To meet the health care needs of the state's growing population and address its local doctor shortage, Penang's State Government decided that a medical school was required in the state.
To ensure the quality of education on offer was of the highest standard and success from the outset, the Government undertook to partner with one or more medical schools of international repute in the development of the new institution.
In March 1995 Penang Medical College (PMC) was established by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and University College Dublin (UCD) with representatives of the state and private sector in Penang. The College opened on schedule in October 1996 for its first intake of students. Students spend their pre-clinical years in either RCSI or UCD in Dublin before returning to Penang to complete their clinical studies. The qualification and entitlements are identical for students who complete either the twinning or traditional medical programme.
PMC held its first graduation ceremony in June 2001. One of the main advantages of the PMC programme is that the Malaysian students undergo their clinical training in the environment in which they will later practice, while benefiting from a comprehensive grounding in the science of medicine in Dublin. In essence, the students enjoy the best of both worlds. Moreover, by virtue of lower costs in Malaysia, there is a substantial saving for students enrolled in the PMC programme compared with those who complete their entire training abroad, as many Penang medical students would have had to do previously.