A Warm Welcome to Our Members and Fellows in Malaysia
We are delighted to share this special newsletter highlighting the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s activity in Malaysia, along with opportunities and news for our Malaysian membership.
We are proud of our longstanding relationship with Malaysia. We first delivered examinations in Kuching in 2010 and in Kuala Lumpur in 2015, and our community now numbers more than 1,000 Members and Fellows who continue to champion the College and its values among colleagues, students, and professional networks.
Many of you will know that we opened our Kuala Lumpur office in 2018 to support our local and regional Members and Fellows, while coordinating examinations, courses, and partnerships. Last year, we relocated to a bespoke office space within the Medical Academies of Malaysia building in Putrajaya, and we look forward to welcoming you there in the future.
We hope you find the stories and information in this edition both informative and engaging. We warmly encourage you to stay connected with the College and to share your own news and achievements with us. Our Malaysia office team — Ms Shidah Abd Lah, Office Manager, and Ms Delaila Abdullah, International Office Administrator — can be contacted at malaysia@rcsed.ac.uk.
Examinations
See below for the list of upcoming diets in Malaysia for 2026.
For further information, please see our Exams Calendar.
Conferences
We hope to meet some of you at the annual College of Surgeons Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (CSAMM) Scientific Congress in June. Professor Clare McNaught, President, and Professor Angus Watson, Vice President, will attend, together with Ms Jeannie Hyslop Parsons, Head of Strategic Partnerships, and Ms Shidah Abd Lah, International Office Manager.
Diploma Ceremony
Looking ahead to 2027, we are pleased to confirm that our next Diploma Ceremony will take place on 30 January at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Please look out for news both of the Ceremony and other wrapround events later on in the year.
Our History in Malaysia
The opening of the RCSEd International Office in Malaysia in 2018 marked the culmination of many years of partnership with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the College of Surgeons of Malaysia, and the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. An important step in the relationship between our College and Malaysia had been taken in 1971, when an Association of Edinburgh Surgeons in Malaysia was established; at the time, 67 of the country’s 80 surgeons were Fellows of our College. Links were further strengthened through a series of Honorary Fellowships, including those awarded to Malaysia’s Crown Prince in 2000 and to His Majesty Sultan Azlan Shah, Yang di-Pertuan Agong IX, in 1993, and His Royal Highness Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir in 2016.
The College is fortunate to count many distinguished individuals among its Malaysian membership, not least Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. She was first elected to RCSEd Fellowship in 1998 and later awarded Honorary Fellowship in 2025, in recognition of her contributions to obstetrics, gynaecology and ophthalmology, as well as her tireless advocacy for maternal healthcare and women’s health services. Ismail also made history as Malaysia’s first female Deputy Prime Minister, using her platform to address social injustice.
Other notable Fellows include Gopal Ayer Sreenevasan, elected in 1952 and regarded as the “father of urology” in Malaysia for establishing the specialty nationally, and Abu Bakar Suleiman, who received Honorary Fellowship in 1993 for his landmark contributions to Malaysian medicine including his role in modernising Malaysian healthcare. At the College’s Edinburgh campus, a room is dedicated to Malaysian-born Professor Guan Bee Ong in recognition of his pioneering surgical work in Hong Kong, including performing the city’s first open-heart surgery in 1966. The “College Medal” is awarded to Fellows who have given outstanding service to the College or to surgery in general, and no fewer than five Malaysian surgeons have won this prestigious award, including Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and Dr Hanafiah Harunarashid.
To discover more about Library services for Members and Fellows, please visit www.library.rcsed.ac.uk or email library@rcsed.ac.uk.
Funding & Awards Opportunities
The College proudly supports our international community through a number of funding opportunities, established to champion your continued education, training and career development, as well as supporting you in your research endeavours.
The portfolio of funding & awards opportunities has recently become even more accessible with a redesigned web portfolio which we hope will ensure that you can see and engage with all that is open to you.
The five-year anniversary of the establishment of the Tuanku Muhriz Travelling Fellowship has also provided an opportune moment for reflection of the College’s activity and impact in Malaysia. The diaries, learnings and thoughts of those who have taken part, have now been collated and will be available to view on our webpages soon.
Looking forward, we are proud to invite you to apply to our newly reformed Ophthalmology Research Grants, Pump Priming Grant in Cancer Research and the James Weir Foundation Research Grants, each offering £10,000 as a catalyst for your innovation and scientific discovery.
To support you in your professional journey, our Specialty Travelling Fellowships in China are also currently open for applications, offering £4000 and the experience to travel to world-renowned centres of excellence in different Chinese cities. These are available in Head and Neck Surgery, Oesophageal Cancer Surgery, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery and Thoracic Cancer Surgery. Applicants should be Specialty Trainees, SAS Doctors or Consultants in the first two years of their appointment.
Finally, the Coronation Commonwealth Bursary is also open to applicants, with up to £2000 available to subsidise RCSEd course and exam fees and support you in accessing your next career milestone.
We encourage you to explore the full portfolio, and direct any questions to fundingopportunities@rcsed.ac.uk.
Stay Connected
Don’t forget you can stay connected with the latest updates, events, and College news anytime via the RCSEd App, social media platforms or our website. You can also review and update your email preferences here. You can also reach out to our Putrajaya office at malaysia@rcsed.ac.uk.