Public Health is an important component of Medical Education in the University of Malaya since its inception in 1964. The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine are involved in the teaching of the medical students on public health issues starting from Phase I of the programme. The Department is involved in lecture, problem-based learning and two field postings, i.e., the Community Residency Programme (CRP) and the Organisation and Management of Health Services (OMHS). The CRP programme is conducted during Phase IIIA and the OMHS during Phasr IIIB of the MBBS programme.

The public health paper in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) is conducted during the Phase IIIA in the MBBS programme under the new improved curriculum. The academic of the departments will set the examination questions and the answers will be double marked by the academics before they are reviewed by the external examiner.

Prof Ivan J Perry, Head of Department of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland was invited as the external examiners for the MBBS Phase IIIA examination for the year 2005. As part of the examination process, the external examiners will present his report to the department for discussion at the conclusion of the examination.

Prof Ivan Perry discussed on the MBBS Phase IIIA examination, Community Residency Programme and undergraduate teaching of public health with the staff of the Department and the staff from Royal Perak College of Medicine. The reason for the involvement of the staff from the Royal Perak College of Medicine is that they are using the University of Malaya’s MBBS programme for their students.

Prof Ivan also presented the research that he was involved, namely the research on parasuicide.

The customary lunch with the MBBS Phase IIIA external examiner Prof Ivan J Perry was held at the Rumah Universiti on 15 November 2005. The lunch was also attended by the Dean, Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin and the Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Programme, Professor Ikram Shah b Ismail and staff from the Royal Perak College of Medicine.