Rehabilitation: A PRP officer explaining how HALs are used to treat patients at the facility.
Allied health students at Manipal University College Malaysia (MUCM) can now use the Socso Rehabilitation Centre Malaysia (PRP) facilities for teaching and training during their clinical placements.
As part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked recently, MUCM will also support PRP’s in-patient services by providing medical and dental expertise.The event, witnessed by senior management members of both organisations, was held at PRP’s newly renovated Neuro-Robotics Rehabilitation and Cybernics Centre in Melaka on March 6.
The largest cybernics treatment centre outside of Japan is equipped with hybrid assistive limbs (HALs) to treat patients who sustain spinal cord injury, stroke, and other neurological conditions.The MoU, said Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed, who represented PRP, was a testament to the commitment of both organisations to enhance the quality of healthcare, medical education and rehabilitation services in the country.
The collaboration comes as MUCM is expanding its undergraduate programme offerings from medicine and dentistry to include occupational therapy and other specialisations in the field of allied health, as the institution marks its 25th anniversary celebrations this year. Its postgraduate degrees have also grown to include dentistry and health research.
Allied health science programmes, said MUCM vice chancellor Prof Dr Patrick Kee, give a broader view of employability in the healthcare industry, which allows young aspirants to have an alternative career pathway in their preferred fields.
“Health science is growing globally with demand driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, better health awareness, rising income levels and lifestyle diseases,” he added.
Students from MUCM, noted Mohammed Azman, would have the opportunity to gain practical experience in a real-life rehabilitation setting and to learn from PRP’s experienced multidisciplinary team.
