INTI-UC THE FIRST TO OFFER TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE DEGREE IN M'SIA

NILAI (Malaysia), July 31 (Bernama) -- INTI University College (INTI-UC)
will be the first Malaysian educational institution in the country to be given
approval by the Higher Education Ministry to run a degree programme in Chinese
traditional medicine in September.

INTI-UC president Prof Dr Lee Fah Onn said the Bachelor of Traditional
Chinese Medicine (Hons) degree programme, which combined the western and eastern
curriculum, provided students with a strong foundation in Chinese traditional
medicine.

"It combines the basic, classic and professional traditional Chinese
medicine to health care taught by Chinese traditional medicine practitioners
from Malaysia and China," he told a news conference here Friday.

He said it was a four-year programme comprising 151 credit hours, spanning
10 semesters of full-time study in Malaysia and two months internship locally,
followed by five months internship in China at the Shanghai University of
Chinese Medicine or Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

The programme will be taught in English with some basic in Mandarin.

Lee added that the programme also featured 1,200 hours of clinical training
for greater practical exposure and a strategic alliance had been forged with the
Negeri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital and Medical Centre for the students'
practical training.

"There are currently three government hospitals and two private hospitals
that have dedicated traditional and complementary medicine wings and the
government has announced that it will increase the number of government
hospitals with traditional and complementary medicine to six.

"The programme is linked with established universities in Chine -- Beijing
University of Chinese Medicine and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine -- where both universities are recognized by the Public Service
Department Awam and the Health Ministry for transfer options.

"Both universities have signed an MoA on the 3+2 transfer programme
arrangement," he said.

-- BERNAMA