The IMU has created a clinical environment in CSU where as early as their first semester the students have their first taste of human interaction as members of a healthcare team. They will hone their interviewing and patient handling skills incrementally during successive semesters.


Students next learn clinical methods of physical examination. First, they are briefed as a group by a specialist on the day's assignments. They then break up into groups of seven to eight, and proceed to physical examination rooms, where they practise their skills on simulated patients under the watchful eyes of staff members. Simulated Patients (SP) are recruited from amongst fellow students, teachers, administrative staff and the public, and are trained to simulate real patients. Special care is taken to ensure validity and reliability so that students stand an equal chance in getting a history and physical signs.

The use of SP makes it possible to have all kinds of cases available at all times. This ensures that the student learn without pressure and undue expectations.

Videotapes are provided, making it possible for students to collectively and repeatedly watch the physical examination methods and practise on one another at their convenience. Students may request the presence of a lecturer to help them in additional practice and provide coaching.

The teaching and practising of physical examination in a controlled environment away from the pressures of clinical work help students develop many skills in preparation for their clinical years. This is where the IMU students have a distinct advantage over their peers from more traditional settings.

In both Phase I and Phase II, the CSU has a wide range of the latest teaching aids for teaching and practising of basic and more advanced clinical procedures and examination of the body systems. These include anatomical models, simulators, x-rays and other imaging films,
auriscopes, ophthalmoscopes and computerized ECG machines. Specifically, the students learn breast examination, rectal examination, obstetric and gynaecological examination, as well as fundus and cardiac examination on various models and manikins available at CSU. They also learn invasive techniques like blood-taking, setting-up intravenous drip, catheterisation of the urethra and application of surgical sutures.

During "nursing week", the students learn how to make beds, how to
move patients, take temperature, pulse, respiration and blood pressure. This helps students to better understand the role of other team members in the healthcare team.

CSU Emergency rooms are where students learn and practise CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and other resuscitation techniques with many sophisticated aids like AMBU MAN, Choking Charlie, and SIM-MAN. As part of the requirement of the medical programme, the students are taught Basic Life Support skills, and are awarded certificates upon satisfactory completion of this course.

Acquiring a positive attitude is as important as the training of clinical skills. Students are taught to be courteous, respectable, disciplined, honest and self-reliant at all times. The expected outcome will be a competent, caring, ethical doctor; ready to serve the community as a member of the healthcare team.

In addition to OLIS, IMU also provides students with access to IMU-Net, a web based e-learning system. One component of IMU-Net is an application called Assigned Independent Reading (AIR). AIR is used to provide students with reading materials to encourage self-directed learning. Structured Independent Learning Online System (SILOS) is another component of IMU-Net which contains questions created by the lecturers for their students. Students may also create their own set of questions by using an application called Medical Online Formative Assessment (MOFA).

Library

The IMU Library holds a collection of some 28,000 items and a journal collection of more than 3,700 titles (electronic and printed). The core collections are of healthcare texts, CD-ROMs and other audio-visual materials to cater for the needs of students and members of the Faculty. Library users also have access to a substantial selection of audio-visual or multimedia materials including CD-ROMs. All CD-ROMs purchased by the library are loaded onto the server and can be accessed through PCs connected to the network.

The library also subscribes to several bibliographic databases, such as the MD-Consult and OVID. These databases serve as the gateway to other full-text online books, popular medical journals and other computerised information sources.

i-LOC (IMU Library Online Catalogue) is a web-based integrated catalogue of the IMU Library. It offers library users the ability to search library materials through multiple search points. The system will be part of the IMU Digital Library which is currently under construction.

All PCs in the library are connected to the Internet. Besides being used for information and research purposes, students are allowed to use these PCs to access their e-mails. This enables them to communicate efficiently with the PMS as well as to exchange information with other IMU students currently studying at the PMS. The World Wide Web makes access to reference and research material from other parts of the world possible.

The IMU library also has inter-library loan facilities with various libraries in Malaysia. As a member of the Consortium of National Publication Delivery Services (PDS) and the Medical Library Group (MLG), there is an existing close cooperation between IMU Library and other libraries in Malaysia for resource-sharing. The MLG also serves as a platform for all medical libraries in Malaysia to form a consortium for the purpose of online database subscription.

Throughout its ten years of establishment, the library continues to prioritise its objectives and activities to reflect the changing needs of the University and its constituents. As part of the IMU's Information Technology Plan outlined in 1998, and in support of the country's objective of creating an information literate society, an Online Learning Interactive System (OLIS) has been conceptualised and developed.

It is a vital component of the “learning resources” of IMU. The museum, located on the 3rd floor, is a compact, fully equipped unit containing an extensive range of educational materials such as anatomical models, pathological specimens, microscopic slides, charts, multimedia computers and other innovative learning tools like fixed learning modules and CDROMs. Ranging from historical anecdotes on scientists and pioneers in Medicine to the latest advances in diagnostics and management, the museum houses a wide plethora of resources and interactive learning software. Displays are based on themes built around the human body systems. These themes are chosen by a group of academics involved in the overall planning and running of the Medical Museum, and are changed fortnightly or monthly. All the teaching learning material of the Museum are archived electronically and the students will be able to track any item in the museum using an in house database-cum-search engine.

The museum is constantly being upgraded with new materials being added periodically. The gross and microscopic features of various pathological lesions have been formulated as fixed learning modules and categorised for methodical learning. All the potted specimens have been digitalised with legends for better understanding of the subject. There is a separate enclosure for viewing X-rays, CT scans and MRIs.

Multidisciplinary Laboratories (MDLs)

A total of eight (8) modern Multi Disciplinary Laboratories (MDLs) are currently used for the laboratory practical sessions for undergraduates in all the degree programmes of IMU. Four MDLs (MDLs 1 - 4) are situated at Level 3 where most of the Chemistry and Chemistry-based practical sessions are conducted. All four Laboratories are equipped with basic physical amenities like fume-cupboards, vacuum pumps and LPG gas lines. Practical sessions in modules such as General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biopharmacy, Natural Products in Medicine and Pharmaceutical Analysis are mainly carried out here. On this floor, there is a Instrument room which houses analytical equipment such as Analytical balances, UV-Vis spectrophotometers, FTIR, Karl Fisher Titrators for students’ usage. Pharmacology sessions are also conducted on this floor as the Laboratories have the carboxygen gas lines to support isolated tissues temporarily for the study of drug effects on tissues or organs. A powerful data acquisition system i.e the Powerlabs is being used in conjunction with these studies as well as some safe experiments (eg. Nerve conduction velocity) on humans.

At Level 4, another four (4) MDLs (MDL 5 – 8) are to be found and the MDLs 5 & 6 are purpose-built for the teaching of Pharmaceutics. In addition to the two dedicated Laboratories, other facilities like a Tabletting Room, a Milling rooms and a suite of 4 Clean Rooms and 2 Product Filling rooms are included to enhance the teaching of Pharmaceutics. Pharmaceutics is the core discipline of pharmacy that deals with the formulation of different dosage forms. The teaching of Biomedical Sciences subjects such as Microbiology, BioScience, Genetics are carried out at MDLs 7 & 8. Medical, Pharmacy or Nursing students have the same opportunities in using the microscopes, incubators & electrophoresis sets for their experiments. For this year, 2007, a Histopathology Laboratory is added to the Multi Disciplinary Laboratories where Medical students would get a feel of grossing, tissue processing and staining procedures for pathological specimens in this specialised Laboratory.

The NSL in IMU is well-organised with all the equipment essential for the clinical practice of nursing, ranging from basic fundamental skills in nursing to nursing patients with very complex diseases. Some of the equipment include:

The laboratory is equipped with modern state-of-the-art techniques in both surgical pathology and cytology. The purpose of the laboratory is two-fold: research at molecular level and teaching medical, pharmacy and biomedical courses. Apart from tissue diagnosis, which will include immunohistochemistry, grossing techniques, fine needle aspiration cytology and pap smears will be carried out. The laboratory will strengthen the integrated approach of IMU and enable students to comprehend and appreciate pathology in a better fashion.

Resident statistics and graph plotting software allow the data to be analysed for reporting in real time. Alternatively data is stored for further analysis or to produce computer-aided-learning (CAL) programmes.

The University has invested heavily in space and equipment for the IMU academic staff to pursue their research, which is an essential core activity in an academic institution. In addition, this facility will support the development of research and researchbased postgraduate and post-doctoralstudies at the IMU.