Celebrating Malaysia-Ireland Medical Education Partnerships

Over the weekend the iheed CEO, Dr Tom O’Callaghan, travelled to Malaysia to celebrate the continued and deep medical education ties between our two countries. 

Inaugural Graduation of the Malaysia-Ireland Family Medicine Training Programme 

The 18th of November marked the inaugural graduation ceremony for the Malaysia-Ireland Training Programme for Family Medicine. 

iheed partners with the Malaysian Ministry Of Health, Irish College of General Practitioners to deliver this 4-year Family Medicine Training programme across Malaysia in partnership with Royal College of Surgeons Ireland + University College Dublin Malaysia Campus 

Since its inception in 2019, the programme has enrolled 385 trainees, expanding from Central and Northern regions to Southern areas including Sabah and Sarawak. 

Dr. O’Callaghan expressed his pride in being part of this initiative: “It's an honour to contribute to the training of the next generation of family doctors for Malaysian communities. As a family doctor, I understand how critical it is to have access to well-trained family doctors who can look after the physical, psychological, emotional and social needs of their patients and reduce the cost and burden on the hospital sector and keep communities safe and well.” 

The Malaysian Medical Association 

During his visit, Dr. O’Callaghan also met with key figures in the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), including its President, Dr. Azizan Abdul Aziz and Chairman,Dr Parmjit Singh and General Secretary, Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo and the executive support team. 

For the past 4 years Iheed has had a strategic partnership with the Malaysian Medical Association to support its network of over 80,000 doctors to give access to UK and Irish University Masters and Postgraduate qualifications. Their advocacy has been instrumental in enrolling over 100 doctors in iheed programmes, reflecting the strong and beneficial partnership between the two organisations. 

This visit reinforces the commitment of iheed and its Malaysian partners to advancing medical education and scaling capacity in family medicine globally.