MBBS in Malaysia- Monash University Admission, Fees & Requirements

Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences (JCSMHS) is addressing society’s biggest challenges in medical, health, and psychological sciences. You’ll benefit from a diverse range of study options and a supportive environment.

Students who start the MBBS study program in 2021 will graduate in 2025 with a Monash Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine degree.

Monash made the transition to medicine course on the basis that current requirements in medical workforce require higher level of research skills and critical thinking as well as greater emphasis on patient safety. Monash medicine course was designed in close consultation with doctors, health care professionals, and leaders in the health and research sectors to provide the scientific background and clinical expertise to ensure that Monash Medical graduates are prepared for their future as a competent doctor.

Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine at Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia is a five-year undergraduate medical course designed to deliver an equivalent program to that of the Australia-based Medicine program. The entry criteria, learning outcomes and the assessments including marking standards are the same as those in the Clayton campus in Australia. After completing the program, students will be awarded the Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine by Monash University.

Overview
Fee Structure
Interview
Duration
Career Pathway

At a glance

The medicine program is a highly integrated course with the objective of developing skills in critical thinking, self-directed learning, reflection and professionalism.
Basic medical sciences are introduced in the early years while clinical exposure and skills training occurs in the later years.
There is a strong emphasis on clinical communication skills and early clinical contact visits to medical practices, community care facilities and hospitals.

The course has received accreditation from the Australian Medical Council (AMC), making it the first medical program fully conducted in Malaysia to be accredited by a foreign medical accreditation council. It is also the first medical course taught fully outside Australia & New Zealand to be accredited by the AMC. This means that Monash Malaysia Medical graduates will be recognized to practice in Australia without having to take an additional qualifying examination.

All students will undertake Years one and two at the 12-acre campus in Bandar Sunway. Years three to five will be based at the Clinical School in Johor, with clinical studies centered at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital, a tertiary and referral hospital in Johor Bahru, the southern-most point of the Malaysian Peninsula located just across the causeway from Singapore.

In the early years of study, the basic medical sciences are taught in the context of their relevance to patient care. Later in the course, clinical teaching builds upon and reinforces this strong scientific foundation. An emphasis on clinical communication skills and early clinical contact visits to medical practices, community care facilities and hospitals, is a feature of the Monash course. The entire medicine course is completed in Malaysia, with the exception of three months in the final year of the program, where students will be trained in clinical settings in Australia.

Students who have successfully completed at least the first two years of this undergraduate medicine course at Monash University may also have the opportunity of studying for an extra year for Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours). During the 12-month period required to complete the BMedSc(Hons), students undertake research activities and complete a minor thesis. They may then graduate with both the Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) after six years of study.

How much is the tuition fee to study Medicine courses in Malaysia?

Students are invited to apply for 20 Medicine Bursaries available for the 2020 intake. Each bursary will provide students with a total of RM50,000 (RM10,000 per year over a 5-year study period), for the Monash Medicine program.

Eligibility

Malaysian students and International students
Have received a full unconditional offer
Not holding any other scholarship offers (e.g. JPA, MARA)

Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)

The Multiple Mini Interviews will be conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Melbourne. Other interview sites may also be announced, so please check our website and with local agents. The interview format is designed to evaluate whether you possess the relevant personal qualities to succeed in the medicine course, and you’ll be assessed by trained interviewers. MMI stations will comprise a series of scenarios and associated questions focusing on your relevant personal qualities such as:

Motivation
Communication skills
Critical thinking
Ethical/empathetic reasoning

The MMI consists of four sequential interview stations. At each station, you’ll be interviewed for eight minutes, followed by a two-minute changeover (i.e. 10 minutes per station), with a circuit that takes 40 minutes to complete. If you haven’t been invited to
participate, you cannot request for an interview.

The total duration of MBBS is 5 years.

Career paths

The career of a doctor involves further training beyond the medical degree. Successful completion of this additional training entitles the doctor to work as a specialist.

In Malaysia, upon completion of the medical course, students need to apply to the Ministry of Health Malaysia to do their housemanship in any of the public hospitals. The housemanship is for two years. On completion of housemanship, there is a two-year compulsory service in hospitals and clinics under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Only after this would doctors be allowed to practice in facilities outside the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Please visit the Malaysian Medical Council’s website for details.

After completion of two years of their compulsory service, doctors can apply for the Master of Medicine course in the local public universities. Doctors have the option of continuing to work while pursuing the master’s program. The courses lead to the conferment of the specialist degree of Master of Medicine (M.Med) in the following areas:

Internal Medicine
Pediatrics
Surgery
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Orthopedics
Anaesthesiology
Family Medicine
Radiology
Psychiatry
Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Ophthalmology
Emergency Medicine
Pathology (Anatomic Pathology, Haematology, Medical Microbiology, Clinical Immunology, Chemical Pathology)
Community Medicine (Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Family Health, Health Management, Occupational Health, Health Education, Environmental Health, Oral Health)
Surgery (Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery)

Apart from this, students can opt to sit for the membership examinations of the Royal Colleges in the United Kingdom or Australia.

Upon successful completion of the master’s program or the membership examinations of the Royal Colleges, doctors will be gazetted as specialists after completion of a period of work under the supervision of senior specialists. They will also qualify to be on the specialist’s register of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia.

Why should I study MBBS in Malaysia- Monash University

Recognition
Curriculum
Entry Requirement
Silent Features
Housemanship

Monash University Malaysia has been given Self Accreditation Status by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) through the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine is accredited by:

The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC)
The Australian Medical Council (AMC)
The Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC)
The Medical Council of Thailand
The Medical Council of India

Course outline

The curriculum is designed as an integrated program incorporating four themes, within which semester-long units are taught by staff from a range of disciplines across the school, in an interdisciplinary fashion.

Year One

Location: Sunway City campus

You’ll be introduced to the basic medical and behavioural sciences (anatomy, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology, psychology and sociology) within interdisciplinary units. In all of these units, there will be a major focus on clinical issues through problem-based cases and visits to clinical sites.

Year Two

Location: Sunway City campus

You’ll continue to learn the basic medical and behavioural sciences, while participating in community placements where you’ll work in community settings with clients of welfare agencies. You’ll also spend time in the hospital and clinics at Segamat.

Year Three

Location: Clinical School Johor Bahru

You’ll study integrated medicine and surgery, which will be taught using a series of problem-based learning and bedside teaching sessions in clinical settings. In addition, an on-line research methods module will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake scholarly intensive projects.

Year Four

Locations: Clinical School Johor Bahru and Sultanah Aminah Hospital

You’ll engage with core clinical rotations in women’s and children’s health and general practice, and psychological medicine.

Year Five

Locations: Clinical School Johor Bahru, Sultanah Aminah Hospital and in Australia

Your final year will be structured as a series of pre-intern placements, where you’ll have the opportunity to complete your degree by gaining wider experience in important disciplines and specific areas of interest through a range of urban, rural and overseas settings.

The entire Medicine course is completed in Malaysia, with the exception of three months in the final year of the program, where you will be in clinical settings in Australia. You are allowed to undertake additional components of Years Two, Three, Four and Five in Australia, subject to the availability of clinical places.

Monash MD has three additional components in the curriculum focusing on enhancement of critical thinking, research competence and patient safety.

The three components that have been added are:

I) A research methods module in Year 3

II) An upgraded patient safety module in Year 5

III) A scholarly intensive research project in Year 5.

The research methods module will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake their scholarly intensive projects. The patient safety module will enhance students’ understanding of the principles of Patient Safety and the related clinical competencies. The scholarly intensive research unit will provide students with the opportunity to be engaged in activities and tasks which contribute to a research study or an issue of professional practice.

Examinations and grades

The Medicine program at Monash University is currently available only to students who have completed their pre-university studies. Selection will be based on a combination of:

1. Pre-University qualifications (eg. A levels, IB, MUFY, South Australian Matriculation, Australian Matriculation, STPM etc)

2. International Student Admission Test (ISAT)

3. Adequate performance in the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)

4. English Proficiency

1. Pre-university Qualification

Satisfactory completion of an appropriate pre-university course is required. Results of pre-university studies must be available prior to commencement of the medicine course. Chemistry is a pre-requisite at the pre-university level and students need to demonstrate a high level of academic achievement in this subject.

Applicants must have completed Year 12 studies or relevant degree within the previous two years.

2. International Student Admission Test (ISAT)

Applicants are required to undertake the International Student Admissions Test (ISAT). ISAT results will contribute towards the overall ranking for entry into the course.

The 2020-2021 testing cycle dates are as follows:-
Cycle 1: May 16-May 24 2020
Cycle 2: August 15-August 23 2020
Cycle 3: November 21-November 29 2020

English Proficiency

You must be proficient in English. This can be demonstrated through one of the following:

Adequate score in English at Year 12 equivalent qualification
1119 (SPM): minimum ‘B’ grade in GCE O Level English Language
IELTS: overall score of 7.0 or greater with no individual band less than 6.5
TOEFL Internet Based: overall score of 94 or greater, 24 in writing, 19 in reading, 20 in listening and 20 in speaking
Pearson Test of English (PTE): overall score of 65 or above with no communication skills lower than 58
IGCSE: Grade ‘B’ in Literature (English) or Grade ‘A’ in English as a Second Language subject
GCE O Level: Grade ‘B’ in English Language or Literature in English subject
GCE AS Level: Grade ‘B’ in General Paper, English Language or Language and Literature in English subject
GCE A Levels: Grade ‘D’ in Language or Literature in English subject

Monash English Bridging is not accepted for admission into this program

Special consideration/ disadvantage

Statements regarding circumstances which may have seriously impaired an applicant’s studies in the final year of school may be submitted with a request for special consideration at the time of application.

Transfers

There will be no opportunity for transfer of enrolment between the medicine program in Malaysia and Australia.

Important information

General Studies/ Mata Pelajaran Pengajian Umum (Compulsory Subjects)

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has officially announced the offering of General Studies (GS)/Mata Pelajaran Pengajian Umum (MPU) to replace the Malaysian National Subjects (Compulsory subjects) for all private higher education institutions effective 1 September 2013. All new students must undertake GS, and for Malaysian citizens, they must pass GS as a prerequisite for the award of a certificate, diploma, advanced diploma or 1st degree. (Circular No 2, Year 2013, Ref: JPT/GS1000-606 Jld.1 (25) and JPT/GS1000-606 Jld. 1 (30))

The objective of General Studies (GS) is to provide a holistic education across the disciplines for all tertiary students (Malaysian and International) and opportunities for students to engage in diverse lifelong learning skills and acquiring of knowledge. The GS comprises four broad categories, namely:

U1: The appreciation of philosophy, values and history;
U2: Mastery of soft skills;
U3: Broadening of knowledge in Malaysia; and
U4: Practical management of community projects.

Health requirements

The faculty has an Immunisation and Infection Risk Policy and students are required to comply with a number of recommendations and procedures to enable them to proceed through the course with an acceptable low level of risk.

Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) requirements

All applicants are required to have studied Biology, Chemistry and a third subject which can be either Physics or Maths at the pre university level and should have achieved minimum requirements as set by the MMC. For students who are applying with a matriculation, foundation or pre-medical program, the MMC has indicated that applicants would need to have obtained a minimum of B at school leaver level (SPM or O-Level) in the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Additional Mathematics and another subject. Please visit www.mmc.gov.my and click the tab “Minimum Entrance Requirements”.

These requirements may change in accordance with MMC guideline.

Sri Lanka Medical Council requirement

All Sri Lankan citizens are required to submit the Eligibility Certificate from Sri Lanka Medical Council before the start of the Medicine program at Monash University Malaysia. Please refer to the Sri Lanka Medical Council for latest updates.

Training in Australia

To undertake any components of study in Australia, students will be required to undertake a police check by the Victorian Police, a Working with Children Check, and to register with the Medical Practitioners’ Board of Victoria.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

A key integrating feature in the early years of the medicine course at Monash University is the case-based method of teaching, known as Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The PBL sessions provide a context for the course objectives and content, thereby creating in students an awareness of the relevance of the curriculum and its components to medicine and medical practice.

Students are encouraged to discuss the situation presented in the case narrative, identifying scientific and clinical details that may be relevant to both the case and to the week’s curriculum content.

Housemanship and registration

In Australia, following successful completion of the medical degree, graduates are eligible for provisional registration by the Medical Board of Victoria or other state medical boards. After serving a compulsory internship year in an approved hospital, they are eligible for final registration in Victoria and in other states of Australia.

In Malaysia, following successful completion of the medical degree, graduates are eligible for provisional registration by the Malaysian Medical Council. After serving compulsory housemanship, they are eligible for full registration in Malaysia, but Malaysian citizens will be required by the Ministry of Health to undertake a further two years of compulsory service. International students currently are not able to do housemanship in Malaysia. The school cannot guarantee international students internship placements in Australia. As a result, many of our international students elect to complete their internships in their home country. Students should not have an expectation of gaining an internship in Australia.

Please note internship placement in Victoria are guaranteed only for Australian citizens and permanent residents who have completed their medicine degree in Victoria. Australian citizens and permanent residents who completed their medicine degree outside Victoria (including Monash University Malaysia) will find it difficult to obtain internships in Victoria.