ESTABLISHMENT
ESTABLISHMENT
The establishment of the Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology (JPEP) has been considered since the planning of the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine. At an early stage in 1972, Dr. Aw E. J. as a lecturer of the Faculty of Medicine, has organized the activities of the establishment of JPEP and Microbiology. At this early stage the focus was on the recruitment of instructors and laboratory technologists. Among the earliest staff was Mr. Sulaiman Omar who started working in January 1973 and was sent to the University of Singapore while Mr. Hashim Baharam and Nordin Abu Bakar to the University of Malaya to collect teaching materials. We need to record here that the two Universities together with the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) have been very helpful in collecting teaching materials.
THE BEGINNING
Dr. A. Ambikapathy who had been appointed as a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine was appointed as the first Head of the Department of Parasitology at the end of 1974. In July 1975 Professor Sri Oemijati was appointed Professor and Head at JPEP. Dr. Pakeer Oothuman who had previously been appointed tutor (September 1973) while at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was asked to pursue a PhD course. Dr. Sallehudin Sulaiman was appointed part -time assistant lecturer on 16 May 1974 and later went to Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to pursue a Master’s degree course. The teaching of students at the time was still in the preparatory stage and the Department was only involved in the teaching of medical students in 1975. Almost all the teaching was conducted by Prof. Sri Oemijati and Drs. Hoedojo (April 1975 – April 1977) with the help of IMR staff such as Mr. Cheong Weng Hooi, Dr. Ow Yang Chee Kong, Dr. Inder Singh, and Dr. Mak Joon Wah while practical classes with the help of Mrs. Karen Lai, and Mr. Peter Yen also from IMR.
ADMISSION OF LECTURERS
During the period 1975-1978 more new lecturers were recruited namely Dr. Hamimah Idruss, Dr. Edariah Haji Abu Bakar, Drs. Mohamed Abdullah Marwi, Dr. Chan Boon Tek, Dr. Baharudin Omar, Dr. Wan Omar Abdullah and Dr. Mohd. Zahedi. Later, a total of four former UKM medical students returned to the ‘alma mater’ as instructors, namely Dr. Noor Hayati Mohd Isa, Dr. Che Ghani Mohammod, Dr. Sulaiman Osman and Dr. Norhayati Moktar. Teaching in the department was also assisted by Prof. Prof. Dr. Sampurno Kadarsan (1977-1981) from Indonesia.
PLACEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT
Initially (1972-1973) JPEP staff were housed with other staff in the Pathology mortuary building (Level 1) and later moved to the 3rd Floor of the MMA Building in Jalan Pahang. In 1975, JPEP staff moved to a temporary building of the Faculty of Medicine (opposite the Maternity Hospital) known as the ‘Wooden Building’ and shared one floor with the Department of Public Health and the Department of Microbiology. All lectures are delivered at the HBKL Neurology Lecture Hall and practicals are conducted in the temporary building itself. In 1978 JPEP together with other departments moved to the UKM Kuala Lumpur Branch building at Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz.
RELOCATED TO UKM MEDICAL CENTER
After more than 35 years of being an important location in producing UKM medical doctors, then in July 2014 officially JPEP and all preclinical departments at UKM KL Campus moved to a new building which is the Pre-clinical Block at UKM Medical Center, Cheras. This transfer is in line with the intention of the faculty and the university to place the entire students of the Faculty of Medicine under one roof so that teaching, learning and clinical sessions can be conducted more easily and effectively. Hopefully, the structuring of this location will encourage JPEP in particular and the Faculty of Medicine in general to continue to move forward in realizing the noble aspirations of UKM, which is to be the ‘Sovereign of the National Trust’.
