PENANG, 14 February 2016 Portraying the ever-smiling face and

also being of humble character, the founding dean of Universiti

Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Dental Sciences (PPSG), Professor
Dato' Dr. Ab. Rani Samsudin, 57, now holds the post of Director of
the Dental Hospital at the University of Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates (UAE).
Sharing his experience in establishing the USM PPSG, he said,
working closely together with his academic partners at the USM
Kubang Kerian Health Campus has led to the successful
establishment of PPSG in 1998.
"We took in 38 pioneer students in 1999 for the Bachelor of
Dental Surgery programme, where all of them successfully
completed their studies later and graduated in 2006," he said
when met after attending a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) signing ceremony between USM and Meichen Quanmin
(Shandong) Hospital Investment Co. Ltd. (MEICHEN), China.
He further explained that the number of students has increased
from year to year and PPSG has explored the field of research
and managed to build research laboratories, as well as expanding
the community-based dental services in Kelantan.
Migrating to UAE in 2007 has opened a new chapter in his life,
when he was offered to establish the Faculty of Dentistry at the
University of Sharjah located there.
"At that moment, I faced a major challenge as the university did
not have a School of Medical Sciences and the university wanted
to establish a Faculty of Dentistry, whereas Medical Sciences
need to serve as its foundation," he said.
However, for Ab. Rani, he managed to overcome every challenge,
based on his experience in establishing a dental faculty at USM.
He managed to establish policies and curriculum that were based
on the School of Health Sciences curriculum in Australia at that
time.
"The challenge faced at UAE was that as the country was still new
in the health sector, there were still many policies which have yet
to be established, which required forging a
close relationship with the public sector such as the Ministry of
Health and the Ministry of Higher Education.

I needed to take a closer look into the direction of the country in

both the fields and the aspiration of the country to develop the
health sector.
"In my 10 years there, I realised that money is not the main
deciding factor in establishing a good research, but it is how
ones talent is assessed by becoming a successful person and
thus building a perfect life," said Ab. Rani who now serves as a
Visiting Professor at USM PPSG.
He will spend three months each year at PPSG USM to guide the
students of Dental Sciences and also in supervising the
postgraduate students.
"When I was in UAE, I realised that the talent that I have was still
not good enough and I have to work harder because I have seen
the level of excellence at the international level. That is why I
always keep in touch with PPSG and always advise the students
at PPSG to make a mark at the international stage," said the
father of three children.
He added that the field of dentistry in this country is among the
best and most advanced in the world. It is down to the efforts of
the Ministry of Health in providing good services to the
community, as well as the local universities in producing highlycompetent dentists.
"My advice to the students is that we must study diligently and
be the best because the university is a place to seek knowledge,
and upon graduation we move into the next phase of life where
we seek opportunities and develop expertise in order to compete
globally," said Ab. Rani.

KUBANG KERIAN, February 2016 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

through its Balance and Stroke Rehabilitation Unit, Audiology
Programme, School of Health Sciences (PPSK), has organised a
Workshop on Managing Headaches and Strokes by applying
solat (prayers) therapy.
This workshop was held to introduce and provide a better
understanding to the healthcare personnel on the modules for
BAL Ex, BAL Ex Stroke and BAL Ex Physio, all of which relate to
physical balance training devised by USM researchers.
The Deputy Dean (Academics, Students and Alumni), PPSK,
Associate Professor Dr. Wan Rosli Wan Ishak said, the modules
will be beneficial to the patients throughout Malaysia and also to
the respective medical practitioners.
"This module explained the physical training techniques involved
to stimulate the brain of the patients experiencing the headaches
to help them recover fully and what is more interesting is that
this module also emphasises the application of solat therapy,"
he said when officiating the workshop here recently.
Added Wan Rosli, products such as BAL Ex Stroke and BAL Ex
Physio have also been tested, evaluated and proven in their
functionality, as can be seen through recognitions given at the
international level with the winning of a number of gold medals.
Wan Rosli also hoped that such a programme could be translated
into means to generate income in the future, as the innovation of
the product could be patented and commercialised. Furthermore

organising such a programme could also help the University to

generate some income.
Meanwhile, Nursing Supervisor, Asiah Daud, 56, said that she has
been experiencing headaches for the last five years and would
usually depend on medication as means of treating the problem.
For a nurse at Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZ II), Nor
Zarinah Nawawi, 30, she said that she would be struck with
headaches for three to four days in a week, and she would need
to totally depend on her intake of medication for relief.
"Prior to this, I had never heard of the type of treatment whereby
physical exercises could bring relief to headaches, however after
attending this programme then only I realised that such a
treatment is offered at Hospital USM. I truly hope that with this
treatment, it could heal my problems and my headaches would
not disrupt my duties as a nurse anymore, she said.
The workshop, which was held at Dewan Kuliah C, PPSK was
attended by more than 200 participants from all over Kelantan.

PENANG, February 2016 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) bagged

4 gold, 7 silver and 15 bronze medals in the Higher Education
Institution Sports Championship (SUKIPT) 2016 which was held at
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) from January 25 to February
5, 2016.
With the medal tally, USM emerged 12th in overall placing among
69 contingents that took part in this biennial event which
gathered institutions of higher learning (IPT) from Malaysia and
also several universities from the Southeast Asia region.
The most encouraging performance came from the Archery and
Karate-do events with each sport contributing two gold medals to
USM.
The most outstanding performance from the USM athlete was
from the Archery event where national archer Fatin Nurfatehah
Mat Salleh won 2 gold medals for USM.
The overall medal collection of USM at SUKIPT 2016 was 4 Gold
medals from Archery (2) and Karate-do (2), 7 Silver medals from
Track and Field (1), Swimming (2), Archery (2), and Table Tennis

(2), 15 Bronze medals from Badminton (1), Swimming (5), Karatedo (2), Taekwondo (3), Fencing (1), Judo (1), and Table Tennis (2).
A total of 25 sports were contested in the 12-day championship,
which gathered more than 8,000 athletes and officers from 117
IPT in Malaysia and neighbouring countries such as Thailand,
Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos.
SUKIPT is a biennial sports event initiated in 2012 by the Ministry
of Higher Education and Institutes of Higher Education Sports
Council (MASUM, MSP, MASKOM and MASISWA). The first SUKIPT
edition was hosted by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2012,
followed by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 2014.
SUKIPT is a good platform to unearth and showcase the sports
talents among undergraduates/postgraduates as well as to
further develop the sports at the IPT, national and international
level in an integrated manner.
The closing ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of
Higher Education, YB Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.