Dr Noor Hisham spoke passionately about leadership in healthcare, highlighting empathy, body language awareness, compassion, focused attentiveness and active listening as crucial traits in a doctor.
Former Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah took to the stage as the keynote speaker at the recent Surgical Symposium 2025: Sculpting the Surgeons of the Future, which was organised by the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) Surgical Society.
He received a warm welcome from NUMed provost and chief executive officer Prof Vishna Devi V Nadarajah, who highlighted that while he is renowned for playing a critical role in guiding Malaysia through an unprecedented crisis, he was also instrumental in the establishment of NUMed.
“In healthcare, it’s not just about delivering services, but also about establishing training institutions so we have a continuous pipeline of healthcare professionals, not only for Malaysia but for the region. So, welcome back, Tan Sri, and thank you very much for being one of the pioneers of NUMed. We deeply appreciate it,” she said.
In his speech, Dr Noor Hisham shared some of the essential leadership skills for navigating today’s healthcare ecosystem.
“The first and most important skill that each and every one of you must learn is listening — to your patient, to data, to science, to facts and even to social media.
“As surgeons, we have to make decisions and if you have all the information you need at hand, you can make the right decision,” he said.
The other four skills are creativity, communication, perseverance, and finally, doing one’s best.
“Being able to sustain yourself and stay strong, especially when you face complications, is important. What’s most crucial is that you do your best with communication, decision-making, knowing when to do and when not to do,” he added.
This was followed by two plenary sessions. The first featured Dr Ahmad Shuib Yahaya, obstetrician and gynaecologist of Gleneagles Hospital Johor, who shared how technology is revolutionising outcomes in gynaecology oncology in his talk about Robotics in Surgery: Transforming Precision and Care.
Meanwhile, Dr Nazrul Nashi, orthopaedic consultant at National University Hospital, Singapore, gave insights into The Future of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, Today, showcasing the role of 3D modelling in surgical planning.
Thereafter, the symposium progressed to a highly anticipated series of hands-on workshops.
According to Ong Paul Sherng, the event’s organising chairperson and a Year 3 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student at NUMed, the symposium’s primary goal was to introduce medical students to the world of surgery, preparing them not only in surgical fundamentals but also to be adaptable to innovation.
NUMed is an international branch campus of Newcastle University, UK.
Find out about its MBBS and other programme offerings at http://www.newcastle.edu.my.
For further details, email admissions@newcastle.edu.my, call 07-555 3800, or WhatsApp 011-1231 5411/012-784 9456.
