By: Masriana Hassan

SERDANG - The Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FPSK), Universiti Putra Malaysia had organised the UPM Young Doctors’ Day (YDD 2017) Third Series programme to encourage interest in the field of medicine among primary school students.

The health education themed programme received encouraging response with the participation of 100 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Serdang, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Serdang, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) F E Serdang and Sekolah Kebangsaan Cyberjaya.

The programme director, Dr. Masriana Hassan, indicated that in contrast to previous programmes, UPM YDD 2017 had diverse and interesting health modules including the ‘Young and Health’ module.

Participants were exposed to healthy lifestyle practices, diseases caused by dietary habits, proper hand washing techniques, the cigarette smoking habit as well as learning about blood cells and blood related illnesses.

 “Participants not only learned about health and general health care measures, but were also able to gain knowledge through age appropriate interactive activities,” she added.

The programme had the cooperation of the Department of Human Anatomy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) and the Department of Orthopaedics. Various interesting modules were introduced and among them were ‘Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT)’, ‘Mom and Baby Journey’ and ‘Playground Injuries & Cement Fractured Hand’.

The Head of the Department of Pathology, Prof. Madya Dr Norhafizah Mohtarrudin as the UPM YDD programme organiser, was hopeful of collaborating with various parties such as the Ministry of Education and the private sector so as to effectively organise this programme at more schools and institutions.

“My wish is for this programme to aid students in science subjects as well as to stimulate their interest to the world of medicine,” he said.

The Deputy Dean for Graduate Study & Industry and Community Relations, FPSK, UPM, Prof. Madya Dr Shamsul Bahri, mentioned that medical specialists also shared their knowledge with the YDD 2017 programme participants while 23 medical students were on hand as facilitators.

“The participants had displayed their interest and diligence to explore medical knowledge, and the health sciences,” he added. - UPM

Date of Input: 08/12/2017 | Updated: 26/12/2017 | hairul_nizam