Aiming to be the best

By PRIYA KULASAGARAN

The objective of a healthcare college is not to provide quality education alone but to ensure that its student are compassionate and caring.

MAHSA University College chief executive officer and principal Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Haniffa Abdullah is adamant in producing competent and caring healthcare professionals.

“Our theory is that while you might not be able to cure a patient, you can at least make his or her life better by providing adequate care,” he said.

MAHSA University College chief executive officer and principal Prof Datuk Dr Hj Mohamed Haniffa Hj Abdullah in an interview about MAHSA held at its Pusat Bandar Damansara campus.

“A healthcare college must take the responsibility of instilling the attributes of being caring and loving in its students. Prof Haniffa explained how Mahsa managed to achieve a university college status in just four years.

“It’s all about taking care of the basics; we provide quality education, possess a strong team of academic staff and ensure that our campuses are equipped with state of the art facilities,” he said, adding that the vision of the college is to produce healthcare professionals of a high standard who have international recognition.

Mahsa was established in 2004 and commenced its first intake in early 2005 with 38 students enrolled in the diploma for nursing.

Currently, the institution conducts 16 programmes for a total of 8,000 students.

Courses range from diploma to masters levels in fields such as dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, environmental sciences and radiotherapy.

It also runs a foundation in science programme which enables students to progress to any of the degree courses offered in Mahsa.

The foundation year qualification is also accepted in other local colleges.

One of Mahsa’s unique points is its focus on providing the latest technology available to enhance the learning environment on campus, investing RM20mil each for its dental and medical faculties.

Second year pharmacy students during class at a medical lab in Mahsa University College, Pusat Bandar Damnsara.

“We want to make sure that our teaching methods are interesting and innovative, and that our students are exposed to all the equipment and machines that are used in clinical practice,” says Prof Haniffa.

“For example, in our medical school, we have updated the way students can observe a doctor at work,’’ he added.

There are 18 teaching aisles which are all connected to each other through information technology.

The doctor will examine a patient in one of the aisles provided for students.

This will be telecast live to all the other rooms, so that students are able to see the examination process and hear the doctor’s conversation with his patient. These procedures are also transferred onto compact discs as archive material that students can later access from the library.”

Aside from simulated wards, skill labs and an e-library, the college also houses an anatomy museum that contains real human specimens.

“This is to allow students to see and feel for themselves, say, the difference between a diseased liver and a normal one, which will help them diagnose real life patients in the future.”

Among the college’s efforts at nurturing the culture of care among its students are through its provision of free medical treatment to the community.

Mahsa’s dental college at the Pusat Bandar Damansara campus offers free dental treatment to members of the public, regardless of their financial background.

The college had also set up an eye clinic in collaboration with Lions Club International earlier this year. The eye clinic provides free cataract operations to the poor and needy, but also offers its services to paying customers for all sorts of eye ailments.

A subsidised physiotherapy centre is scheduled to be opened at Mahsa’s Jalan Universiti campus on May 15.

Help for the needy

While the current economic crisis paints a bleak outlook for students trying to finance their studies, Mahsa is continuing to give out scholarships to students who are academically qualified and in need of assistance.

With around RM3mil worth of scholarships awarded annually, deserving students may apply directly to the college itself.

So what are Mahsa’s future plans?

“We are in the process of building a permanent campus in Selayang Heights, which will be able to accommodate 15,000 students once it is completed. It will house facilities such as sporting centres, a shopping arcade as well as an indoor cinema,”

The college is also introducing host of new courses in September, such as medicine, nutrition and dietics and psychology.

“Our long term goal is to become a full fledged university and put simply, be one of the best medical and healthcare universities in the world,” he said.