1990 saw an acute shortage of doctors in Malaysia. Local universities were not producing enough practitioners. Studying medicine abroad was costly and beyond the means of many eligible students.
Dr Kamal Salih, a visionary, and Dr Mei Ling Young, a social scientist with a strong interest in development, had a brilliant solution – if Malaysian students could not go out to get the medical training they qualified for, it would be brought to them.

Daring to Dream

Tan Sri Dr. Kamal Salih

The Late Dr. Mei Ling Young

The Late Dr. Saidi

Kamal and Mei Ling approached Dr Saidi Hashim who had helped found the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Medical School. Together with Professor Ong Kok Hai, a USM colleague, the four began to visualise their dream of a medical school.
They invited two leading medical educationists from the United Kingdom – Professor Ron Harden and Professor Ian Hart – to join them.
Bringing together their diverse expertise, the six brainstormed a unique education model where medical students would spend their first five semesters studying in Malaysia, and then move to a leading institution of higher learning overseas to complete their medical studies.
Five distinguished international universities embraced this radical concept and came on board as Partner Medical Schools (PMS) – making the aspiration of studying abroad accessible to more Malaysians.

The dream materialised in 1992 in the form of the International Medical College (IMC).

It became Malaysia’s first private medical college and introduced the world’s first programme to allow medical students to transfer their credits to a Partner Medical School.

The IMC was officially launched on 13 April that year by Education Minister, YB Datuk Amar Dr Sulaiman Haji Daud with the full support of his Ministry and the Ministry of Health Malaysia.

Phase 1

From 1992 to 1998, IMC focused on designing and building the first phase of its Medical Sciences programme which was recognised and accepted by some of the world’s best Medical schools.

In 1995, IMC started two intakes. By 1998, we were transferring abroad 68 students a year.

In 1996, IMU introduced a twinning programme for Pharmacy with the University of Strathclyde.

In 1998, the Asian financial crisis struck. Currencies fluctuated and the Malaysian ringgit went on a downward spiral. The Malaysian Government and parents sending students abroad for medical studies were badly hit. Some of IMC’s pre-Medical students ended up stranded and unable to continue their studies. Mei Ling had to negotiate with the PMS for some leeway and flexibility.

Phase 2

Seeing the need, the Government tasked Kamal and Mei Ling to fast-track the setting up of IMC’s Clinical School. This would allow IMC to become a full-fledged university. Students who completed their Medical Sciences programme could choose to transfer their credits either to a PMS or to continue locally at the IMC’s Clinical School.

Again, Professors Ron Harden and Ian Hart were consulted. Senior medical deans Professor Michael Orme of the United Kingdom, Dr John Ruedy of North America and Professor Ian Simpson from New Zealand were also recruited. Leadership was provided by Professor John Joseph Bosco, who was to become the first Malaysian Clinical Dean of the IMC. Together they formed the curriculum and designed the set up for the Clinical School.

The curriculum produced was innovative and modern and within a year, everything was finalised including staff recruitment.

University Status

On 4 February 1999, IMC was granted university status and became the International Medical University (IMU). The Clinical School was built to connect to the Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar (also known as the Seremban hospital), which is now the largest government hospital in Negeri Sembilan.

IMU welcomed its first batch of 46 students in September that year.

These students would be the first batch to have the option to complete their medical studies in Malaysia, and graduate with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from IMU.

Clinical Exposure

Soon after its inception, IMU began collaborating with several hospitals to give its students exposure to the full spectrum of primary, secondary and tertiary medical care.

A “Senior Clerkship” programme was also implemented to allow final semester students to intern as housemen. This contributed significantly to the quality of IMU’s medical graduates.

Kickstart Research Activities

As with any good University, IMU began research activities in the year 2000, with the goal to become research driven.

Since 2000 the university has initiated 947 research projects, by undergraduates, graduates and faculty.

Between 2008 to 2011, IMU’s faculty published 568 papers, of which 281 (49.5%) appeared in respected Indexed scientific journals such as the Lancet, British Medical Journal, Cochrane Data Base Systematic Reviews and Human Pathology, to name a few.

Health Sciences Expansion

By 2004, we introduced our own Bachelor of Pharmacy programme and in 2005 the IMU launched its Bachelor in Nursing programme. IMU also started postgraduate programmes, such as the MSc and PhD programmes by research.

2008 saw the setting up of the Dentistry Faculty which offered the options to complete one’s degree in the IMU or to transfer credits to a Partner Dental School (PDS).

Inculcating Social Responsibility

In 2002, IMU began looking at how it could produce healthcare professionals with a caring attitude and who were sensitive to the needs of their community.

This led to its first fund-raising project – a Charity Run held in the Bukit Jalil campus on 12 October 2002.

Serving the Community has since become ingrained in IMU’s values and identity.

Accreditation

In 2001, just three years after the launch of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme, IMU earned an accreditation from the National Accreditation Board, also known as the Malaysian Qualifications Register (MQA).

Developing Our Research Potential

In September 2012, the Institute for Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI) was established to grow our research potential capacity.

The IRDI’s key research areas cover Cancer & Stem Cell, Bioactive Molecules & Drug Delivery, Environmental & Population Health, and Health Professions Education Research.

Holistic Approach to Healthcare

In our vision to provide a comprehensive and niche medical and health sciences education, which includes studies in complementary and alternative medicine, IMU achieved another first in Southeast Asia in 2010 when we introduced the evidence-based Chiropractic programme.

Following closely was the introduction of the Chinese Medicine programme in February 2011, where basic medical sciences were taught alongside clinical practices of Chinese Medicine. The programme adopted and applied a scientific and evidence-based approach to Chinese Medicine.

Setting Up Holistic Healthcare Centres

IMU began to set up holistic healthcare centres as early as 2010, and the first centre it established was the IMU Oral Health Centre.

This was followed by the IMU Chiropractic Centre in May 2010, the IMU Medical Clinic in July and the IMU Chinese Medicine Centre in November.

We take great pride in this teaching and service innovation.

IMU has become a recognised integrated Medical and Health Sciences institution, offering education, healthcare and research in partnership with some of the world’s most respected individuals and institutions.

We strive to continually improve our programmes to ensure our graduates are in step with advances in technology, medicine and healthcare.

We remain focused on the central philosophy that guided our founders – access to quality medical education; innovation and imagination as a cornerstone; and continuous insights and reflection to visualise and realise IMU’s future.

Today, our community engagement services sees IMU students, faculty and staff regularly and intentionally promoting healthy lifestyles to vulnerable and underprivileged groups via health education, healthcare screenings and public health services.

They undertake these projects through IMU’s long-running Kampung Angkat (village partnership) programme, the Health and Wellness Programme, and the IMU Cares programmes.