BILL ON PARALLEL PATHWAY ISSUE TO BE PRESENTED IN NEXT PARLIAMENT MEETING - FAHMI

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- An amendment bill related to the Specialist Degree Training Programme or Parallel Pathway will be brought to the next Parliament session, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

Fahmi, who is also the Unity Government spokesman, said this follows the presentation of a joint memorandum between Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir at the Cabinet meeting today, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"Thus, we see that the Parallel Pathway issue can be resolved, with a bill to be presented in Parliament. For details of the resolution of this issue, I would like to ask my media friends to refer to either the Health Minister or the Higher Education Minister. 

"But we have reached a decision and God willing, it will be brought to Parliament later. We hope everything goes smoothly," he said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting here today. 

On May 29, Fahmi said that several amendments might be made to existing laws to resolve the Parallel Pathway issue, and it would be discussed at the Cabinet meeting today.

The Parallel Pathway issue gained attention when the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) requested Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) to allow the admission of non-Bumiputera medical officers seeking specialised training in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, similar to how the institution accepts international students.

This came after the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) rejected the application of four cardiothoracic surgeons to be listed in the National Specialist Register, as the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in Cardiothoracic Surgery (FRCS Ed) they obtained was not recognised.

UiTM is the only university offering the Parallel Pathway programme in collaboration with the National Heart Institute (IJN) in the field of cardiothoracic surgery.

Commenting on the presentation of the memorandum, he said it aims to address overlapping issues involving two agencies, namely the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) and MMC.

"The issue is between these two agencies. If we bring the amendments to Parliament, it will help to resolve the matter. We have to wait until it is actually tabled. I cannot disclose more beyond this; you will have to get further details from the Health Minister or Higher Education Minister," said Fahmi.

-- BERNAMA