The Official Newsletter of the University of Puthisastra (UP)-Vol.53 December 2020 Download
UP brings Cambodia to the World
- Strong international reach with over 150 MOUs with universities worldwide
- International programs – over 1000 UP students each year gain International experiences
- Four years of English tuition to embrace the world with the international language of success. Provided FREE OF CHARGE
- World class curricula and teaching to ensure that Cambodians graduates are on the World Stage
UP Brings the World to Cambodia
- Internationally trained Faculty – more than one third of academic staff have international qualifications and/or experience
- High quality training from international experts from international hospitals and organizations.
- Regular visits from international experts: UP runs regular talks and symposiums with visiting lecturers and experts on campus
- Internationally recognized by multiple international industry (e.g. pharmacy, dental) associations. The most & widest recognition in Cambodia.
- Fully Accredited by ACC (Maximum from Accreditation Committee Cambodia), MOEYS and MOH.
- A top performing school in National Exit Exams with 100% Pass rate for Dentistry, Medicine and Laboratory Science
- Focused, Professional English Program taught by 100% Native level Speakers free of charge – UP Students train in English, the international language of Health Sciences and Technology.
- Highly Qualified Teaching Staff – 71% of our academic staff have Doctoral degrees and 82% have masters or above.
- Monthly Repayment Plan – to help spread payments and making their pursuit for a degree within easier reach for students.
- Free high speed WiFi
- Convenient fee payments through partnership with WING.
- UPs very own online learning platform – UPOP – based on internationally awarded Moodle
- UP Online learning officially recognized by MoEYS (UP delivered >15,000 hours of online learning continue during COVID lockdown)
- Modern worlds best practice teaching methodology – including blended, flipped and experiential learning
- Online Digital Library – allowing students access to the Worlds Knowledge and experience
- Internationally focused curriculum – ensuring success in Cambodia and abroad.
Strong Community Focus
- UP spearheads community outreach programs for high school students to help them prepare for exams and higher studies in University.
- UP’s Faculties conduct many, regular missions to help the underprivileged.
Empowering women
- Empowering women through education – 51% of our students are female, 47% of our staff and 40% of our leadership.
UP’s Industry-engaged Research Panel
- Cambodia’s most successful research university (27 international publications in 2019)
- Brains Trust, provides our partners with leading UP researchers to conduct International level research. UP’s regular contributions to International journals ensure that our students are actively engaged with thought leaders in their fields of specialization.
Industry engaged with dedicated Learning & Teaching Department
- Committed to ensuring the Employability of UP Graduates – best graduates get the best jobs and the highest salaries!
Opening of Orthodontic Clinic
Last week UP proudly opened its new 2 chair orthodontic clinic. The ribbon was cut by the President, Professor Ian Findlay, assisted by the Dean, and the Manager of the Dental Clinic. This brings to 21 the number of chairs in the clinic, and provides more space for our growing orthodontic service. Dr Marya Anand, Head of Orthodontics, said that the new clinic will be very useful, especially since UP plans to open a Masters degree in Orthodontics in 2021.
The new clinic is spacious and has 2 brand new dental units. When not being used by orthodontic patients, it will be available for our 6 general practice residents to treat private patients. The residents include some of our top graduates of the past few years. Patients are welcome to make an appointment at the clinic which is open from Monday to Saturday, even during the present Covid-19 time.
Cambodia’s strict national cross-infection control guidelines have been fully implemented to ensure that students, staff and patients are all safe. Offering implants, orthodontics and general dentistry at very reasonable prices, the UP Dental Clinic is proving to be an attractive choice for a growing number of patients.
National Curriculum Revision of the Associate Degree in Nursing
Mrs Kem Sokunthea, deputy head of the Nursing Department joined the pre-service education team Technical Working Group of USAID, Enhancing Quality of Healthcare Activity (EQHA) project hosted in Siem Reap from November 2nd – 4th, 2020, with the Human Resource Development Department of the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The workshop discussed reallocating core courses and course contents of the full program with Competency-Based Education (CBE) in Cambodia.
Another important discussion on the CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) procedure of the Graduation Exit Exam was discussed, finalized and approved by the MoH and will be used for students’ safety during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to complete required competencies to be able to graduate.
Arrival of Equipment for The Department of Laboratory Sciences in 2020
Although Covid 19 has made practical classes a huge challenge but it has not stopped us improving the quality of our laboratories. UP has recently acquired new equipment including:
- Hemogram Analyzer: used to provide a Complete Blood Count (CBC) including blood levels of platelets (PLT), red blood cells (RBC), and white blood cells (WBC), and is typically the first test requested by a physician to evaluate a patient’s general health status.
- Electrolyte Analyzer: it can measure electrolytes like Na+, K+ Ca2+ and Cl- in serum, plasma, whole blood, CSF and urine and is used to analyse the maintenance of body functions.
- Analytical Balance: a very accurate way to determine the mass of sample, chemical substance, reagent and other materials within the laboratory.
- Incubator: it is a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures. The incubator maintains optimal temperature, humidity and gas levels.
- Combiwash: For preventing contamination during processing tests
- Centrifuge: used in laboratories to separate the components of a liquids based on density.
- Micropipette: is used to measure and deliver accurate volumes of small amounts of liquid
- The pH Meter: it is an instrument used to measure acidity or alkalinity of a solution.
Christmas tree at UP !
With the Christmas festive season nearly upon us, the UP team has set up a big Christmas tree at the entrance gate at Streets 180 and 184. Amidst all the challenges, we are facing, this will be an opportunity to reflect with pride on the past and look forward with confidence. May your festive period be filled with smiles!
Attending ASEAN Quality Assurance (QA) Conference
ASEAN QA is a conference established and carried out by Higher Education institutions to improve and enhance the quality of programmes and institutions. It aims to develop capacity in the field of quality assurance (QA) in the ASEAN region.
The 2020 Online ASEAN QA was jointly hosted by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors´ Conference (HRK), and the University of Potsdam, Germany, together with partners from Southeast Asia and Europe – ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN), ASEAN University Network (AUN), European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), and the Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (SEAMEO RIHED).
Pharmacy Faculties had a chance to join the course to improve their capacity in respect of Quality Assurance. Dr. Chea Sin is one of the participants, and has stated that:
“‘Quality Assurance Systems are essential for universities to consistently produce qualified graduates. It is even more important in the time of COVID-19, where we have jumped into a complete online teaching and learning operation without prior preparation.’ To ensure the quality of our online teaching and learning, we need to look back at our current systems, and see how we can plan and act to keep our university profile high and stay competitive. As COVID-19 has changed how teaching and learning is delivered, the post-COVID-19 preparation should also be taken into consideration, so that we are ready for it. Joining this online forum gave me a chance to learn from other counterparts about what we have to act on during COVID-19, and what to prepare after COVID-19 in terms of quality assurance systems.”
UP well represented at important regional dental conference
Last week was the annual conjoint meeting of the Southeast Asia Association of Dental Education (SEAADE) and the International Association of Dental Research – Southeast Asia (IADR-SEA). Organized by Chulalongkorn University in Thailand as an online meeting, participants from universities all over the region took part.
Cambodia was represented by 4 lecturers from UP – Prof Callum Durward (Dean), Dr Horn Rithvitou, Adjunct Assistant Prof Bethy Turton, and Assistant Prof Anand Marya. Four presentations of Cambodian research were made. Prof Callum presented on the two year findings of the Cention N clinical trial being conducted here at UP. Dr Vitou presented on 2 topics – the 1-year results of arrest of atypical carious lesions by silver fluoride, and a survey of the perceptions and experiences of UP dental students who changed from face-to-face Problem Based Learning (PBL) to online PBL due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Bethy presented her research on “Caries arrest and lesion appearance using two different silver 119 fluoride therapies on primary teeth with and without Potassium Iodide: 12-month results”.
The meeting was a great success and Prof Callum was elected to the SEAADE Council for a 2-year term. In 2022 the SEAADE meeting may come to Cambodia for the first time, and UP hopes to join in hosting this event in Siem Reap.
ICT Department Master in IT (Specialisation in Data Science) Term 2 completed!
Our Master students completed their term 2 with some brilliant projects related to their courses in: Data mining, Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Among the projects presented:
- Credit Approval prediction
- Movies box office prediction
- Heart Failure prediction
- Medical diagnostic
- Blood donation prediction
- Bank term deposit prediction
Keywords: Python, Numpy, Matplotlib, Seaborn, Tensorflow, Pytorch, Pandas, Linear Regression, Gradient Descent, Scikit-learn, Classification, Nearest Neighbours algorithm, Decision Trees, Affinity analysis, Principal component analysis, Naïve Bayes, K-means, Data clustering, Google Cloud Platform, Virtual Machine, SQL, Big Query, Spark, Apache Pig, Apache Beam.
Special note: these courses were 80% taught online due to the current constraints and with great outcomes. Thanks to the preparation and commitment of our lecturers Mr Rina BUOY (Artificial Intelligence), Mr. Bonpagna KANN (Data mining), Mr. Nicolas PETEUIL (Cloud computing).
Next term courses (Term 3) for our Master students is starting on the 5th December 2020 and will finish by 28th March 2021 :
- IT Research Methodology: Mr. Bonpagna KANN, MSc. Informatics – Grenoble, France.
- Machine Learning and Deep Learning : Mr. Long Ang LIM, MSc. Computer Engineering – Ankara, Turkey.
- Computer Vision: Mr. Bayram ANNANUROV, Phd. Deep Learning – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The registration for the new batch of Master students will open soon, with scholarships available. Follow the University of Puthisastra – ICT Public page to get the latest news.
UP staff take part in customer service training
On 26th November 2020, new training mannequins and equipment were delivered to the Simulation Laboratory. The adult and child CPR mannequins will allow the medical students to practice cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, or simply initiate chest compression. The Adult Nasogastric/Nasojejunal Feeding Trainer Mannequin will enable the students to learn and practice the correct method of insertion of a nasogastric tube (NGT). They will also introduce food via the tube.
The C.H.A.R.L.E. Nursing Med-Surg mannequin will allow the students to assess and manage neonatal airways. The mannequin will play an important role in learning how to resuscitate a newborn, as the students will be able to insert intravenous lines, intraosseus lines and even umbilical cord lines. In addition, the students will perform urinary catheterization, CPR and chest tube placement. These new mannequins will contribute to the acquisition of important practical skills before the medical students deal with real patients in the hospitals.
Online Meeting with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore and The Prestige Hospital, Phnom Penh
The Faculty of Medicine plans to become a CME (Continuous Medical Education) – CPD (Continuous Profession Development) provider in the next few months. In this respect, the Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs, Dr. Prom Vireak, had an online call with Dr. Chengda Zhang and his staff from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA and Dr. Christopher Tay, CEO of The Prestige Hospital in Phnom Penh, on 17th November 2020.
In the call the eventual possibility of a cooperation with the prestigious US University in organizing CME-CPD sessions for Cambodian medical doctors was explored.
Welcome to Head of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy
Mr. Visessakseth SO was born in 1993 in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia. He graduated from bachelor’s degree of English language in 2015 and bachelor of Pharmacy in 2017 from University of Puthisastra. During his study, he got many chances for international internship or research presentation in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and so on. Moreover, he was leaders for any projects and event planners. He began a work at his own university as a pharmacy assistant and lecturer. After that, he got a scholarship from Her Royal Highness Princess of Thailand in 2018 for his master of pharmacy in pharmaceutical sciences at Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
During his master’s degree, he got a chance for joining the training of synchrotron light source at Thailand and scholarship for his research presentation at Kobe city, Japan. He got the achievements for publishing his researches in Thailand and international journals. His research interests focuses on the field of pharmaceutical sciences, cosmetic and cancer. He screened the phytochemical compounds, bioactive activities, antioxidants, cytotoxicity, nanoparticle, 2D cell culture technique, natural products and cosmetics.
In 2020, he became the head of pharmacognosy and lecturer at university of Puthisastra. His own goals are willing to help the improvement of the quality of pharmacy’s education and research in Cambodia. His own quote “The great powerful tools for individual and society is the quality of education”. Currently, he serves a role as Head of Pharmacognosy in the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Midwifery Students Completed Their Internship at Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospita
Despite the difficulty of COVID-19, our midwifery students finally successfully completed their internship. The students had a great experience and enjoy their work in the maternity ward at Khmer-Soviet Friendship hospital.
“Yes, we were pretty scare of COVID-19 but nothing more excited than seeing a women giving birth” “It would be scarier seeing a woman pain during the delivery, we have been taught to stay by her side and giving her support until a very cute little baby came out from her womb to live life in this outside world.”, said the students.
After their internship, the students received a training program for their internal exit exam and national exit exam preparation, called OSCE training. Even if the current situation does not allow students to study at campus; University of Puthisastra, however has a very flexible online platform provided to all the students. In this critical period, our midwifery students are able to receive the training and learning in order to get the best possible for their knowledge to graduate as their dream to becoming a professional midwife in the future.
UP Pharmacy Faculties Joined International Webinar
Webinars can serve as a very useful tool to train staff and faculties, by taking advantage of technology advancements. Despite the fact that webinars are virtual, when set up properly they can be more interactive and engaging than face-to- face meetings.
On November 20, 2020, pharmacy faculties had attended a very useful International Webinar on Infectious Diseases Preparedness: a special focus on COVID-19 Challenges and Opportunities. Speakers were different from countries such as Portugal, Thailand, India, Malaysia etc.
“It is a great International Webinar where I can meet nearly all of my colleagues from World Union on Herbal Drug Discovery to share with each other on our preparedness to address emerging infectious diseases based on the challenges and opportunities that we have had so far during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on drug discovery for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Moreover, we also talk about any possibilities to work together to discover antivirals from our exiting nature, especially plants. Together, we can go as far as we can.” said Dr. Chea Sin, Dean of Pharmacy, University of Puthisastra.
The Medical Laboratory Technology students depend on real practical experience to improve their skills for their future careers, which will be tested with their upcoming Internal Exit Exam as well as National Exit Exam. Therefore, the real practice class is an important part of their training, to gain confidence in their work.
The Medical Laboratory Technology students depend on real practical experience to improve their skills for their future careers, which will be tested with their upcoming Internal Exit Exam as well as National Exit Exam. Therefore, the real practice class is an important part of their training, to gain confidence in their work.From 23rd-27th November 2020, The Department of Laboratory Sciences, University of Puthisastra conducted Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) training for Medical Laboratory Technology students, generation 7, with the purpose of strengthening the student’s abilities by reviewing the exam-checklists and spending a lot of time on practical classes.
During the sessions, the students did a great job by paying a lot of attention to the lessons and practice and the atmosphere of the whole classroom was very active. Moreover, after a few days of practice had passed, the students seemed already to have caught up well and be much more confident in themselves. Our staff was available through this whole session and it was their pleasure to help the students.
As all our efforts have been completed, we now hope that they will pay off and that the students will do well in the exams. We wish them all the best of luck.
PHARMACY CLUBS ARE BACK!
The Student Support Unit is honored to announce the online registration of the pharmacy clubs. These clubs such as Pharma-Career, Senior Club, and Clinical Club are vital for supporting pharmacy students’ studies and to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical education. The aim of Pharma-Career is to orient pharmaceutical students about various skills needed to be successful in their future careers.
For the Senior Club, the purpose is to support fourth and fifth year pharmaceutical students with graduation examinations and national exit examinations.
Last but not least, the Clinical Pharmacy Club, which is open for fourth and fifth year pharmaceutical students, aims to provide opportunities for students to learn about clinical skills and knowledge from clinical cases that are presented by students. For further information, please refer to the poster.
Sign up with us now!!!
Club Payment Fee: 5$
Open for payment:
1st – 7th December, 2020
Contact student support unit at BUILDING E12 for more information or contact 016431143 for more details.
