KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Monash University Australia to encourage a capacity building programme for embryologists in Malaysia.
This bilateral international partnership between both parties allows MHTC to facilitate the industry by continuously promoting this course programme.
This collaboration aims to increase the volume of certified embryologists in Malaysia build a formal embryologist training programme in Malaysia.
It aims to improve the quality of patient care provided in Malaysia and the region, develop advanced fertility services in Malaysia and within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, and position Malaysia as an educational hub for fertility treatment within the APAC region.
MHTC chief executive officer Mohd Daud Mohd Arif said having navigated the pandemic over the past 20 months, the agency recognises how crucial it is to maintain and build new partnerships which continually uphold medical excellence, patient safety, and experience standards.
"We are delighted to establish this partnership with Monash University Australia in our endeavour to have more embryologists trained right here in Malaysia.
"Malaysia is recognised as the preferred healthcare destination for healthcare travellers, particularly since the country has been positioned regionally as the Fertility Hub of Asia, having experienced a 300 per cent increase in demand for fertility treatments between 2011 to 2016", he said in a statement.
Malaysia, known as the Fertility Hub of Asia, boasts approximately 62 fertility centres to date in meeting the growing demands for fertility treatments from local and international patients.
In meeting these fertility treatment needs, the country is faced with the challenge of having a limited number of certified embryologists.
This is associated mainly due to the unavailability of formal development programmes for fertility services.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University Australia now brings much hope by offering Malaysian embryologists the opportunity to undertake the Master's of Clinical Embryology as an off-campus student programme.
Professor Christina Mitchell, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences at Monash University Australia, which offers the Education Programme in Reproduction and Development (EPRD), confirmed that Monash University Australia will be the official training partner for
In the future, Malaysia's fertility industry will provide on-campus teaching facilities locally through Monash University Malaysia.
"We are pleased to work in collaboration with MHTC, the government agency that globally promotes Malaysia's healthcare travel industry.
"With Malaysia's renowned reputation in providing top-notch fertility treatments, we trust that this embryologist capacity building programme will further uphold Malaysia's medical and service excellence and continue opening more doors for patients seeking fertility treatments in Malaysia," he said.