29 May 2008 - SEGi College, Malaysia and Tropicana Medical Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today witnessed by the Y. Bhg. Dato’ Seri Dr. Hj. Mohd. Nasir bin. Mohd Ashraf, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, representing the Minister of Health, YB Dato’ Liow Tiong Lai.

Signing the MOU are Dr. Colin Lee – Founder and Managing of TMC Life Sciences Berhad, Bryan Lin – Group Chief Executive Officer, Hospital Administration of TMC Life Sciences Berhad, Mr. Lee Kok Cheng – Chief Operating Officer of SEG International Bhd and Professor Dr. Muhamad Bin Awang – Chief Executive of SEGi College, Malaysia.

Also attending the event are Mr. Amos Siew – Executive Director of SEG International Bhd and Executive Director of TMC Life Sciences Bhd, Dr. Wong Wah Hun – Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of SEGi College Malaysia, Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr. Khalid Abdul Kadir – Chairman of TMC Life Sciences Berhad, and Ms. Wenddi-Anne Chong, Executive Director of TMC Life Sciences Bhd. The ceremony was also attended by senior management staff of SEGi Group and TMC Medical Centre, and other dignitaries.

Under the MOU, which is for a period of 5 years, pharmacy and nursing students at SEGi College Malaysia will be able to utilise the facilities in Tropicana Medical Centre for practical training. The memorandum also allows for Tropicana Medical Centre to select nursing and pharmacy graduates for employment at the hospital.

SEGi students sent to Tropicana Medical Centre for practical training will follow the practical training according to SEGi’s official course of study supervised by the College’s tutors. TMC Group in turn will benefit through continuous professional development and enjoy a tuition fee rebate for six TMC Group-sponsored students per annum.

Professor Dr. Muhamad Bin Awang, Chief Executive of SEGi College, Malaysia, said, “Today’s MOU signing with Tropicana Medical Centre depicts SEGi’s strive for education excellence as we ensure our nursing and pharmacy students are given a chance for practical training using the advanced facilities at Tropicana Medical Centre.”

“Aside from this, we are also very pleased to have this chance to work with Tropicana Medical Centre, as it is a highly respected and reputable medical centre poised to meet the local and regional demands for specialized healthcare for women and children, apart from providing fertility treatment and other medical specialist services. We believe our partnership with Tropicana Medical Centre in educating and nurturing the young minds of Malaysia will be a successful collaboration,” added Muhamad.

The MOU is a step towards the development of human resources in terms of increasing quality health care services. As the industry grows, there is a definite need to have continuous improvement in the training of healthcare employees. This development of health care human resources is to cater for both local and global needs.

“The quality of nurses we are to produce should meet the standards of the global healthcare community for we are looking at exporting our expertise to overseas. As such, we hold high importance in the quality of our nursing graduates,” added Muhamad.

Bryan Lin, Group Chief Executive Officer, Hospital Administration of TMC Life Sciences Berhad, said in his speech that the ultimate aim of Tropicana Medical Centre is to become patients’ destination of choice by developing medical centres of excellence, by hiring pool of specialist doctors, investing in advanced and high-technology equipment, and building a team of dedicated and qualified support staff.

Lin said: “With the signing of this agreement, Tropicana Medical Centre would be able to play a key role in initiating students majoring in nursing and pharmacy to the working environment in a fully equipped tertiary hospital. And in so doing, SEGi College and Tropicana Medical Centre will work hand-in-hand in a synergistic manner to prepare these students for the working environment in both theoretical and practical terms.”

“Not only that, the first-mover advantage granted to us in selecting the best nursing and students from SEGi would certainly allow to place our best foot forward in building a highly-skilled team of support staff in our hospital,” added Lin.

Located adjacent to SEGi College Malaysia in Kota Damansara, Tropicana Medical Centre is an 8-storey full-fledged tertiary hospital with a built-up area of 220,000 sq ft. The flagship of MESDAQ-listed medical group TMC Life Sciences Berhad, this state-of-the-art medical facility will provide premium medical specialist disciplines, including fertility, women and children’s health, endocrinology, cardiology, as well as Interventional Radiology to facilitate advanced stem cell therapies. Tropicana Medical Centre is anticipated to commence operations this year.

To date, SEGi is in line with achieving its goals in the medical sciences programmes. The nursing programme has received high acclaim from the Nursing Board of Malaysia as the college was awarded the “Emerging Star” Award of the Excellence Nurse Award. What more, the pharmacy programme in collaboration with the University of Sunderland in the UK, ranked as the 17th best institution for pharmacology, pharmacy and toxicology courses in the UK in 2007. The programme is also accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

More than 200 healthcare professionals, educators and students filled the College’s auditorium to bear witness of this historical event for both college and medical centre. The event also saw the launch of SEGi College’s Pharmacy, Dental and Nursing Centre, and the Launch of Nurses Day Celebration 2008.

SEGi College has equipped 3 floors to be its Pharmacy, Dental and Nursing Centre. The College has invested heavily in ensuring the facilities and equipment are up to par of international standards.

The Diploma in Nursing is accredited by the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Nursing Board. The programme is also approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.

SEGi just receive the approval for the 2+2 MPharm programme in collaboration with the University of Sunderland. The programme is also recognised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.