KUALA LUMPUR: The number of local medical graduates produced by both public and private higher education institutions is below the Health Ministry's projected requirements, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad said.
According to her, there were only 2,967 local medical graduates in 2020, much lower than the Health Ministry's target of having at least 4,000 hopeful doctors yearly.
Noraini said of the 2,967 medical graduates, 958 were from public universities and the remaining 2,009 were from private universities.
"The Health Ministry's Strategic Plan 2016-2020 sets a target of 1:400 ratio of medical doctors to the population in Malaysia by 2025.
"To achieve this ratio, the average additional (medical graduates) needed per year is 4,000 people.
"Based on this statistics, the output of local medical graduates is below the Health Ministry's projected requirement.
"Nevertheless, under the Medical Act 1971, all medical graduates, including those from abroad, must register with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) to undergo compulsory service," she told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Noraini said this in response to Wong Hon Wai (Pakatan Harapan-Bukit Bendera) who asked on the number of medical and law graduates in 2020 and 2021.
He also asked if the number of graduates produced was enough to meet the demands of the job market.
On law graduates, Noraini said the ratio of lawyers to residents in Malaysia was in line with the ratio of lawyers to residents in several other countries.