Last March 27-April 1, 2012, 4 delegates from Kanazawa Medical University Japan participated in the Asian Medical Students’ Exchange Program hosted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). This seven-day experience for the Japanese students was composed of various activities in the university, hospital, around our capital, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

The delegates who participated in the exchange program are the following:

Yuki Kaneko

Yuri Higashi

Yusuke Seki

Shotaro Innoue

AMSEP is an exchange program that is organized by the medical student themselves to create a bond with other medical school located around Asia. It is a program where all the medical students are encouraged join because of the activities which are run by this organization benefit the student in various ways and bring advantages to them. Besides, AMSEP also provides plenty of information to medical students which can be useful for them in their future.

This collaboration program (AMSEP JAPAN-MALAYSIA 2012) between the Kanazawa University and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had been a successfully organized program. 4 medical students from Kanazawa University which are Yuki Kaneko,Yuri Higashi,Yusuke Seki,and Shotaro Innoue joined.

ACTIVITIES

March 27, 2012

4 delegates (Buensalida, Jamelo, Ledesma, and Pastrana) arrived at around 2:30 PM at Kuala Lumpur Low Coast Carrier Terminal and were picked up by AMSEP members and briefed about the schedule of the day. They were all brought to Malaysia most famous Hindu temple, which is located in Batu Caves where they can enjoy the beautiful architectures of the temple. Before leaving, the delegates got the chance to make their own flower bracelets to wear on their wrist.

The delegates were then brought to the opening ceremony which was held at Tasik Titiwangsa. AMSEP members prepared dance performance to welcome the delegates and they were excited to see the delegates. After the opening ceremony, the Japanese delegates were toured around the hostel to have a look of the UKM students daily used environment.                                                     

The delegates tried their Poco-Poco dance during the opening ceremony at the restaurant in Tasik Titiwangsa. They had their dinner there where they had tried their first sambal belacan taste!

March 28, 2012
In the morning, the delegates visited Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the hospital attached to our university. A courtesy call was done and the delegates met with Dr. Prof. Rohaizak Muhammad, the Deputy Dean of Graduate Affairs and International Relations of the said hospital. There was a tour of around the hospital. Visits were taken in the library, Spine Ward, Pathology and Diagnostics Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Biology and The Malaysian Cohort – an ongoing project of the government tied up with the hospital.

Then they were brought to the KLCC to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Kuala Lumpur from the Skybridge. After that, delegates had their dinner at Jalan Alor,Bukit Bintang with the committee members. There were many famous Chinese hawkers and the delegates tried different foods from different shops. Local food was something they never tried before and was a whole new taste bud experience.

March 29,2012

The delegates attended our tutorial which is known as Problem Based Learning (PBL) where they will have a discussion based on the problem that had been given to them and they were extremely enjoying the session because it involves the interaction among the group members. It was also a time for the delegates to become more familiar with our students. In the afternoon, the delegates went to Prince Court Hospital, one of the famous private hospital in Malaysia. After that, the delegates went to Putrajaya. Putrajaya is where most of the government building take place in Malaysia. The delegates get to see the building of Parliament of Malaysia and visited one of the beautiful decorated mosques. In the evening, the students went on a cruise where they were able to see the beautiful night scenery of Putrajaya.

March 30,2012

The delegates attended the lectures and had walked around the campus. In the afternoon, the delegates visited National Textile Museum where they have various textiles exhibited and at the same time delegates get to know the culture of different races from their costumes exhibition. Delegates also went to the most famous shopping location in the country, Petaling Street. It is well known with cheap and nice souvenirs and also other useful stuffs.

After spending some time at Petaling Street, delegates were brought to  Skytrex to enjoy extreme activities such as jungle trekking, flying fox and many more. After the game, they were exhausted but enjoyed most of it because of various exciting and interesting physical. Later at night, we went to I-city to have dinner and enjoy the special lighting scenery there. I-City is known as integrated city as many new technologies that can be seen. The delegates happily took a lot of pictures for memory.

March 31, 2012

The following day, the delegates were brought to Penang Island which is located at northwest of Malaysia. The journey to Penang took about 5 to 6 hours by bus. Delegates were brought to the other side of Malaysia and were excited. Penang is a unique place which we recognized as ‘Food of Paradise’. The delegates had tasted Laksa and different local dishes in Penang. The famous landmarks such as Kek Lok Si Temple and George Town were visited. The rest of the night was spent on shopping at Gurney Drive.

April 1, 2012

It was the final day for all the delegates as all of them had to head back to Japan. The delegates and the AMSEP committee members were getting emotional during the sharing session and had exchanged souvenirs. Delegates expressed that they had gain a lot during this exchange program and wished to come to Malaysia again if there is a chance. They departed to Japan from Low Cost Carrier Terminal.

Written by,

Khairol Azhar bin Abd Rahim

Secretary

AMSEP Japan-Malaysia 2012