Anne Christensen and Marie Lorans from Denmark like to experience different cultures. They decided to combine this interest with their studies and participate in the International Medical University (IMU)’s Student Mobility Programme. Under this programme, the two girls spend 5 months at the University attending the fourth semester of its Biomedical Science programme.
“During the initial planning, we defined three personal requirements: the culture must be fundamentally different from the Danish, the university must be of high educational standard and English must be the primary language at the university. To match the corresponding semester to our study programme in VIA University College, Denmark, the academic content must be within the fields of genomics and molecular biology. We came across IMU’s mobility programme on the official IMU website and were convinced that all requirements needed were fulfilled by the curriculum in Semester 4 of the Biomedical Science programme at IMU.”
“From the first email response from the programme coordinator of the IMU Biomedical Science programme, Dr Lim Chooi Ling till today, we have always felt very welcome and glad that there is genuine interest in our stay. Now, time has passed so fast and there are only 3 weeks until exams. When we arrived at IMU, everything was very different and new to us, but everyone here has been very helpful and has made a huge effort to make us feel at home. Especially the Student Services staff who have helped us a lot, from understanding and fulfilling visa requirements to introducing us to social activities and explaining where to buy food. During our studies, we have experienced competent lecturers, professional staff and helpful class mates. In general, we have only met friendly people during our stay in Malaysia no matter where we went.” 
“We wanted differences and that’s what we got. The Malaysian culture is very different from the Danish culture in terms of traditions, social activities, climate and food. We noticed that people here are working more and harder and therefore, have less spare time compared to Danish students. We are very impressed by the students at IMU: They are so hard working and under so much pressure but still have energy for a smile, a helping hand and good advice. The education system here is much more focused on exams than the Danish system which might be why students work so hard. In Denmark, we are more used to study and do reports in groups, which is different from the more individual way of study here. We found the PBL very inspiring and effective in terms of learning outcomes. We wish to take this experience with us and introduce it to our Danish study programme. Of course, when comparing Denmark to Malaysia as well as IMU to the Danish University, we found out that some things work better and more effective here and other things work better and more effective in Denmark.”
Anne and Marie had the opportunity to visit some of Malaysia’s beautiful islands such as Langkawi, Penang and Pulau Perhentian during the one week Chinese New Year break. They also visited Johor for a weekend to see the hometown of one of their classmates. After their studies in IMU, they intend to extend their stay in Malaysia until June/July to experience even more of Malaysia.
“It is not only Malaysian culture we have encountered during our studies at IMU. We have also been inspired by inputs from all over the world when meeting with other international students.”
The IMU Student Mobility Programme gives international students from overseas universities or partner institutions the opportunity to visit IMU to observe or to undertake any form of academic activities such as study tours, observation, electives, research, clinical, community or any other practical attachments in any of the programmes offered by IMU. The student will be able to broaden their experience by living and studying abroad for a period of time. Get to know more about IMU’s Student Mobility Programme
