Changes to Medical Act to include recognition of all specialists, says Dzul

Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says his ministry has been working closely with the Attorney-General’s Chambers to finalise the amendments to the Medical Act.

PETALING JAYA: The proposed amendments to the Medical Act 1971 to streamline the recognition of specialists by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) will include both the parallel pathway programmes with colleges abroad and the local master’s courses, said health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.

He said he had been handling this issue “for a while now” and had held discussions with representatives from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) regarding the amendments.

“The ministry had a good engagement with the AGC and (we) are in the final stages of looking into the amendments. This will not only involve trainees from the parallel pathway but also those who are doing their masters locally.

“One must understand that the ministry is guided by the AGC (in this matter),” he told reporters after visiting the Ampang Hospital today.

The minister was responding to a question on whether amendments would involve only specialists graduating from the parallel pathway programme or if it would be extended to others facing recognition problems with the MMC.

The MMC has refused to recognise specialists graduating from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) under the parallel pathway programme, specifically in cardiothoracic surgery (FRCS Ed).

As a result, four of the doctors have filed for a judicial review to compel the MMC to recognise their qualifications and place them in the National Specialists Register (NSR) to enable them to practise. The case will be heard on April 17.

Recently, six specialists who qualified under a Universiti Sains Malaysia pathology (medical genetics) programme were granted leave by the High Court to challenge the MMC’s decision not to recognise their qualifications. Their case will be heard on June 20.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian neurologist based in Hong Kong will have the merits of an application for NSR enrollment heard on April 16.

Several senior doctors have claimed that MMC rejected the applications of some eight cardiothoracic surgeons and 100 family medicine specialists trained under the parallel pathway programme for listing on the NSR.

Last week, Dzulkefly said the ministry hoped to have the amendments done by the second sitting of the third session of Parliament in June.

He said efforts to bolster specialist training through homegrown master’s programmes would be intensified to augment local capacity-building.

“The health ministry is committed to enhancing the number of medical specialists to fulfil the healthcare needs of our nation,” he said.