International Medical University

25 years ago, it was clear that Malaysia was facing a serious shortage of doctors. Dr Kamal Salih, a visionary, and Dr Mei Ling Young, a social scientist with a strong interest in development, hit on a brilliant, simple idea – if young Malaysian students could not go out into the world to get the medical education they wanted and deserved, they would bring it to them. And so the idea for the International Medical College (IMC) was born. Kamal and Mei Ling roped in Dr Saidi Hashim, who had helped start the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)’s Medical School and Professor Ong Kok Hai, also a USM colleague, to help put the plan for the school together. They in turn invited two leading medical educationists – Professor Ron Harden and Professor Ian Hart to join the team. The six of them then put together a unique model that would see medical students spend the first 5 semesters at the International Medical College (IMC) in Kuala Lumpur, before moving to any one of the Partner Medical Schools (PMS) around the world. It was a radical idea – a world’s first – that changed the model for medical education. And in the process, helped build a better Malaysia. In November 1992 – after only 2 years of intense planning and with five leading PMS on board – the IMC opened its doors to students in Jalan Selangor, Petaling Jaya.