SHE wants to be able to deal with her patients better and also counsel them.

That is why Ms Salmah Ummiah Haja Maydin, 24, who already has a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Tasmania, is setting out on a path towards her second degree.

This time, in psychology.

'I want to understand my patients better so that I can help them with their problems,' she said.

In June this year, Ms Salmah, a nurse at National University Hospital, signed up with MDIS to do a diploma in psychology.

She said she did so as it was 'affordable' and it was being taught in smaller classes.

For her, it is also a stepping stone to a degree programme by Oklahoma City University (OCU), that will be launched at MDIS next March.

The programme will have a special focus on health and public health psychology.

Said OCU professor Roberta Olson, who has been coming to teach in Singapore about three times a year for the past 12 years and was involved in shaping the programme content: 'In my visits to Singapore, I discussed this programme with psychologists and psychiatrists.

'All agreed that a programme focusing on health promotion and disease prevention, using a cognitive behavioural approach, is needed.'

Healthy lifestyle

She added that as a psychologist, she has worked with children and families on how to live as normal a life as possible and ensure that healthy practices are a part of their everyday life.

'We also helped children and adolescents deal with feelings of depression, anxiety and feeling different from their peers.'

She was the director of consultation and liaison service at the University of Oklahoma Children's Hospital.

During her time there, she said, she worked with children and adolescents with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma.

She has also worked with children suffering from cancer, and those in the burns unit, helping them cope with the pain, anxiety and long-term scars.

She said that many of the illnesses in Western countries are the same as those in Singapore - preventable illnesses and disabilities associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, for example, obesity and smoking.

'It is essential for a country to have a healthy population. Many hours of lost work are associated with chronic illness that is preventable.'

She added: 'I believe that the OCU students in Singapore will find many of the issues in our health psychology programme important in their country.'

The psychology degree is not the only programme that MDIS will be launching soon.

Another is an online MBA programme, awarded by Upper Iowa University (UIU), which will kick off in December.

UIU's senior vice-president for international programmes, Dr DeWayne Frazier, said that its online programme is one of the more successful ones in the US market.

'The programme continues to win national independent awards for academic quality and competitive pricing,' he said.

For example, according to Online Education Database, it is the highest-ranked online programme in the US.

The UIU MBA programme aims to open the Singapore market to the value of distance education.

Dr Frazier said: 'Distance education allows students the opportunity to maintain full-time jobs and pursue their degree in a flexible format.

'The flexibility of the MBA programme and its competitive pricing places UIU in a league of its own.'

He added that the programme is tailored for the busy executive who needs to travel frequently.

Students may apply for the fully online programme, with the option of having face-to-face tutorials.

The programme is fully taught by academics from UIU, he said.

Adding, that it is fully accredited by one of the six US regional accrediting bodies, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education.

As with other business schools that offer networking opportunities for its students, students in this programme can network through online chatrooms for UIU students, he said.

On top of that, he said: 'Our faculty members are very approachable.

'Many have significant experience in the business world, thus they are great resources for the students.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on 25 Sept, 2008.