PUTRAJAYA: The government has agreed to introduce a bill aimed at bridging the gap between the parallel pathway programme and the local master's medicine programme in the Dewan Rakyat in due course.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said due to ongoing concerns regarding the issue, the cabinet was today informed that a memorandum related to the bill would soon be presented by either the Health Ministry or the Higher Education Ministry.
The decision, he said, was finalised at today's cabinet meeting.
"We have reached a good decision and InsyaAllah, it (the memorandum of the bill) will be brought to Parliament in due course.
"The memorandum for the bill will address core issues concerning the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) accreditation, which will be presented to resolve the problem," he said at a press conference today.
Fahmi, however, did not disclose further details of the bill when asked, stating that the matter should be directed to the relevant ministries.
"I mentioned last week that the main issue here lies between the jurisdiction of the two bodies, MQA and MMC, and what will be presented (in Parliament) will be ways to resolve the issue.
"(And) we hope that if all goes well, it will be brought to Parliament either in the upcoming session or the next session.
"Hence, we will have to wait until the bill is actually tabled. I cannot disclose anything beyond that."
Several calls were made by certain quarters, including the Malaysian Medical Association, for a local university to open its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme to non-Bumiputera trainees due to the shortage of specialists in the field.
Following this, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said there was an urgent need to resolve problems involving the parallel pathway programme as people needed the services of medical specialists.
To do so, Zambry said, the government was looking at holistic solutions, including amending the Medical Act 1971.
The same was said by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. who stated that the proposed amendment to the Medical Act was needed to ensure that medical specialists who have completed their training under the parallel pathway programme would be registered and recognised.