Chinese Medicine Chiropractic & Psychology

Alumni Profiles

A Tribute to the Journey of Hope of Two Alumni

IMU In The Spotlight

Faculty Members Share Their Thoughts

REMINISCENCE

Editor in ChiefDairshini Sithambaram (M2/10)

DesignerIgnatius Liew (M1/10)WriterJustina Tan (PS1/10)PhotographerPhotographerYeoh Jie Cong (M2/10)

For more information, contact:AZNAH ARSHADaznah_arshad@imu.edu.myOr join our IMU ALUMNI Facebook Group or visit our website at www.imu.org.my

A Project by the IMU Student Ambassadors

Faculty Members Share their Thoughts

IMU in the Spotlight

Alumni Profiles

Journey of Hope

Future Events

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Editorial

Contents

Alumni Newsletter Reminiscence

CHINESE MEDICINEDIALOGUE WITH PROFESSOR ZHOU WEN-XIN

With the increasing popularity of integrative and complementary medi-cines in Malaysia, careers in Chinese medicine are on the rise. Indi-viduals who have successfully completed all educational and training requirements to become a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner, would find that traditional Chinese medicine offers a plethora of heal-ing services to clients and patients based on practices that date back thousands of years. Today, prospective candidates interested in pursuing careers in Chinese Medicine must have substantial instruction (and licensure) in order to practice professionally.

At the IMU in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, students who are interested in the Chinese Medicine course have the option to complete the entire 4–year programme in IMU or study part of the programme in IMU and transfer to one of the university’s partner schools in Australia or China. Through this arrangement with partner universities, IMU’s Chinese Medicine students wishing to move on to one of these partner universi-ties will receive academic credits for the subjects they have success-fully completed in IMU and use these towards the completion of their degree. Our partner universities in China have also agreed to take IMU graduates for the 1 year internship required by the Malaysian govern-ment for registration as a Chinese Medicine practitioner.

The Chinese Medicine programme in IMU is accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and taught in a medical university which also offers medical and health sciences programmes. This allows for an easier sharing of ideas and resources and a greater understanding by staff and students of the contributions to healthcare by the different professions, including Chinese Medicine. It provides a unique opportu-nity for Chinese medicine students to mix and work in collaboration with students from other Health Science courses from vewith students from other Health Science courses from very early on, encouraging close friendships and working together which could con-tinue to great business partnerships after graduation.

Heading this department is Professor Zhou Wen Xin, a Chinese Medi-cine practitioner and an acupuncturist whose research has helped to

develop the teaching of acupuncture. Prof Zhou is also an educator with more than 28 years of clinical and teaching experience in Chinese Medi-cine, especially in the acupuncture and Tuina field.

Prof Zhou, previously, was the Head of Division of Tuina Therapy in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Med-icine (TCM) from 2003 to 2010. Prior to that, he served as the Head of Acu-puncture and Tuina Therapy at the same university from 1998 to 2003. In 2001, Prof Zhou was promoted to Professorship in the acupuncture and Tuina field by the Shanghai University of TCM. He was elected as the Man-aging Director of the Clinical Branch of China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (CAAM) which aims to develop and promote acupuncture and moxibustion at an international level in 2008. Prof Zhou is editor of several textbooks used in the teach-ing of acupuncture and Tuina in Shanghai University of TCM. Some of the textbooks include Therapeutics of Acupuncture and Tuina and Handbook of Acupuncture Prescription for Inner Diseases. He has also taught acu-puncture courses to international stu-dents in Romania, Thailand and China.

We were fortunate to have a quick interview session on Chinese Medicine in IMU.

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1)What is the importance of traditional medicine in a nation’s health care system?In different countries, the policy on traditional medicine is quite different. In China, traditional medicine is re-garded as an importantaspect in the nation’s health care system. There are western doctors, integrated west-ern and traditional medicine doctors and traditional Chinese Medicine doctors. These three professional doctors undergo the same duration of training. They utilise their knowledge as doctors for the betterment of the

Alumni Newsletter Reminiscence

nation’s healthcare. Actually, many patients prefer to consult integrated western and traditional medicine doc-tors or traditional Chinese medicine doctors when ill with conditions such as chronic lumbar pain, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, post stroke syndromes, cancer, acute and chronic hepatitis, menstruation problems, etc. A lot of people also believe that traditional medicine helps to strengthen the body and prevent diseases. I leant from an article that about 44.4% of the nation’s population accepted traditional and complementary treatment in 2004.

2)What is your opinion on traditional medicine versus western medicine?In China, USA and Malaysia, the more preferred type of medicine is western medicine. I don’t think the devel-opment of traditional medicine will replace western or conventional medicine. Actually, in developed coun-tries, people accept the concept of integrated western and traditional medicine and deem this as comple-mentary and alternative medicine (CAM). In Malaysia, it is named as traditional and complementary medicine (T & CM). I believe the main objective is to research for different ways to treat diseases especially when the western or conventional method is not fruitful. It is important to promote development in both western and traditional medicine. People believe in methods that bear fruits, whether western or traditional.

3)How important is this course in the growth of IMU as a health care university?As we have mentioned above, people around the world accept traditional medicine or CAM. The CAM course in IMU started in 2011 and it happens to be the first university teaching traditional medicine in Malaysia. The programme was planned for several years and received approval from the Ministry of Higher Education and strict accreditation by Malaysia Quality Association. I appreciate the decision made by IMU management for this course and I believe that the reputation of CM practitioners in Malaysia, or even in Southeast Asia can be established. IMU is excellent in training western medicine doctors for many years and it will be a pioneer in training of CAM practitionerstraining of CAM practitioners. I think with the successful running of the CAM course, IMU will bear the reputa-tion of being a medical training giant, both western and traditional medicine and it will achievegreat progress consistently in health care.

4)What are your goals or objectives for this course in the future?As head of CAM division, I’ll try my best to run this programme smoothly and successfully. My goal is to make this a successful programme in Malaysia in the near future. I think it can be reached essentially with the enormous support from partner schools in China and Australia, the qualified teachers and it’s hardworking students.

(below) Chinese herbs in skills centre.

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(above) The chinese medicine skills centre.

CHIROPRACTICDIALOGUE WITH PROFESSOR MICHAEL HANELINE

Chiropractic is a healthcare profession that is rapidly expanding throughout the world, including Malaysia. In fact, it is currently the third largest primary healthcare profession after medicine and den-tistry. There are, however, very few practicing chiropractors in Ma-laysia, though the demands for services are high.

IMU welcomed its first intake of students for its undergraduate chi-ropractic degree programme on 22 February 2010. The university is offering the first and only complete chiropractic educational pro-gramme in Malaysia, as well as in all of Southeast Asia. Students can graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in chiropractic in 4 years, fol-lowed by a one-year housemanship. For the chiropractic pro-gramme, students have the option to study the entire programme locally in Malaysia or transfer to RMIT University in Australia after two years in IMU. Graduates are eligible for registration under Malaysia’s Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act. The IMU Chiropractic programme is positioned within a medical faculty which has many mutual advantages including the sharing of ideas and resources.

Professor Michael Haneline heads the division in IMU. He attended the University of Nebraska, majoring in pre-chiropractic, and gradu-ated from Southern California Health Sciences University–Los Ange-les College of Chiropractic with Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Chiro-practic degrees. In addition, he has a Master of Public Health from California College for Health Sciences, is a graduate of the Los An

geles College of Chiropractic Ortho-paedics programme and a Fellow in the Institute of Chiropractic Research (FICR).

Prof Haneline practiced chiropractic for nearly 30 years and has been in-volved in education and research since the early 1980s. He previously conducted spinal biomechanics re-search with Prof Chung Ha Suh, who graduated with PhD in biomechanics at the University of Colorado at the time, and worked for the Spine Re-search Institute of San Diego. Before taking the position as Head of Chiro-practic at the IMU, he was a Professor in the Department of Research at Palmer College of Chiropractic West and taught evidence-based chiroprac-tic practice. He has published numer-ous peer-reviewed articles and is the author of two recent textbooks titled Evidence-Based Chiropractic Practice and Introduction to Public Health for Chiropractors

We had the opportunity to meet him for an interview on the path of this course in IMU.

1. What is the demand of chiropractors in Malaysia?There are only about 30 practising chiropractors in Malaysia, compared with 65,000 in the US. Currently there is only 1 chiropractor for every 1 million people in Malaysia, whereas the ratio in Australia is 1 for every 5 thousand people.

Most chiropractors in Malaysia practice on their Most chiropractors in Malaysia practice on their own, whereas some of them are in group practices with other chiropractors or other types of health care providers. Other career options for chiropractors include teaching, conducting research, and consulting services for private industries. The Ministry of Health has indi-cated that they will place chiropractors in hospitals starting next year. Because of the scarcity of chiropractors in Malaysia as well as the widespread need for the services, practices are typically very busy.

2. What is the importance of Chiropractors in a nation’s health care system?Chiropractors mainly work with conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system, the spine in particular. Spinal disorders are universal among humans, affecting the majority of people at some point in their lives. It is a leading health concern worldwide and in the developed world is massively expensive to individuals,

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communities and economies. Unfortunately, the impacts of these conditions are magnified where appropriate treatment is limited or not available. Recent research and national guidelines from the US and UK have re-peatedly indicated that spinal manipulation, the main procedure utilised by chiropractors, is effective in the treatment of lower back pain. Thus, chiropractic care should be part of the care management protocol for pa-tients with this condition.

3. How important is this course in the growth of IMU as a health care university?The IMU Chiropractic Programme has been very successful so far, even though most Malaysians are not aware of the profession and how great the potential is for graduates to become very successful in practice. We anticipate continued growth in the programme so that it will eventually be one of the largest in IMU.

The addition of the Chiropractic Programme and the Division of Traditional and Complementary Medicine to the University was a giant step forward in establishing IMU as an innovator because currently only a few uni-versities worldwide include chiropractic alongside medical programmes (e.g. University of Southern Denmark and University of Zurich in Switzerland).

4. What are your goals or objectives for this course in the future?The principal goal is to roll out all 4 years of the programme and establish the clinical training unit within the IMU Chiropractic Centre. The Centre has been in operation for more than a year and is doing exceedingly well. The University plans to establish satellite chiropractic clinics to function as supplementary training facilities; the first clinic is planned to begin operations in early 2012. Chiropractic practice typically involves outpatient care, but ideally the students will have opportunities to rotate through various departments in hospitals to gain additional skills and knowledge.

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PSYCHOLOGY

DIALOGUE WITH ALEXIUS CHEANG

Psychology involves understanding how we think, feel, behave, perceive and sense. The study of Psychology encompasses a broad spectrum of subjects notwithstanding physiology, biology, sociology, anthropology and many others. Individuals trained in psycholopsychology are able to contribute sig-nificantly in a variety of settings and all are trained to make use of the principles of psychology: to observe, assess, analyse and provide appro-priate evidence-based interventions for the needs of a society.

The psychology programme at the In-ternational Medical University (IMU)focuses on clinical and health

1)How did you end up as a lecturer for psychology here at IMU?My journey to IMU is a long one. My CV is pretty long and I have also volunteered in many other endeavours as well. This includes being a gym instructor, retail store Assistant Manager, and Assistant Director (NGO) to name a few. I was also the Head of the Sport Psychology Centre of Malaysia before joining IMU. While others may see me as being “not focused’ I prefer to think of my experiences, and each of my jobs as a step that lead me to where I am today.

2)Wh2)What is the demand of psychologists in Malaysia?You may be surprised to know that the demand for psychologists in Malaysia is seriously booming! However, the demand is for trained and qualified psychologists who have undergone further training at a postgraduate level, specialising in an area with appropriate training.There are too many people claiming to be psychologist basing on just a degree in Psychology or a related dis-cipline without really understanding the human thoughts and behavior. It takes years of training and practice, self-discipline and self-reflection to not only be the best you can be but also learn to accept yourself as well.

Another thing that I would like to mention is that the demand for qualified psychologists currently exists pri-marily in the bigger cities as the public are more open and accepting of the practice of psychology. The cities are also areas where there is a considerable amount of stress from people trying to juggle work and family demands. Job stress and unhealthy coping habits (drinking, smoking, or use of other addictive substances) as well as poor communication skills puts a severe strain on the family where arguments, fights and even affairs may result in the destruction of the family unit. More and more people are recognising that they need help and are turning to trained psychologists or counselors for assistanceand are turning to trained psychologists or counselors for assistance. It’s not just working with “crazy” people as what most people think. In fact, I have never once worked with a “crazy” person.

The field of Psychology is so wide that there is something for everyone. For example, my training is in Indus-

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psychology, two key areas that are experiencing increasing demand from the public and saw its first intake of students in July 2008. The three-year course focusing on the needs of the health sector aims to produce graduates capable of contributing to the promotion of health and prevention of mental health problems in Malaysia.

Alexius CheangAlexius Cheang, a current Psychology lecturer at the IMU, graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (California State University). He has worked as both a lecturer and trainer at HELP Insti-tute's Center for Psychology, served as the assistant director for Protect and Save The Children Association and has done research on the prev-alence of child sexual abuse and its effects in Malaysia. As the former Head of the Sport Psychology Center at the National Sports Institute, he has travelled widely and worked with many elite national athletes as well as being the sport psychology consultant for the men’s doubles national badminton team since 2005.

Industrial and Organisational Psychology where it is not just about motivating people but also selecting the best people for a job based on their personality and skills, reducing employee turnover, and training and de-veloping staff to continue improving their skills and maintaining loyalty to the organization. I have also worked with the national badminton team on partner communication and trust issues (doubles), maintaining calm under stressful situations through relaxation techniques, and finding the right level of arousal in which the athlete can perform at his or her best.

3)How important is the role of psychologists in a nations health care system?If you are sick, you wouldn’t think twice to go to a doctor. But very few (unfortunately) will go see a psycholo-gist if we are “mentally sick”. This is because of the prevalent stigma that we would be admitting that some-thing is “wrong” with us mentally and that this is something that we must hide (or worse, not deal with or deny) from the public. However, there are numerous studies that show the link between what is going on in our mind and the resultant physical effects that it can have on our body. For example, studies have shown that people who are happier and smile more are actually able to resist falling sick to the common cold much better compared to those who tend to be down and depressed.

Unfortunately, the health care system takes the approach that only after a doctor (M.D.) has diagnosed you as suffering from an illness (both physical and mental) that you are now treatable (hopefully) and will be covered by insurance (maybe). This symptoms approach costs the nation billions of ringgit in healthcare costs each year. On the other hand, if we were to take a preventive approach, such as incorporating evidence based psy-chological interventions to actually assist and support people to make better and healthier lifestyle choices, we as a nation not only could be healthier and happier but also richer. Why am I so confident in making this ststatement? Because most of what happens to us is due to our own decision making and if we were to shift that thinking to a more positive one, we could all come out better for it.

4)How important is the psychology course in the expansion of IMU?If you look at other healthcare focused colleges and universities who are offering similar courses to IMU, you will notice that none of them currently offer a Psychology course. Why? Because they are still set in the “old” way of doing things. IMU on the other hand has been progressively moving forward and taken a broader pic-ture that to really help a patient (client, in the case of psychology), the individual should be helped holistically, and not merely by the drug prescriptions. After all, why then would IMU also offer Chiropractic and Traditional Chinese Medicine alongside other more established healthcare courses? It is because of the evidence based practice thpractice that shows results for the patient. The same goes for the Psychology course in IMU and that is why it is very important to the expansion of not just IMU but also to broaden the mindset of all future healthcare pro-fessionals on the importance of Psychology.

5)What are your goals or objectives for this course in the future?My goal for those in the Psychology course is simple. Train the students to be strong in the basics, challenge them to think critically and creatively, and my ultimate hope is that they each discover the strength and value within themselves through the journey to not only help others in need but also to be a person of worth that is continually working on reaching his or her potential in all areas of life. Can it be done? Join us and see!

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Postgraduate Student Lands Young Scientist Award tional scientists, 70 distinguished pro-

fessors and approximately 140 re-search scholars as well as students from all over the globe attending. All the participants also had the opportuni-ties to attend an Inauguration pro-gramme at Sagar Sangamam Auditorium of National Institute of Ocean Technology.

Lectures and advertisements on lead-ing industrial, clinical and academic experts were featured during the three-day event. A forum for deep re-search of the huddles involved in the dynamic and fast paced moving fields of free radical research, drug discovery an therapy was provided by the SFRR 2011. The purpose was to bring to-gether well-known clinicians, pharma-cologists, biotechnologists, and other allied professionals to talk about and present the latest vital developments in free fundamental investigations.

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oxidant properties of palm oil are due to a high amount of vitamin E present. Her research has discovered that tocot-rienols can induce antiproliferative and apoptosis effects as well as inhibiting the nuclear factor-КB (NFkB) pathway in human breast cancer cell lines.

"The conference has definitely provided me a good platform to interact with the other participants from all over the world. The informative sessions have also been fruitful in picking up nuggets of wisdom. In short, the conference was indeed splendid with great speakers and wise participants." said Radhika.and wise participants." said Radhika.

This conference, the "10th International Conference on Free Radical Research" (SFRR 2011), saw over 40 world re-nowned scientists, 60 na

Alumni Newsletter Reminiscence

VICTOR WONG SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE FROM AUCKLAND

Jing Guo WONGM107 University of Auckland

1. How do you find life in Auckland?Life in Auckland is just amazing!! The weather here is good, not too hot nor cold. The shopping, the rush Life in Auckland is just amazing!! The weather here is good, not too hot nor cold. The shopping, the rush hour traffic and the fantastic public transport system just remind me of home. And the people here are just awesome! Friendly, accommodating, helpful and sweet as! (Note: Its spelt as “as”, it’s a Kiwi thing). Life’s laid back here, not like those across Tasman Sea*hints*, on weekdays, I’d be saving lives, and weekends are chilling alone or with friends, by the beach, in the park, in the mall, or at home, and those dusk to dawn Skype sessions to catch up with those back home.

2. What is the difference between life in University of Auckland and life in IMU?The most obvious difference is being in clinical and non-clinical setting. Time in Bukit Jalil is about studying The most obvious difference is being in clinical and non-clinical setting. Time in Bukit Jalil is about studying in the cold library, exploring our subconscious minds (Read: sleep) while our lecturers rambles away, ping pong with the lecturers, last minute OSCE practice and of course trying to breath at the same time.

Clinicals in Auckland is about seeing medicine in action rather than studying it. Being in the wards, there’s just so much to learn. Pan-systolic murmur radiating to the left axilla or barking cough for example are not

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medical descriptions. They’re something that you can elicit, and it is not easy at times! You learn to see patients not just another anecdote of medical texts, but also a teacher and a friend for us in life. We’re just so privileged to be a part of those lives, hopefully for their good.

3. How has IMU prepared you for your personal and professional life?IMU has really showed me one important aspect: Independence. Born and bred in the Malaysian education IMU has really showed me one important aspect: Independence. Born and bred in the Malaysian education system (No offence Malaysian Government, please don’t suspend my scholarship!!), we’ve been spoon-fed lots in terms of education, we study to ace the exams and not be strangled by our oh-so-anxious parents. But in IMU, and in medicine, you have no one to go against but yourself, how much you progress in life and medical career depends on how much effort you are willing to put in. This said, independence and de-termination decides this. It is not about what’s coming out in the examinations but how you are going to study for life. And in medicine you learn everyday no matter who you are, be it a specialist, house officer study for life. And in medicine you learn everyday no matter who you are, be it a specialist, house officer or medical student, you’ll be discovering so many things day in day out!

5. Is there any one person (lecturer or friend) in IMU that has changed you as a person, and if given the chance you would like to meet him/her again?Dr Ranjit De Alwis!!He has been a really supportive lecturer and a key figure that made life in IMU enjoy-able and memorable. He’s always been a funny person to talk to, supports you whenever you needed help, especially in non-academic stuff. He has been an awesome advisor and mentor when I helped establish the Introductory First Aid Training sessions for the medical batches during orientations as well as when I founded the First Aid Club in IMU. He has helped me realise my dreams and hopes while I was in IMU as well as showing me that medicine is not just medicine, there’s the other aspects of life as well.

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?I forsee… ….myself being a mean mid-age-crisis affected consultant who’d give hard time to his junior I forsee… ….myself being a mean mid-age-crisis affected consultant who’d give hard time to his junior colleagues. Jokes! That would be one that I would not be. I suppose I’d see myself either being the good public servant of Malaysia working hard to serve his community. Or that of being a private practice con-sultant who’d try to earn the world’s fortune before his declining cognition and shaky hands gets hold on him. But seriously, I can’t say much just yet, ten years seem bit far for me. But I do hope to pass my fifth year this year, cruise along in my Trainee Intern year; head back home grounds to start off as the fresh house officer who’d know next to nothing and survive that two harrowing years to become and house officer who’d know next to nothing and survive that two harrowing years to become and MO/Registrar. Depending on my preference, I’d hope to be in the training scheme of my choice and become a consultant from that. Psychiatry, surgery and paediatrics seem like a good lot. Weird choices, I know. And hopefully by that time, I’d to be married and have a few lovely kids!

FROM IMU TO IMU

1. Where have u worked since you graduated and how long have you been working at IMU?Upon completion of my BPharm in IMU, I was appointed by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia to work as a provisionally registered pharmacist (PRP) in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kina-balu, Sabah for about 1 year. Since September 2010, I am appointed as a Training Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) while doing my post-graduate study and research in IMU.

2. What made you choose this path?I like to share my knowledge with people, especially those who are newly introduced to this health care sector and to guide them through the learning processes. I believe that to nurture a passionate and discipline health care professional, it all begins from the day you learn to read the first chapter of your anatomy and physiology book. And I do like research too. That doesn’t mean I am giving up my passion in clinical practice.

3. What is your most memorable moment in IMU? Of course, the most memorable time would be the orientation week that we organized for the juniors. Although it is very tiring and tediOf course, the most memorable time would be the orientation week that we organized for the juniors. Although it is very tiring and tedi-ous, we got to know the juniors better and it strengthens the relationship among our batch mates.

4. Are you still in touch with your batchmates?Yes, of course.

5. How has IMU prepared you for your personal and professional life?Our BPharm course is very constructive in developing a pharmacy student to a pharmacist. Personally, I benefited a lot through the teaching from lecturers of various disciplines. Problem based learning (PBL), Pharmacy Skill Development (PSD) and a 3-month final year clinical posting have further strengthened my clinical knowledge. The research project that I conducted during my final year has prepared me to conduct a research project during my PRP training in the hospital as well as it helps my postgraduate study now. More-over, interpersonal communication skills, troubleshooting skills and planning skills are some of the valuable soft skills that I have learned a lot during my 4-year study in IMU. learned a lot during my 4-year study in IMU. 6. How do you think IMU has changed from the time you were here as a student up to now?Well, the campus itself has changed a lot. You might not know, the Chancellor Hall used to be our canteen in those days. The whole building where the clinics are located, previously it was an empty space. In those days, IMU had only pharmacy and medical students in the campus. Nowadays, we have a wide range of different health care providers to be, all under one roof. It definitely promotes inter-professional learning and cooperation.

7. Is there any lecturer who taught you and is now your colleague? How does it feel?Yeah , many of them are my colleagues now. They insist that I address their name instead of the “Dr. XYZ”. Sometimes, I still can’t change it. I am glad that I am their colleague now as I get to learn from them even more, and I am excited about that.

8. Is there any person (lecturer/friend) in IMU that has changed you as a person, and if given a chance you would like to meet him/her again?That would be my ex-batch mate, Daniel Teoh Cien Yang. He was a very supportive friend, who cheered me up whenever I felt stressed That would be my ex-batch mate, Daniel Teoh Cien Yang. He was a very supportive friend, who cheered me up whenever I felt stressed in my studies. He was good with computer and he helped me a lot. Unfortunately, in a tragic car accident we lost him during our final year of study. Although I wish to meet him again in the future, I and all the others know he lives forever in our heart.

9. What is your biggest achievement since you joined IMU? (either as a student or after graduation)The biggest achievement would be people I met and the friendship I build with those wonderful people. They are there for you when you need them most.

10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?A lecturer in IMU, hopefully not the one being complained by the students everyday. A lecturer in IMU, hopefully not the one being complained by the students everyday.

Batch: B1/05 (Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons).

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INTERVIEW WITH MR MAI CHUN WAI

Alumni Newsletter Reminiscence

A TRIBUTE TO THE JOURNEY OF HOPEThe IMU Alumni has lost 2 of its jewels to cancer. We mourn the loss of Tan Suet Hsia (known as Michelle by her friends) who passed away on the 13th of December 2010. We also truly feel the loss of Tan Tow Shung who left us on the 18th of May 2011.

TAN SUET HSIA (MICHELLE)Michelle joined IMU in 2001 (M1/01) and then transferred to Calgary, Canada. She was an active student during her time in IMU and held the post of both the President of Choir Club and Christian Fellowship.

She was diagnosed in August 2009 with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, a very rare form of liver cancer. Only 1 in 5 million people receive the diagnosis each year. She was a Pediatric Resident at Morehouse School Of Medicine at the time.

A month after her diagnosis, she underwent surgery to remove the tumour and A month after her diagnosis, she underwent surgery to remove the tumour and her left liver. Unfortunately, three months later it had metastasized to the rest of her liver. She was then started on a fairly new and mild chemotherapy (Nexavar). However, she developed a severe skin reaction due to the treatment which in-

TAN TOW SHUNGTow Shung left us at the age of 33 at his parents’ home in Penang. He joined IMU in 1998 (M1/98) and then transferred to University of McGill, Canada. He has always kept IMU close to his heart and came back every now and then to share his experiences and continue to inspire people. His most recent visit to IMU was during the AMEA conference on the 24th of March 2011.

After a week as a fellow in Hematology / Medical Oncology, his life took an unexpected twist After a week as a fellow in Hematology / Medical Oncology, his life took an unexpected twist when he was diagnosed with metastatic esophageal cancer. He was only 29, when he ob-tained the diagnosis after an evaluation for an enlarged left cervical lymph node. His only symptoms had been difficulty swallowing and heartburn.

He decided to start on chemotherapy as the tumour had metastasized to distant lymph nodes. He responded well to the chemo regimen of EOX (Epirubicin, Oxaliplatin and Xeloda). He then completed a series of chemotherapy and radiation and there were no signs of cancer on the scans.

Tow Shung received his last cycle of chemotherapy in May 2008, and was getting PET scans every 3 months as follow up. Unfortunately, in November 2008 his PET scan revealed that there were a few suspicious areas and biopsies confirmed that the cancer had recurred. He then underwent more chemotherapy fol-lowed by a neck surgery and radiation therapy to remove the cancerous lymph nodes.

He got married to Dr Tsiao Yi who is also an IMU Alumni in June 2009. Shortly after that, they found out that the cancer had returned in the bones. Chemotherapy was restarted in July 2009. He did not respond much to chemo and due to other complications that ensued, he and his wife decided to stop chemotherapy in January 2010. His kidneys started failing with only a third of its normal function.

Tan Tow Shung left family and friends to the arms of God on May 18th 2011. We would like to express our condolences to his family Tan Tow Shung left family and friends to the arms of God on May 18th 2011. We would like to express our condolences to his family and friends.

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Alumni Newsletter Reminiscence

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Highlights of the Next Edition

IMU’s 20th AnniversaryGenerations in IMU

IMU’s Health Care Centres

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