The teaching activities will be conducted in all the clusters to be set up. Each cluster will have its own clinical and non-clinical higher degree programmes and there will be integration between the programmes. It is hoped that the graduates of these programmes will be versatile. They may be clinical specialists and at the same time have enough basic knowledge and expertise to conduct research in the pure sciences. While the pure science graduate is also capable of making discoveries that have direct clinical relevance. The clinical specialist that is produced qualifies as a clinician-scientist and the scientist produced qualifies as a clinical scientist.
This new approach through ‘clustering’ will strengthen the USM initiative to establish the concept of clusters in its teaching, research and services activities. The cluster-based approach will create an environment where there are smart-partnerships of sharing of a variety of expertise. And at the same time, there is optimization of resources and this will assist the University in its aims towards excellence and internationalization.