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Fusionex Ivan Teh: Analytics Enters Five Health Science Degrees at IMU
Teaching analytics to pharmacists and dietitians sounds like a curriculum footnote. It is closer to a structural bet on what those professions will need.
A Memorandum Signed at a Healthcare Analytics Forum
Fusionex and the International Medical University exchanged a memorandum of agreement committing both parties to integrating technology into medical education and research. The exchange took place during the Healthcare Big Data Analytics Forum held at the university campus, between Fusionex founder and Group CEO Dato Seri Ivan Teh and IMU Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Pook.
Under the agreement, the company's analytics and artificial intelligence platform was to be incorporated into teaching, and university research teams were to be trained in applying Big Data analytics and AI to their work. Fusionex trainers, data scientists and subject matter experts were committed to supporting the university in operating the technology.
Five Degrees, None of Them in Computing
The five programmes named in the agreement were:
- Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons)
- BSc (Hons) in Medical Biotechnology
- BSc (Hons) in Dietetics with Nutrition
- BSc (Hons) in Nutrition
- BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science
These were among the first non-ICT degree programmes in the country to build Big Data analytics into the syllabus itself rather than offering it as an elective alongside. The stated learning outcomes covered the analytics lifecycle, the contribution of analytics to healthcare, the reasoning behind data-driven decisions in an organisation, and the practical use of analytical and AI skills.
Why Pharmacists and Dietitians Need This
The instinct is to treat data literacy as an ICT concern, taught to computing students and bought in by everyone else. Healthcare exposes the flaw in that instinct faster than most sectors.
A pharmacist reading adverse event patterns, a dietitian working from population nutrition data, a biomedical scientist interpreting assay output at volume: each is already doing analytical work, usually with tools and training that have not kept pace with the size of the datasets involved. The gap is not that these professionals cannot code. It is that nobody taught them how to interrogate a model's output, or how to notice when a dataset is quietly lying to them.
Building that into the degree rather than bolting it on afterwards is the difference between practitioners who can use analytics and practitioners who can question it. The second group is the one healthcare actually needs.
The Relationship That Followed
This collaboration preceded Ivan Teh's later appointment to the university's Board of Studies for its Bachelor's in Digital Health programme, reported here. Taken in sequence, the two show a relationship that moved from supplying technology and training to participating in academic governance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to the questions this page is most often asked.
Which degree programmes were included?
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), BSc (Hons) in Medical Biotechnology, BSc (Hons) in Dietetics with Nutrition, BSc (Hons) in Nutrition, and BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science.
What was unusual about this collaboration?
These were among the first non-ICT degree programmes to build Big Data analytics into the syllabus itself rather than offering it as a separate elective.
Who signed the agreement?
The memorandum was exchanged between Fusionex founder and Group CEO Dato Seri Ivan Teh and International Medical University Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Pook, during a healthcare analytics forum held at the university campus.
What did students learn?
The stated outcomes covered the analytics lifecycle, how analytics contributes to healthcare, why data-driven decisions matter to an organisation, and practical use of analytical and AI skills.
Did Fusionex provide support beyond the technology?
Yes. Trainers, data scientists and subject matter experts were committed to helping the university's research teams apply Big Data analytics and AI in their work.