21 January 2010 Undergraduate Board 12 To consider Newcastle Medical School Campus in Malaysia Issue 1. Quality assurance of Newcastle Medical School s campus in Malaysia. Recommendations 2. a. To consider the report of the QABME team on Newcastle Medical School s application to deliver the MBBS programme at the NUMed campus in Malaysia (paragraph 14 and Annex A) b. To endorse the proposed QA activity for 2009/10 (paragraph 14 and Annex A, paragraphs 19-20). Further information 3. If you require further information about this paper, please contact us by email: gmc@gmc-uk.org or tel. 0161 923 6602
Background 4. The GMC is responsible for promoting high standards of medical education and co-ordinating all stages of medical education under the Medical Act 1983. The GMC oversees the delivery of undergraduate medical education leading to a United Kingdom primary medical qualification (UK PMQ) awarded by universities and other bodies on the list held by the GMC. The Medical Act does not at present preclude universities or other listed bodies providing some or all of their undergraduate courses outside the UK. Nor does the Act currently enable the GMC to distinguish, for approval purposes, between programmes provided at particular sites: approval (or indeed withdrawals of approval) applies to institutions as a whole, including any overseas campus. 5. In 2008, the GMC issued Guidance on UK medical education delivered outside the UK, in which it accepted responsibility for ensuring that medical education leading to a UK PMQ, wherever delivered, accords with the standards it sets. 6. Newcastle University is developing a medical school campus in Malaysia where it plans to deliver its undergraduate medical programme. The first two cohorts of Malaysian students will spend two years in Newcastle and from 2012 all students accepted for the Malaysian UK PMQ programme will begin studying the Newcastle curriculum on the campus in Malaysia. 7. The development of a new campus and undergraduate medical programme in Malaysia constitutes a major change to the undergraduate medical education currently provided by Newcastle University. The University must therefore notify the GMC of the proposed arrangements and demonstrate the UK PMQ delivered in Malaysia meets the standards in Tomorrow s Doctors. 8. In June 2009, the Undergraduate Board agreed a multi-cycle quality assurance model for Newcastle Medical School s campus in Malaysia that will follow the first cohort of students through to graduation. 9. In September 2009 the Undergraduate Board noted that a QABME team would be constituted to review Newcastle Medical School s proposal to deliver its MBBS in Malaysia and report to the Undergraduate Board in January 2010. Discussion Routes to registration for NUMed graduates 10. The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) will start their quality assurance process to approve Newcastle s MBBS delivered at the NUMed campus in 2011/12, once the students have started their training in Malaysia. The MMC process will run until the first cohort graduate and will lead to Newcastle s MBBS programme being recognised as a primary medical qualification in Malaysia and graduates being granted provisional registration with the MMC. Newcastle s MBBS programme has also been approved by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. 2
11. Subject to GMC approval of Newcastle s MBBS programme delivered in Malaysia, NUMed graduates will be granted provisional registration with the GMC because they will have completed a UK primary medical qualification, provided their fitness to practise is not impaired. 12. To gain full GMC registration as a holder of a UK primary medical qualification NUMed graduates would need to complete a programme for provisionally registered doctors and be awarded a Certificate of Experience. At present, the only recognised programme for provisionally registered doctors is the first year of the foundation programme (F1) provided by postgraduate deaneries in the UK, leading to the award of a Certificate of Experience from a medical school or their designated representative in a Postgraduate Deanery. However, NUMed graduates will potentially not be able to complete the first year of foundation training in the UK leading to full registration, as they may not be able to get a work permit to take up a foundation post in the UK. NUMed graduates who are unable to complete F1 of the foundation programme provided by postgraduate deaneries in the UK would not be able to gain full registration regardless of any subsequent training or experience. 13. If NUMed graduates were to be awarded a Malaysian primary medical qualification by a Malaysian university approved by the MMC in addition to the MBBS awarded by Newcastle they could obtain full registration by the international medical graduate route (assuming that they do not benefit from European legislation promoting freedom of movement). NUMed graduates could apply for full registration on the basis of their Malaysian primary medical qualification, using their UK (Newcastle) primary medical qualification to gain exemption from PLAB and IELTS and their foundation equivalent training in Malaysia or elsewhere to satisfy the Registrar that they possess the knowledge, skills and experience necessary for practising as a fully registered medical practitioner in the United Kingdom. Providing their fitness to practise was not impaired, the NUMed graduate could then be awarded full registration with the GMC. NUMed graduates who were awarded full registration with the GMC in this way might still experience challenges in securing the appropriate UK work permit. However, there is no indication in Newcastle s submission that graduates would receive a medical degree from a Malaysian University and this route to full registration with the GMC would not therefore be available to graduates on the basis of the information provided by Newcastle. Report of the QABME team 14. The report of the QABME team is attached at Annex A and summarises potential challenges/risks and points of notable practise that are evident in the application and some areas which require further investigation. The report also includes recommendations on quality assurance activity to be undertaken in 2009/10. Recommendation: To consider the report of the QABME team on Newcastle Medical School s application to deliver the MBBS programme at the campus in Malaysia. Recommendation: To endorse the proposed QA activity for 2009/10. 3
Joint working with the Malaysian Medical Council 15. On 18 November 2009 Kate Gregory, Ian Renfrew and Kirsty White met with Dr Hisham Abdullah, the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health Malaysia and senior member of the MMC to discuss Newcastle s NUMed campus in Malaysia and ways that the GMC and MMC could work together on the quality assurance of NUMed. Joint working with the MMC will include: a. The GMC will map the MMC s standards for undergraduate medical education with Tomorrow s Doctors so we can see where there is consistency and if there are any gaps. b. The MMC will help the GMC and the QABME team identify how legislation in Malaysia on areas such as disability and equality will affect the content and delivery of the MBBS programme at NUMed. c. Once NUMed starts taking students and the QABME team begins to carry out QA activities in Malaysia, we will appoint a QABME team member from Malaysia, with the help of the MMC, and explore how evidence to inform QA activity can be shared between the GMC and MMC. Joint working with the QAA 16. On 3 November 2009 Kate Gregory and Kirsty White met with Gillian King and Will Naylor at the QAA to discuss the QAA s audit of Newcastle University and use of Newcastle s NUMed campus in Malaysia as a case study and ways that the GMC and QAA could work together on the quality assurance of NUMed. A key function of this joint working is the appointment of Dr Gillian King from the QAA to the NUMed QABME team. Additional joint working with the QAA will include: a. The QAA are undertaking an institutional audit of Newcastle University in 2009/10. The audit visit will be held from 30 November to 4 December 2009. Subject to Newcastle University s agreement, the QABME NUMed team will be provided with the key findings of the QAA Newcastle University Institutional audit team at the same time as the University and HEFCE. Gillian King will provide an explanation of the findings for the QABME NUMed team. The draft audit report will also be made available to the QABME NUMed team in advance of publication on the QAA website. b. The QAA are using Newcastle s NUMed campus in Malaysia as a case study for delivering a UK degree programmes overseas. Subject to Newcastle University s agreement, the QAA will share information arising from the NUMed overseas audit case study with the QABME NUMed team. There may be potential for the QAA overseas auditors to gather information which is relevant to the QABME review on behalf of the QABME NUMed team. Topics arising from the planning meeting of the QABME NUMed team on 27 November 2009 will be fed back to the QAA overseas audit co-ordinator, to see whether they could help in determining the focus for the NUMed case study. 4
Resource implications 17. In the Guidance on UK medical education delivered outside the UK, the Council adopted the principle of cost recovery for quality assurance of UK medical education provided overseas. We will discuss the practical arrangements for recovering costs with Newcastle once the quality assurance activity for 2009/10 has been confirmed. Equality 18. The QABME team s report identifies a number of action points relating to equality and diversity. The following points will be integral to the team s work: a. How the UK Disability Discrimination Act will apply in Malaysia, if at all, and the equivalent legal frameworks in Malaysia relating to equality. We have agreed with the Malaysian Medical Council that they will advise us on the relevant legal frameworks in Malaysia and how they affect undergraduate medical education. b. The social and legal context in which medicine is being taught in Malaysia. c. The resources available in Malaysia to deliver teaching and particularly for students with a disability. d. NUMed students understanding of the National Health System in the UK. e. NUMed students understanding of any language and cultural norms in the UK and how they differ to Malaysia. f. Delivery of teaching and assessment in Malaysia with regard to style, and any potential conflicts with the UK style of teaching and assessment. g. Potential differences of clinical placements in Malaysia from those provided in the UK. Communications 19. There are no communications implications at this stage. This paper is not confidential. 5