In Focus: Amira

Amira is one of the Biomedical Science Cohort 4 students. You can always see her around at the institute these days (in the lab) because she is busy doing the final year project experiments with her classmates. Let's get to know Amira personally :)

Amira in general

What is your full name?

Nur Amira Amni Binti Awang Adam

Where do you live?

8 minutes away from UBD! Kg. Rimba

When is your birthday?

Chrismast Eve - 24^th Dec 1992

What are your hobbies?

Baking, cooking, browsing internet / social media

Describe yourself in three phrases.

• Wear spectacles
• Can be talkative
• Loves wearing black hajra – very convenient!

What are the 3 things you can't live without?

My family, spectacles and phone

What is your favourite quote?

My mother’s - “Allah indakan sia – sia kan hamba-Nya yang berusaha”

Where do you want to go on a vacation and why?

Dubai – a modern country with full of surprises. Went there for DY and it was an amazing experience so I would love to visit Dubai again.

What is your favourite TV series?

Running man

What is the best and worst movie to you?

Best movie – The Maze Runner

Worst movie – Fifty shades of grey

Do you have any favourite restaurants here in Brunei?

Many! Because depends on what I want to eat. For example I would go to Bello for their chocolate lava cake, Excapade, Koryo etc.. 

What is the most important thing in life?

Happiness.

If you have 1 million, what would you do with it?

Invest half of it and then perform Haj with my parents

If you have one way to help the others, what would that be?

I would love to take care of babies or toddlers for working parents without fees

If you were given one chance to reverse time, when would that be and why?

When I was in Dubai, I would love to visit more attractive places than I had

Describe your happiest moment in IHS.

When my entire course buddy decided to have lunch together after lecture or practical

Amira as a biomedical scientist

How is university life so far?

So far so good

Describe your life as a biomedical science student.

I attended lectures and laboratory practical, and I am currently doing research project on lung cancer.

Which module is your favourite and why?

Microbiology – easier to understand

Where did you do your discovery year?

UAE University and UM, Malaysia

Any study tips for your juniors?

Study smart, focus on the lobs as your guideline

Do you have any words of motivation to the juniors?

Appreciate what the lecturers have done for you. Work hard and smart to achieve what you aim for. Make use of the opportunities that has been given wisely because chance rarely comes twice.

Internship programmes during the Discovery Year session 2013/2014

1. Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University. The undergraduates are Mek Ke Jing, Lee Thian Hui and Michelle Lim Ser Hui.

Night Sakura viewing

Ritsurin garden

Visit to Rare Sugar Centre

9th Malaysia Indonesia Brunei Darussalam Medical Sciences Conference 2015 (Deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 22nd April 2015)

Malaysia Indonesia Brunei Medical Sciences Conference is a bienniel conference between PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia since 2005.

This year, the 9th Conference with the theme “Transdisciplinary Approach in Healthcare Research” will again be hosted by Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam and will be held on 11-13 June 2015 at the PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences Extension Building, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.  

This event serves as an important avenue for exchanging ideas, evidences, and information to initiate research collaborations as well as research publications amongst the faculty members in the regional countries. One example of research collaboration that has been initiated from this conference is the stress study amongst the healthcare professionals between Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Proceedings from this conference will also be published in the special issue of the host university’s journal.

This conference will see progress reports of currently-running projects and will hope to forge more research collaborations and publications.

Good news - the abstract deadline has been extended to 22nd April 2015!

Click here for more details.

Internship programmes during the Discovery Year session 2012/2013

1. The Otto-Meyerhof Centre and Clinical Research in Heidelberg and Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The undergraduates are Jacinda, Idayu and Chloe.

Volunteers for research into Alzheimer's disease sought

• ALZHEIMER'S disease is still considered a taboo subject among Bruneians where most of the time it is too late to help slow down the process and nothing can be done except ensure that the sufferer has proper care for the rest of their life.

"Unfortunately, we do not have statistics of Alzheimer's sufferers here in Brunei Darussalam. But, what I can say is that by 2050, one out of 85 people around the world will suffer from Alzheimer's disease," said Associate Professor Dr Fatimah Shad Kaneez, yesterday at the one-day Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Day.

Among the activities of the Awareness Day was held at Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam were talks on Alzheimer's disease and a free Zumba fitness session.

Dr Fatima who is attached to PAPRSB Institute of Health Science was awarded a grant to conduct a research "Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease" with nine other fellow researchers.

The three-year project will involve research on 10 respondents aged 45 years and above who may show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a form dementia where a person has serious memory problems and cognitive difficulties.

"We are now looking for participants who can help us in our research. It is hoped that with this research, we can do early detection and find ways to delay the process of Alzheimer's as presently scientists have yet to find cure for the disease. What we can do is give drugs to slow the process but not cure it," she said.

Dr Fatima said the project was important for Brunei because people in the Sultanate now enjoy quality life where people live longer. She added that the longer the life expectancy the more people will get Alzheimer's.

She said they were looking for volunteers who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) where their conditions will be monitored over three years. MCI causes cognitive changes that are noticeable by the individual experiencing them or by other people.

The changes however are not serious to interfere with their daily routine or independent function but the increased risk is it will eventually develop into Alzheimer's or other type of dementias.

"However not all people with MCI will get worse and some actually can get better. That is why this research is very important," she said.

She said for the project, volunteers will be given numbers for identification purpose as all names will be confidential. They will be insured and will have to go for clinical neuropsychological tests at Raja IsteriPengiran Anak Saleha Hospital and undergoing MRI scans at Jerudong Park Medical Hospital.

Apart from Dr Fatima as the principal investigator in the project, other team members are two Masters' students, two PhD students, an officer from RIPAS Hospital, an officer from JPMC, two co-investigators and a research fellow student.

"The results from these tests will be sent to another team in Germany who are also conducting similar research. The results of the tests will be compared with their research," she said adding that the German team is also funded by PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences.

Dr Fatima said the MRI scan is important to scan, imaging the brain's structure. She added the disease spread slowly sometimes the sufferer's brain condition would deteriorate in 10 years.

Older females are more likely to get Alzheimer's disease especially those who have close blood relative such as siblings or parents who suffer from a similar disease. Those who suffer high blood pressure for a long time are also vulnerable to this disease.

There are two types of Alzheimer's; the early onset where the symptoms appear before the age of 60 and tend to get worse quickly and the late onset, which is the common type and sufferers mostly are elders.

Dr Fatima advised the public to lead a healthy lifestyle in order to avoid getting the disease. "Researchers also found that people in Sardinia, Italy had never suffered from this disease and after investigation it is found that their Mediterranean diet helped to keep the disease at bay. Their diet consists of fish, nuts, vegetables and olive oil," she said.

She added it showed a balanced diet can help prevent the disease apart from exercise regularly such as brisk walking for 20 minutes daily, better stress-management and participate in mentally stimulating and social engaging activities that may help sustain brain function.

Those who are interested to register their loved ones as volunteers can contact Dr Fatima via her mobile at 8930806 or her email at ftmshad@gmail.com within seven days.

Meanwhile, those who want to support the programme and wanted to buy T-Shirts promoting Alzheimer's disease awareness can contact Nurul Bahriah Hj Osman at 7212429 or emailnurulbahriah@hotmail.com. T-shirts are sold at $18 a piece.

The Brunei Times

Japan students join UBD's 7th medical school programme

Ambassador Kenichi Suganuma (L) presenting a welcome packet to a Japanese students. Picture: BT/Quratul-Ain Bandial

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

SIX exchange students from Kagawa University, Japan, will get a chance to experience life as a Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) medical student as the university kicked off its Seventh International Summer Medical School Programme yesterday.

Organised by UBD's Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah Institute of Health Sciences (IHS), the five week programme will see students take part in lectures, laboratory sessions and clinical placements in local health centres alongside their Bruneian counterparts.

The programme is a collaboration between IHS and Kagawa University's Faculty of Medicine as part of efforts to increase academic exchanges between Brunei and Japan.

All sessions will be conducted in English and will give the Japanese students a chance to improve their English language skills.

The six Japanese students Kana Ietani, Kengo Hiwatashi, Kana Kuraishi, Suzuha Tagawa, Tomoko Tsuruno and Shuntaro Uesugi will also have the opportunity to stay with a Bruneian foster family during Hari Raya and visit Istana Nurul Iman during the annual Aidil Fitri meet-and-greet.

They will also get to experience other cultural and natural attractions such as Kampong Ayer and Kuala Belalong.

Welcoming the students at the Holiday Lodge Hotel, Japanese Ambassador Kenichi Suganuma said the friendship between the two countries would only be deepened through further academic and cultural exchanges like these.

This is a very important year in Japan-Brunei relations, he remarked, with the Sultanate heading ASEAN and 2014 marking 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"We also look forward to welcoming our Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Brunei this October," he said, noting that Abe would attend the East Asia Summit in Brunei later this year.

Nursing students off to the Philippines for educational visit _ #copypaste from Brunei Times Media.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

ELEENA TEOH
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE second cohort of diploma students in health science (nursing) from the Pengiran Anak PuteriRashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam(UBD) left yesterday for a seven-day educational trip to Manila.

The group, comprising 13 nursing students and five lecturers, will visit the Far Eastern University, St Luke's Medical Centre and the National Mental Health Centre.

This visit aims to expose the students to healthcare settings and cultures outside Brunei and to international standard of healthcare management systems.

Hjh Nurul Siti Nadziah Hj Mahmud said she was most looking forward to visiting St Luke's Medical Centre, the National Mental Health Centre and the Far Eastern University as she wanted to see how their services compared with back home.

"During the trip, I hope to be able to learn about their different lifestyles and see if treatments and health care varies according to lifestyle and culture as well."

She was also keen to see what technologies hospitals in the country were using.

Despite her excitement about going abroad with her coursemates for the first time, she said she was worried about the availability of halal food in the Philippines.

"Even though we are not really sure what it is like there, we are really looking forward to trying out new things and experiencing different cultures and heritages."

Petrice Lee was equally enthusiastic about the impending field trip.

She said she was eager to see how medical facilities in the two countries compared, as well as the two universities.

Lee also said she was looking forward to interacting with students abroad. "I hope to be able to learn from the senior students during this trip, aside from learning from the nurses and medical staff abroad," she said.

"This educational visit with our seniors is somewhat a preparation for us junior students to be able to learn how to manage and lead so that we can share our knowledge and experiences with others when we in turn become senior students." This will be the first time Lee has visited the Philippines.

"Since this is an official educational visit, I am looking forward to learning more about the facilities and the services they provide to their patients there. I hope to bring back ideas that can be put to good use here, such as how they interact with and care for patients," Muhd Aizuddin Hj Salam said.

"We do not have to take everything but we can see what is relevant to our culture and society and if they are doing something better and so we should learn from it." The Brunei Times

Promoting Paramedic Course

Paramedics services becoming more important in Brunei

Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Hjh Siti Mariam (L) presenting a certificate to one of the participants of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Provider course yesterday. Picture: BT/Adam Radhi

ADAM RADHI
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Professional services of paramedics are "increasingly important because in recent years, several natural disasters have already occurred, such as floods, landslides and gales", said Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health yesterday.

Hjh Siti Mariam Hj Jaafar was speaking during a certificate presentation to 11 new paramedic cadets who are now part of the front-line in emergency services after completing a course under the "Modernising Emergency Medical Ambulance Services" project yesterday.

The cadets, nine of which graduated as nurses while the other two are Emergency Ambulance staff with no background in nursing, were all in their fourth semester of pursuing a diploma in Health Sciences (paramedics).

The course was organised and facilitated by paramedic experts and professional physicians from the Ministry of Health alongside officers and personnel from emergency services such as the Fire and Rescue Department, Criminal Investigation Unit, police, army and the National Disaster Management Centre.

The collaboration between all the different agencies under the emergency services arm allows for communication development through networking, which is a necessity in the emergency medical field, said Hjh Siti Mariam.

In the context of serving for disasters, "as a front-liner, each member of the paramedics are not only required to have a clinical knowledge but also to have physical and mental strength with discipline in pre-hospital emergency medicine," she added.

The last Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Provider course held in 2009-2010 produced some 14 new paramedics for the national frontline ambulance professionals.

She added that the diploma in Health Science (paramedics) is part and parcel of the overall modernising project for the emergency medical ambulance services (Emas) as it "helps produce more (specialised) human resources for recruitment for the paramedics".

Hjh Siti Mariam said that the EMS Provider course is a product of the "regular and consistent collaboration between MoH and Universiti Brunei Darussalam". The guest of honour further added that a career as a paramedic is not only confined to serving under MoH as they are now "expanding the choices and career opportunities as a paramedic" in the Sultanate.

During her speech, Hjh Siti Mariam also wished the course graduates a good future full of opportunities within the medical field.The Brunei Times