KUALA LUMPUR: The amendment to the Medical Act 1971 aims to increase the number of medical specialists, whether through the parallel pathway programme (PPP) or the local Master's medicine programme.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the amendment also aims to enhance the quality of medical specialists produced through both pathways to specialisation.
"The amendment seeks to address the disparity between the PPP and the local Master's medicine programme," he said during a briefing for the media in the Parliament building.
Health Ministry Medical Development Division deputy director (Medical Profession Development Branch) Dr Hirman Ismail said under Section 14b(3), specialised training as referred to in the act must be approved by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and aligned with specialties specified in the Fourth Schedule, provided by the Health Ministry, local higher educational institutions or other approved institutions in the country.
"Therefore, any new specialist training programme must obtain MMC approval, with the council evaluating each programme according to the approved standards.
"Whether implemented by the Health Ministry or universities, each programme will undergo an assessment by the same panel of assessors, using standardised assessment instruments to ensure recognition by the council.
"Hence, there are no issues about double standards as same instruments are applied," he said.
During the session, Dr Dzulkefly refuted claims from certain quarters that the government favours PPP over the local Master's medicine programme.
He said this can be seen through the allocation spent by the government so far, which stood at RM364 million from 2019 to 2023, with 96 per cent of the amount for the local Master's medicine programmes and the remaining four per cent for the PPP.
"For this year, the government allocated RM152.4 million, of which RM142.4 million is for the local Master's medicine programme, with the remaining RM10 million allocated to PPP."
Earlier today, the amendment to the Medical Act 1971, aimed at improving provisions relating to the registration of medical practitioners as specialists, was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.
The amendment, which is also aimed at implementing the process of recognition of qualifications and specialised training, was tabled by Dr Dzulkefly.
"The second reading of the bill is expected to be conducted in the same session," he said when tabling the bill.
Dr Dzulkefly said the amendment to the act was one of the government's solutions to overcome the problem of graduates from a programme who are not listed in the National Specialist Register (NSR).
This comes after MMC refused to recognise qualifications from certain colleges, which sparked some controversy.