Scrutinise Malaysian docs who want to work here

ST Forum, The Straits Times, April 7, 2007


I READ with apprehension the report, '2 Malaysian universities among 20 whose docs can work here' (ST, March 30). While there is no doubt that Malaysian doctors who have qualified from prestigious overseas universities are of a reasonable standard, the same cannot be said of those who have qualified from some of the Malaysian universities. Early last year, the Malaysian Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Ismail Merican, called attention to the problem of 'theory-only doctors walking the corridors of hospitals here'.

Dr Ng Swee Choon, a renowned cardiologist at the Sunway Medical Centre, wrote a damning post on the state of medical education in Malaysia - the politicisation of medical education, the removal of English as the medium of instruction in medical schools as well as the privatisation of medical education. More critically, Dr Ng alleged that there were medical colleges which were started with just one lecturer in each major field or department, with curriculum and facilities 'planned as they go along'.

About four years ago, the then University of Malaya Vice-Chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Anuar Zaini Mohd Zain, sounded the alarm over the decline in teaching standards in public and private medical schools, warning that a lack of qualified academic staff was affecting medical education and the quality of doctors produced. He argued that the ratio of lecturers to students was too low at 1:16 when it was 1:5 in Singapore, concluding that 'our medical-education system is in need of surgery and hopefully our policymakers can come up with the cure soon enough'.

I hope the Ministry of Health will scrutinise the academic and professional background of Malaysian doctors before allowing them to work here.

Heng Cho Choon