I was really laughing my head off after reading this article in today’s Star. Coming from our Deputy Prime Minister makes me wonder the type of politicians that are running this country. I am sure many knows the answer to that?
Firstly, this is a publicity stunt my the medical college mentioned. Secondly, all speech by politicians are written by the inviting body. Basically it means that the speech was written by the college mentioned and then sent to the respective VIP’s political secretary for vetting purposes. I myself have written a speech for the Minister of Health who suppose to come to officiate a SCHOMOS gathering way back in 2006. That’s how our politicians work. I was made to understand that only Dr Maharthir writes his own speech when he was the PM!
Obviously, our DPM do not know what he was talking about during the launch of the so-called ”medical education fund”. WE have almost 34 medical schools with some producing 2 batches of graduates ( 1 local and 1 twinning). The said college is one of the college which has 2 parallel programmes running , 1 twinning with Indonesia and another giving UKM degree. definitely, they are looking for more naive students to make more money.
Just look at the number of medical schools below:
1) University Malaya (UM)
2) UNiversiti Kebangsaa n Malaysia (UKM)
3) Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
4) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
5) UiTM
6) University Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
7) Universiti Darul Iman
8) UNiversiti Sarawak Malaysia (UNIMAS)
9) Universiti Sabah
10) Universiti Malaysia Kelantan
11) Melaka-Manipal Medical College: 2 programmes
12) Monash University Malaysia
13) International Medical University (IMU)
14) SEGI University College
15) Allianze College of Medical Sciences (ACMS): 2 programmes
16) Penang Medical College (PMC)
17) Mahsa University College
18) Masterskills University College of Health Sciences
19) Royal College of Medicine Perak (UNIKL) : 2 programmes
20) Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA)
21) Newcastle University Malaysia
22) Perdana University : Graduate Medical School
23) Perdana University : RCSI
24) Inssaniah University College
25) Quest International University Perak ( starting soon)
26) RCSI Trengganu ( starting soon)
27) KPJ University College (starting soon)
28) Cyberjaya School of Medical Sciences
29) AIMST
30) Taylor’s University College
31) Management and Science University (MSU)
32) University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)
33) University College Sedaya International (UCSI)
34) Lincoln University College( started 2011)
35) University Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia ( started 2009)
I was informed that the number of new housemen this year is reaching almost 7000. That is when half of the medical schools above are yet to produce their graduates. The report in Star today confirms one thing: the ratio is already 1: 900 ( 2011). So, how long do you think it will take for us to achieve 1: 600? I presume before 2015, much faster than 2020 that was predicted before.
After that you will be privileged to get a job . You will be told to shut your mouth and take a pay cut. I just saw some poor souls who have been recruited by a new medical school in Johor. Surprisingly, some of them are from our neighbouring country who was told that their degree will be recognised by their home country since the university is a branch campus offering the same degree! They were also told that their degree is recognised by GMC but nothing was mentioned about sitting for PLAB exams etc if you want to work in UK. Unfortunately, I have to break the bad news to them. Up to today, Singapore Medical Council is yet to recognise Monash University Malaysia, so what makes them to believe that they will recognise this university? These students also thought that Malaysia will offer them housemanship, it seems they were told by the university?
I really pity these students who will be caught in a limbo in 5 years time.
Med students need sponsors
KUALA LUMPUR: There are not enough public scholarships and education loans to sponsor Malaysian students who qualify to do medical degrees, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
Apart from limited places in universities, Muhyiddin said many students were unable to pursue their dreams in the field due to the high cost of medical education.
“Public scholarships and education loans provided by the Government through the Public Service Department, National Higher Education Fund Corporation and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), are not enough to meet the high demand,” Muhyiddin said in his speech at the launch of the Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) medical education fund yesterday.
All smiles: Muhyiddin chatting with some of the medical students of AUCMS at the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, urged more private institutions of higher learning to join the Government in its effort to produce more medical graduates in the country.
The event held at the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia here was witnessed by AUCMS president Datuk Dr Zainuddin Md Wazir and vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Abd Razak.
Muhyiddin said the doctor to patient ratio of one to 900 in Malaysia had yet to reach the World Health Organisation standard of one to 600.
At an earlier function, he advised civil servants to have a sense of urgency in understanding the needs of the people and executing them fast.
“The rakyat is monitoring and evaluating our efforts. Any negligence by us will result in the public service being evaluated negatively and considered irrelevant to the country’s development,” he said.
