SIBU: The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Education Bureau has urged the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) to drastically limit the number of medical students each year as soon as possible and to raise the minimum entrance requirements to read medicine.
The bureau chairman, Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing said the MMC had the professional duty to advise the Minister of Health on new policies to reduce the oversupply of doctors urgently.
“The MoH and MMC must introduce urgently a common professional examination like the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) for all doctors irrespective of whether they are graduates from local or overseas medical schools.
“All medical graduates must sit for the licensing examination before being posted to hospitals for their housemanship,” he said in a statement today.
Ding, who is also Meradong assemblyman, said the MoH must also disclose the criteria of offering permanent posts to medical officers (MOs) on contract.
“We have repeated this demand many times but for reasons only best known to the MoH, it seems to have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
He pointed out that it was an undisputed fact that Malaysia seriously lacked medical specialists, particularly in the rural areas of Sarawak.
Ding hoped that the MoH would seriously start training competent MOs so that in 10 years’ time, Malaysia would not face a serious shortage of medical specialists.
“As such, we are of the strong view that the MoH must implement its own directive dated February 16, 2016 entitled ‘Makluman mengenai peluang dan tatacara bagi pegawai perubatan mengikuti latihan kepakaran melalui laluan paralel di hospital KKM bagi bidang yang berkaitan pembedahan’ — (Information on opportunities and procedures for medical officers to undergo specialist training through parallel routes at MoH hospitals for areas related to surgery).
“This directive clearly stipulates that priorities will be given to those MOs who have passed part 1 or part A of the parallel pathways, for example, MRCP (physician), MRCPCH (paediatrics), MRCOG (obstetrics & gynaecology) and MRCS (surgery),” he said.
With regard to a letter from the parents of a West Malaysian medical offficer (MO) published in a widely circulated English newspaper on October 12, 2020 expressing their envy of the Sarawakian MOs who were being helped by SUPP Education Bureau, Ding urged the parents concerned to work together with parents of other MOs who faced similar problems and bring the matter publicly to the attention of the Minister of Health.
“We suggest the parents concerned either write to the Prime Minister or their own MPs, for example, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong/Dr Mah Hang Soon who are very experienced in solving many social issues faced by all communities.
“We understand the parents’/MOs’ hesitation not to come out openly because of a clause in their contracts of employment which prohibits MOs from seeking outside help. We view this clause as oppressive, a travesty of justice and against human rights. This said clause should be deleted from any employment contract let alone government employments,” he said.
On September 16, 2020 in Sibu in the presence of SUPP leaders, Ding said the Minister of Health, after reading letters of appeal from patients and a letter of support from the chief minister of Sarawak, assured Sarawakian MOs by saying, “All considered done. Please ask the parents not to worry”.
“However, to the best of our knowledge, the Sarawakian MOs who had passed part of their post graduate examinations are still waiting for their permanent posts. Seeing believes. It is too early to raise their champagne now to celebrate.
“The MoH has been blaming the present predicaments faced by MOs on contract on the large surplus of doctors.
“With due respect, this is only one of the reasons causing the glut of doctors. We deeply regret and are very disappointed that the MoH and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) have not come out with any other proposal or new policies to solve the problems caused by the oversupply of doctors,” said Ding.
