KUALA LUMPUR: A bill on amendments to the Medical Act 1971 (Act 50) is scheduled to be tabled and debated in the fourth week of this Parliament session, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the bill would be tabled to resolve the issue of irregularity in medical specialist training in Malaysia involving the Master’s Programme in Medicine and the Parallel Pathway medical specialist training.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat) during the Ministers’ Question Time.
Dr Ahmad Yunus wanted to know whether the government would postpone the tabling of the amendments to Act 50 and refer it first to the Special Select Committee on Health.
According to Dzulkefly, 6,933 medical officers have received sponsorship to undergo medical specialist training, with 6,142 undergoing the Master of Medicine Programme.
The remaining 791 officers are undergoing Parallel Pathway Specialist training, he said, adding that another 2,622 medical officers are also undergoing the Parallel Pathway training but without sponsorship.
He said the government provided substantial allocations, especially for the Master of Medicine programme, which is conducted by local institutions of higher learning.
The estimated expenditure for a year for the sponsorship of the Master of Medicine Program is RM142.4 million, while the sponsorship for the Parallel Pathway Specialist Training programme amounted to RM10 million,“ he said.
Meanwhile, in response to an original question from Ahmad Yunus, Dzulkefly said medical specialist training in Malaysia consisted of a Master of Medicine Programme and Parallel Pathway Medical Specialist Training that are conducted by local institutions of higher learning.
The clinical training is mostly conducted at Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities such as hospitals, health clinics, and district health offices, he said.
