The School of Health Sciences, International Medical University is proud and delighted to announce that it has just received renewal of its international accreditation with the UK Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) for the next 5 years for its BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science degree programme. This is a testament of the quality of the curriculum and overall academic experience for biomedical science students. Notably, the IMU joins the ranks of only five universities in Malaysia that have been conferred this recognition. The re-accreditation exercise was led by Dr Chooi Ling Lim and Prof Anthony Rhodes of the Applied Biomedical Science and Biotechnology Division. The IMU Biomedical Science programme had received its first 5-year IBMS accreditation in 2016, complete with an accreditation visit. Although the pandemic rendered a visit this cycle unfeasible, the re-accreditation process was no less rigorous and extensive. The reviewers, academic panel member, Dr Sue Jones and IBMS Education Officer Mr Alan Wainwright, commended the IMU faculty for showing a high level of programme monitoring and analysis. In addition, the panel highlighted that IMU’s Biomedical Science programme has strengthened industry-academia collaboration as part of the strategic plan by the School of Health Sciences by launching the Graduate Preparedness Advisory Committee (GPAC) scheme.
Biomedical science is practiced in healthcare laboratories throughout the world to diagnose, research, monitor and treat diseases. The science focuses on the complexity of the human body and underpins much of modern medicine. In the UK alone, healthcare laboratories staffed by biomedical scientists are involved in most diagnoses in the NHS and test hundreds of millions of patients’ samples every year.
The Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) is the professional body that represents biomedical scientists. Its members include not only those working in the NHS pathology services, but also academics and scientists working in universities, research institutions, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, in the UK and many other countries of the world.
The IBMS supports its members by providing qualifications, publications, conferences, and training events to ensure its members are up to date with the latest scientific development and news. The Institute also represents its members in providing consultation and advice to national and government bodies on pathology laboratory service provision and policies, for example the adequacy and quality of COVID-19 testing facilities during the current pandemic.
A key role of the IBMS is to inspect and accredit universities both in the UK and overseas that provide undergraduate biomedical science education. This ensures that the quality of the biomedical science education is of its highest and equivalent, wherever in the world the student has studied e.g., a graduate in biomedical science from an IBMS accredited course in Malaysia will have received an education on par with that from an IBMS accredited course in the UK.
To work as a biomedical scientist in the pathology services of the UK NHS requires a degree from an IBMS accredited university and issue of a certificate of competence following successful completion of a short training portfolio. Consequently, the graduate from the IMU BSc (Hons) degree in Biomedical Sciences has the necessary educational qualifications to not only be employed as a biomedical scientist in Malaysia but also in the UK.
| IMU Society of Biomedical Science’s Collaboration with IBMS |
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| In the spirit of collaboration, the IMU Society of Biomedical Science (ISBS) was established on 19 April 2017 as the first student biomedical science society in South-East Asia to be affiliated with the IBMS. All IMU biomedical science students are ISBS members, who receive valuable assistance and guidance in promoting their events, sourcing speakers, and opportunities to give input into IBMS publicity materials and career advice for students. Its members also have access to IBMS careers publications, gain connections to local IBMS region and branches with a chance to attend networking events, and more. The ISBS has since organised many exciting annual Biomedical Science day events and even a nation-wide virtual symposium – 11th MYSYMBIOS. |
Prepared by Prof Anthony Rhodes and Dr Lim Chooi Ling
Related articles: IMU BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science Programme Obtains International Accreditation from IBMS, UK IBLS Day and The Inauguration of ISBS: A Milestone for Biomedical Scientists in the Making!
