The Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) has been striving for promotion of high-quality tertiary education since its establishment in 2000. For the needs of developing Macau’s modern health-care training, MUST has set up the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2008. We have launched postgraduate programs in Public Health and Nursing and over 100 outstanding professionals have been nurtured.
Following the Dispatch of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture published in the Official Gazette of Macau SAR, MUST will launch the first medical undergraduate program “Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in Macau. The Faculty of Health Sciences is officially renamed as the Faculty of Medicine on March 2019. As a pioneer of medical education of Macau, the faculty will continue to adhere to its university motto in developing and optimizing its medical education, namely: “Dedication to practical studies, enhancement of knowledge, ability and quality humanity and excellence”. We are dedicated to our mission of cultivating medical professionals with excellent quality and promoting the development of healthcare in Macau.
At present, the Faculty offers five programs in four areas of study including: Doctorate Degree of Public Health (DPH), Master Degree of Public Health (MPH), Master Degree of Nursing (MN), Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor Degree of Food and Nutritional Science (BFNS).
In addition, the Faculty has established the Center of Excellence for Professional Medical Development (CEPMD) and the Center for Continuing Medical and Health Education (CCMHE). They have been conducting clinical practice skills training in various specialties since 2008. We invited renowned experts and scholars from Macau and abroad to participate in our scientific symposia. Over 3,500 healthcare providers have been trained since 2011, including 800 medical specialists, 1,200 frontline doctors and 1,500 nursing staff. In order to actively promote the development of local medical education and bear the responsibility of improving the personal health and social welfare of our citizens, the most advanced state-of-the-art virtual reality manikin-based system and innovative software tools have been acquired. They include: 3D anatomy system, robotic surgery simulator, endovascular simulator, neurosurgical simulator, high-fidelity ultrasound simulator (one common platform with cardiac, lung, abdominal and Ob/Gyn functions), portable ultrasound machine, 3D spinal surgery simulator, joint arthroscopy simulator, Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgical Simulator, etc. The scope of study covers Critical Care Medicine, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, Urology, General surgery and Anatomy. Through a series of medical academic courses, we have initially established a learning platform for clinical practice skills. We have become an important leader in providing high quality healthcare simulation training in Macau and continued to help more local medical staff to practice modern skills under a controlled and safe environment. This will promote the highest standards of excellence and professionalism and enable patients to receive better medical services.
With the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine, we will vigorously promote scientific research in medicine, public health and nursing, thereby improving the overall level of healthcare services. We will make significant contributions for human well-being.
Why create a medical school in Macau?
Macau is a vibrant and well known international city attracting a large number of visitors (nearly 25 million per year) from mainland China and around the world. Expectations for expert basic and advanced medical care, education and training has increased over the years and are highly anticipated by both Macau residents and prospective visitors.
Medical college provides a centre for excellence in creating ‘tomorrow’s doctors’ and prospective specialists relevant to local needs; and also paves the way for quality care based on evidence-based practice of world standards.
In practice, a population of up to 1 million can cater for a medical college with 100 students per year to obtain adequate clinical exposure and experience. Advances in e-learning and information technology has also made significant contribution to teaching and learning of basic and applied health sciences in virtual reality.
Training tomorrow’s doctors who would be compassionate, caring and effective communicators has brought about study of humanities and ethics as a part and parcel of our medical curriculum in addition to learning of main-stream knowledge of basic and clinical sciences. In recent years, there is an increasing trend to build a medical curriculum on a ‘Competency-based medical syllabus’ to incorporate attributes essential to medical practice.
Establishment of a medical school will also provide a conversion program for returning overseas and China medical school graduates of Macau citizenship, to provide appropriate clinical teaching, accreditation and localization program, to meet the demand for Macau and to advance to an international standard. Opportunities will also be provided for inter-professional education with other health care professionals such as nursing, complementary & alternative medicine (e.g. TCM), rehabilitation medicine and pharmacy. It is timely for Macau to establish a medical school to complement its health care with quality education and training’.
Our Mission Statement
To create and nurture tomorrow’s Macau doctors who will practice with competence, compassion, care and interactive communication. As the medical school progresses with its undergraduate education, the faculty can also facilitate and undertake specialist training programs.