History

Salam Sejahtera,

Welcome to the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. We thank you for trusting us to care for your loved one since 1969. The Faculty of Medicine and it's dedicated teaching hospital has successfully trained 6000 Malaysian doctors and 5000 medical specialists and cared for so many lives since its inception. The Faculty of Medicine and The University of Malaya Medical Center pledged to continue its foundation's legacy which is to produce excellent Malaysian medical practitioners by Malaysian. We will keep working with you to be the premier hub of medical education and healthcare for the nation. We thank you for your trust and support in us. You allowed us to deepen our understanding of medicine through continuous medical education, impactful research and improvement in the quality of clinical care.

The History of the Faculty of Medicine

The history of the Universiti Malaya started in 1949 when the King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College was merged by Carr-Saunders Commission on University Education in Malaya to serve the needs of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. The Universiti Malaya was reconstituted on 15th January 1959 a Court, a Central Council, a Guild of Graduates, a Chancellor, Pro-Chancellors, and a Vice-Chancellor with two equal and autonomous Divisions, one in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. On the 1st. January 1962, the Singapore Division became the University of Singapore and in 1980 known as National University of Singapore or “NUS”, while the University of Malaya remained in Kuala Lumpur to be the premier university in Malaysia. In May 1960, a Board of Studies was set up to look into the possibility of establishing a medical school in Kuala Lumpur. The Board of Studies Report in 1961 recommended that a faculty of medicine be built in Kuala Lumpur to produce 100 medical doctors annually for Malaya. University Statute established the Faculty of Medicine in September 1962.

Dr T.J. Danaraj assumed duty as the First Professor of Medicine and Foundation Dean of the Faculty on 1st. February 1963. A selected forty (40) Pre-Medical students were selected and admitted in May 1963. These pioneers were taught in the Faculty of Science while waiting for the development of the FOM infrastructures. The first batch of 64 students (including those promoted from the Pre-Medical course) was admitted to Year I (Pre-Clinical Year) of medical course proper in May 1964. Within five years of the faculty inception, the University Hospital (now the University of Malaya Medical Centre or UMMC) was officially opened by His Majesty the Yang Dipertuan Agong, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong Tuanku Ismail Nasarudin Shah Ibni Alharmahum Sultan Zainal Abidin on 5th. August 1968.

UMMC has since expanded rapidly from its original central tower to various modern and purpose build towers that cater medical education, clinical care and biomedical research. Collaborative research with overseas and local partners has brought FOM and UMMC to the forefront of biomedical science and technology through the advent of new knowledge and discovery. Medical research has become the second strength for the FOM, and various centres of excellence and research were built within the UMMC and Faculty of Medicine ground. The Faculty has also expanded in its teaching activities, training highly qualified medical and allied health personnel at both undergraduate and many postgraduate specialisations.