MMC urged to clarify statement on recognition of cardiothoracic surgeons
The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) should clarify its recent statement that denied it ever recognised the Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) parallel pathway for the cardiothoracic programme in Malaysia, said Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president found MMC’s statement contradicting as past information obtained from the National Specialist Register (NSR) website showed that the qualification from the college was indeed recognised, and that there are Malaysian specialists with this qualification registered in the NSR.
“This piece of information on its recognition has seemingly vanished from the NSR website.
“Furthermore, on March 15, the Health Ministry (MoH) via an official letter stated that graduates from four parallel pathway programmes, including the RCSEd cardiothoracic programme, can now proceed for gazettement. These doctors will eventually be applying for the NSR upon gazettement,” she said in a statement.
Dr Azizan said that MMC must understand the predicament faced by RCSEd graduates, whose training had already been acknowledged and approved by MoH, enabling them to proceed for gazettement.
“While the issue of doctors leaving for private practice or overseas are ‘beyond the jurisdiction’ of the MMC, its decisions have a direct bearing and consequence on the delivery of specialist care to the people of the country, especially those awaiting cardiothoracic treatment at government hospitals. It was also reported in the media that thousands are on the waiting list for life-saving heart surgery at government hospitals nationwide, with some patients having to wait up to a year,” she said.
Dr Azizan also called for details on MMC’s planned task force to resolve this issue.
“As this is a matter of public interest, we demand full transparency and clarity with regard to the task force’s composition, terms of reference and timeline.
“We seek MMC’s urgent clarification on this matter as many colleagues from the fraternity, as well as members of the public, have voiced confusion over their statement and recent developments concerning the issue,” she said.
MMC president Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan, in a statement on March 25, said MMC denied that the Fellow of RCSEd in Cardiothoracic Surgery was ever recognised by the council.
He said MMC is committed to ensuring that medical practitioners registered to practise in the country possess recognised qualifications and have undergone training in accordance with the highest standards of the profession, in the interest of public safety and health.
“MMC takes note of the issues pertaining to registration of graduates of this programme, and has set up a task force with a view to arriving at a resolution of the issues as quickly as possible, which will be communicated to the relevant stakeholders in due course,” he said.