There is great variability in how universities plan and carry out the educational experiences required of the health professions students. The reasons for these variability includes the regional and institutional education policy, the accreditation, healthcare needs, internationalisation, global migration, commodification and commercialisation. The trends in educating the health profession is also evolving to keep in track with the changes in the science and technology globally and the society needs. The future changes in the professions, healthcare, curriculum development and assessments are making the educators in the health professions to face an increasingly challenging environment as they are required to ensure that the training of health professions will suffice the need and benefit future health professionals, society and health services. Most health professional educators have little, if any, formal teaching training and there are many factors that will influence the health professional educators to seek for training either for professional development or formal qualification. These includes increasing time pressures faced by many teaching physicians and the lack of stable funding for health professional education that takes place outside of the teaching hospital or the institution itself. At IMU, the Postgraduate Programmes in Health Professions Education (HPE) aims to graduate the health professions practitioners with an in-depth knowledge of educational principles, demonstrating values related to contemporary learning environments and practising internationally benchmarked assessment processes in order to produce leaders and scholars in health professions education. The educational objectives of this programme is to ensure that the graduates will have the opportunities to design and solve educational challenges at their own institution and achieve recognition of their initiatives at the national and regional levels. This programme is not only for healthcare professionals and educators but can be of value to educational managers or administrators who are involved in the many processes of providing better educational programmes at their institution. This programme is offered both in part time and full time mode with three exit points; Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and Master. A carefully designed blend between on-site learning during weekends and online learning provides full-time working adults with the options to plan and fit their studies around their work, family and other commitments.
What Do Our Graduates Think About the Programme?
Recent graduates of IMU Postgraduates Degrees in Health Professions Education stated that by joining this programme, they are now having better perspectives and understanding of educational processes. Therefore, they will ensure that the current practice of educational processes in their programme will conform to the best practice.
| Dr Kok Yih Yih, Postgraduate Diploma in HPE Graduate: |
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| “The Postgraduate Programmes in HPE has helped me to be a better teacher. After completing the Postgraduate Diploma in HPE, I am able to comprehend the theories behind teaching and learning, that can be translated into better understanding of the aspects of education. In addition, it has also given me confidence in conducting educational related research which is different from pure science studies” |
Mixture of teaching and learning activities, and the opportunity to engage with international experts in health professions education also provide valuable experience for the students.
| Dr Katarzyna Pazcek, Master in HPE student: |
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| “I find the discussions very thought provoking and I am able to learn from the lecturer’s expertise as well as from the other students. The program has provided me with insight into instructional and curriculum design and helped me to improve my teaching. I feel I am able to contribute more to my department and to the University. I am really glad for having taken up this programme and look forward to applying what I have learnt.” |
The Postgraduate in Health Professions Education programmes are Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) accredited Level 7. Being a 6* University under the SETARA rating in Malaysia for outstanding achievements, the programmes are periodically reviewed and restructured, keeping in lines with the global standard and need of the hour.
