New RUMC – AFSM Partnership to Promote Compassion in Medical Education
Georgetown, Penang – 29 July 2024 – RUMC (RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus) and the Academy for Silent Mentor (AFSM) today embarked on a transformative journey to shape the future of healthcare. A groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Professor Karen Morgan, President & CEO of RUMC and Professor Dr Chin Kin Fah, Founding Chairman & Executive Director of the Academy for Silent Mentor, marking a key collaboration aimed to enhance medical education and fostering a culture of compassion and altruism among future doctors.
The partnership between RUMC and AFSM is a testament to the shared commitment to producing well-rounded medical professionals who are academically proficient and deeply empathetic. With the AFSM volunteering programme, RUMC’s future doctors will gain invaluable hands-on experience, cultivating essential qualities such as compassion, respect and gratitude.
Professor Karen Morgan expressed her enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, “This partnership aligns well with RUMC’s curriculum in graduating exceptional medical doctors who are skilled clinicians and compassionate individuals. We believe that the AFSM volunteering programme will enhance our students’ learning experience and prepare them to become exceptional doctors.”
“AFSM’s goal is to improve healthcare delivery by incorporating liberal arts and humanism into the practice of medicine through the selfless guidance of our silent mentors,” said Professor Dr Chin Kin Fah. “This approach combines the aspect of humanities with techniques for cultivating empathy and compassion within a purposeful, holistic biomedical framework. Apart from gaining the necessary knowledge to carry out specific life-saving techniques on our silent mentors, these future doctors will also gain the soft skills of ‘empathy’.”
The event also featured the AFSM’s Medical Student Council, whose members shared inspiring stories about their experiences with the Silent Mentor programme. Ms Audrey Teoh Chia Xuan, Ms Lim Chih Pei and Ms Cheryll Cheah highlighted the programme’s role in developing empathy, compassion and a strong sense of purpose among medical students.
Ms Audrey Teoh Chia Xuan shed light on what the AFSM is all about. She shared that the AFSM Medical Student Council comprises medical students from different universities and is divided into six departments; Silent Mentor Workshop Department, Research Department, Media Department, End-of-Life Caregiving Department, Medical Outreach Department and Education and Training Department.
Ms Audrey said, “The AFSM Silent Mentor Workshop is designed to cultivate compassion and empathy through face-to-face communication and firsthand experiences. It starts with house visits where the AFSM Medical Student Council can meet the families of the silent mentors. Just like how we get to know patients on the ward, this visit serves the same purpose of understanding that silent mentors as individuals. The lessons go beyond technical skills to encompass the spirit of generosity and selflessness. The remarkable impact of giving is the sole reason we could learn from these mentors who were once parents, children and loved ones. They committed to support society and assist others even in their final moments.”
“As a clinical year student, I have experienced clerking real patients in clinics and wards as part of my curriculum. Joining medical outreaches from various organisations wasn’t entirely new to me as well. However, joining the AFSM Medical Student Council had me reflect on my experiences and made me realise significant differences,” said Ms Chih Pei. “Now, I constantly keep in mind the principles I’ve learnt from the Silent Mentors, whom I had the honoured of learning from when I engaged with them. These teachings have strengthened my belief in the virtue of compassion and the necessity of giving back, as I prepare to confront the challenging realities of working as a junior physician in Malaysia.”
Ms Cheryll Cheah shared her experience with AFSM Silent Mentor, “The End-of-Life programme gives pro bono and the Medical Student Council a meaningful chance to assist the pledgers in their last days. We visit and tend to them on a scheduled rotation basis, providing both medical attention and deep discussion. We were able to give them physical and emotional support through the programme, which enhanced our relationship. Rather than seeing them as cadaveric bodies, we treat our passed pledgers as complete individuals who have important contributions to medical healthcare.”
Through this partnership, RUMC and AFSM aim to cultivate a culture of empathy, respect and gratitude among future doctors. By providing students with hands-on experiences in anatomy and surgical skills, this collaboration will contribute to the development of well-rounded medical professionals who are equipped to provide compassionate care.
About RUMC
RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC) has its roots in Penang Medical College (PMC), which was established in 1996. PMC was created through a collaboration between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and University College Dublin (UCD), two respected medical universities in Ireland. In 2018, RUMC was awarded University status by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education as a Foreign University Branch Campus, making it one of the highest levels for a foreign-owned institution in Malaysia. Today, RUMC is the only Irish university in the region and is recognised by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and Irish Medical Council (IMC) as graduating high-performing doctors. Our students receive a comprehensive medical education and hands-on clinical training in state-of-the-art facilities, preparing them to succeed in the medical profession and ensuring our graduates can pursue their medical careers anywhere in the world, including USA and Canada with recognition from ECFMG, FAIMER and WDOMS.
About AFSM (Academy for Silent Mentor)
AFSM is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting body donation for medical education, training, and research in Malaysia. Through its i•Silent Mentor Program, AFSM cultivates a culture of altruism and compassion, enabling medical students to learn and grow through hands-on experience with donated bodies. Beyond medical training, AFSM also focuses on holistic development, incorporating liberal arts and humanism into its programs.
