born Chinese merchant. Another donor, Tan Chay Hoon donated a building to the school in memory of his father, Tan Teck Guan. The Tan Teck Guan Building was built in 1911.[9]

In 1921, the school was renamed as "King Edward VII College of Medicine"(KECM) after receiving a donation from the Edward VII Memorial Fund[10] founded by Lim Boon Keng. In 1926, the College of Medicine Building was built to house the college in addition to the Tan Teck Guan Building. The dental school was founded soon after that.[11]

During World War II, the college continued operating even with the Japanese occupation of Singapore, but not without consequences. The first casualty was a fourth-year medical student based at Tan Tock Seng Hospital who was fatally wounded by Japanese shells during the Battle of Singapore. While his friends were burying him, they were spotted by Japanese soldiers and eleven were killed on the spot. The dead are commemorated by the SGH War Memorial.[12]

In 1949, the KECM then merged with Raffles College, which specialised in the humanities and teacher training, to form the Singapore campus of the University of Malaya (UM).[13] The medical school became the Faculty of Medicine of UM, and students in Malaysia wishing to study medicine would go to the campus in Singapore. UM eventually split into UM (Kuala Lumpur) and the University of Singapore in 1962, with the medical school in Singapore coming under the University of Singapore while UM in Kuala Lumpur established the present Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. The founder Dean of the Faculty was Tan Sri Emeritus Prof Dr. Thamboo John Danaraj. On 05 May 2005, T.J. Danaraj Medical Library was named in memory of the founder Dean.[14]

The Faculty provides several undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the field of medical and health sciences. These include:

• University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)
  • The 1,617-bed UMMC is the first and largest teaching hospital in Malaysia. It serves as the primary teaching hospital for FoM and is one of the main tertiary hospitals in the Klang Valley. It also serves as a referral centre from hospitals throughout the region.
• Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang

The Faculty is made up of the following departments:[18]

The Faculty includes the following research centers:[19]

• Center of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA)
  • Established in 2007 and is currently the only HIV and infectious diseases research center in Malaysia and one of a few in the region.
• Center for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice (CEBP)
  • Initially known as the Julius Centre University of Malaya, it was borne out of the collaboration of the University of Malaya (UM) with the University Medical Center, Utrecht (UMCU). UMCU together with the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), the University of Oxford, the Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM) Hospital, Jakarta and UM were earlier members of the Asia-Link project an Asia-Europe Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine project (fondly referred to as Asia-Link within JCUM).
• Center for Population Health (CePH)
  • Officially launched by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya (UM) on the 18th of February 2009.
• National Orthopedic Center of Excellence for Research and Learning (NOCERAL)
  • Established in 2003.
• Shimadzu-UMMC Center for Xenobiotic Studies (SUCXES)
• University of Malaya Center for Proteomics Research (UMCPR)
• University of Malaya Eye Research Center (UMERC)
• University of Malaya Research Imaging Center (UMRIC)

• Professor Dato' Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman (Infectious Disease, HIV/AIDS)
  • First Asian President-elect of the International AIDS Society, chair of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, Adjunct Professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, and Adjunct Associate Professor at Yale University, Council Member of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
• Emeritus Professor Dato' Dr Lam Sai Kit (Virology)
  • Received the Merdeka Award-Outstanding Scholastic Achievement and the University of Queensland (UQ) International Alumnus Award of the Year 2019
• Emeritus Professor Dato' Dr Goh Khean Lee (Gastroenterology)
  • Top-ranked academic in the country with the highest bibliometrics amongst professors in the biomedical field in Malaysia
  • Received the Merdeka Award, pioneer of the discipline of gastroenterology and endoscopy as an established sub-specialty in Malaysia, established the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy unit at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) which is now 1 of the only 4 centres in Asia to be awarded a "Centre of Excellence" recognition by the World Digestive Endoscopy Organization[20]
• Professor Datuk Dr. Awang Bulgiba Bin Awang Mahmud (Public Health)
  • First Malaysian doctor to gain a PhD in Health Informatics and the first public health physician in Malaysia to hold these four fellowships simultaneously (Fellow of Faculty of Public Health UK, Fellow of Public Health Medicine Malaysia, Fellow of Academy of Medicine Malaysia, Fellow of Academy of Science), Council Member of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
• Professor Dr. Ng Kwan Hoong (Medical Physics)
  • Asia's First Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award Recipient
• Distinguished Professor Datuk Dr. Looi Lai Meng (Histopathology)
  • Recipient of the Merdeka Award, Inaugural National Distinguished Professor awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, Council Member of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia[21]
• Professor Dr. Woo Yin Ling (Gynecologic Oncology)
  • Obtained the world’s highest score for her professional exams and went on to pursue her PhD in University of Cambridge, UK, and established Program ROSE, which introduces a revolutionary approach to cervical cancer screening that improves accessibility of testing and follow-up for women everywhere[22]
• Professor Dr. Hany Binti Mohd Ariffin (Pediatric Oncology)
  • Won the Anugerah Akademik Negara award in 2015, received the Distinguished Researcher Award from University of Malaya in 2018 and has been the Malaysian lead for the Malaysia-Singapore (MASPORE) Leukaemia Study Group since 2003[23]
• Professor Dr. Kulenthran Arumugam (Medical Law, Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
  • A doctor who is both a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Holder of LLB Hons from the University of London ,expert in Medico-Legal issues, Epidemiologist, as well as having a rare distinction of holding two Doctoral degrees, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Malaya.
• Professor Dr. Rosmawati Mohamed (Hepatology)
  • Master of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
• Professor Dr. Thong Meow Keong (Pediatrics, Clinical Genetics)
  • 1st Clinical geneticist in Malaysia, President of the College of Paediatrics Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
• Professor Dr. April Camilla Roslani (Colorectal Surgery)
  • President of the College of Surgeons Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, President for the Asia-Pacific Federation of Coloproctology

• The Merdeka Award: Nipah Virus Encephalitis Investigation Team from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya[24]

• Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya
• University of Malaya
• University of Malaya Medical Center
• National University of Singapore
• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine