Missions of a medical school: An Asian perspective

This case study of medical schools in Malaysia addresses their role in meet ing the demands of a young nation. Throughout the growth and development of these medical schools, there have been efforts to coordinate and cooperate with providers of health care. The treatment of illness must mesh with the changing paradigm of health and wellness as an achievable and indeed desir able goal, not only for the individual but also for society. The scientific basis of medicine is being emphasized with the advent of evidence-based me dicine and outcome measures. Innovations have been made to bring the school s in closer contact with the service providers. Malaysia has prepared farsi ghted plans to become a developed nation by the year 2020. Accordingly, its health services will use advances in information technology and will intro duce telemedicine in various strategic applications to extend the reach of the health care team. It is incumbent on the medical schools to move in con cert with the Ministry of Health to realize goals of the nation and the soc iety.