KOTA SAMARAHAN: Faculty of Medicine and Health Science (FMHS), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in collaboration with Academy for Silent Mentor (AFSM) held the very first Keyhole Surgery at Kapit Hospital on 6 and 7 March this year, said a press release from Unimas yesterday.
Unimas and the Academy signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in March 2017 to establish a silent mentor centre next to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in Kota Samarahan. It will serve as a complementary training centre for our medical and nursing courses as well as for the advancement of medical education, research and training for Malaysia’s medical fraternity. In addition, our activities extend into providing community services to rural folks.
A reconnaissance trip was done in December 2017 to Kapit Hospital by FHMS, Unimas and AFSM representative to identify the surgical needs in the hospital. Keyhole surgery was chosen because the equipment were unavailable in Kapit and patients had to travel to Sibu for the surgery.
This programme was part of the Faculty’s seven-day medical outreach programme along the Rejang River. This programme was made possible with specially flown-in equipment from Kuala Lumpur courtesy of UMMI Surgical. On top of performing the surgical procedures, FMHS staff trained the surgical nurses in Kapit Hospital to handle the laparoscopic equipment.
Unimas Vice Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim bin Suaidi who was in Kapit for FMHS’s school roadshow took the opportunity to pay a courtesy visit to the Director of Kapit Hospital.
In total six elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies and one emergency laparoscopic appendicectomy were performed within the two days. All seven patients recovered well and were discharged the next day. We hope that this would be the first out of the many more ventures between FMHS Unimas, AFSM and healthcare facilities in rural Sarawak, the press release concluded.
