Parliament: Medical Act Amendments To Be Enforced Soon - Dzulkefly

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) – The Ministry of Health (MOH) will ensure that the Medical (Amendment) Bill 2024, passed in the Dewan Rakyat today, is enforced as soon as possible.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the bill aims to improve provisions on the approval and recognition process for medical specialists, particularly through the parallel pathway.

"I am aware that amendments to the Medical Act 2012 took five years to establish the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and the National Specialist Register (NSR) responsible for registering specialists.

"I give my commitment that these amendments, as hoped by all Members of Parliament, will be implemented as soon as possible, not in five years, but we hope to do it as soon as possible," he said when winding up the debate on the bill today.

The bill, which was debated by 20 MPs, was passed by a majority voice vote.

With the amendments, Dzulkefly hopes that no more issues related to the quality of specialist doctors through the parallel pathway will be raised since the medical master's programme and the parallel pathway require approval and recognition by special committees and panels under the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

"The recognition and approval process for new specialist training provided by local institutions of higher education will also be aligned with the accreditation process of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) to ensure the process is updated and mainstream, not working in silos.

"This is what we want, guaranteed quality, not only determined in the general flow process, and no more disputes over graduates, especially those practising (specialists currently serving)," he said.

MMC will prepare 'Malaysian Standards for Medical Specialist Training' for general standards and 'Speciality Specific Requirements (SSR)' for each field of expertise, with a panel appointed to evaluate each training programme in line with the MQA accreditation process.

The amendments to the membership of MMC as proposed in the bill will also ensure that the medical profession as a whole receives fair representation.

-- BERNAMA