HIGH QUALITY IN LOCAL MEDICAL SCHOOLS

By : MAZWIN NIK ANIS

KUALA LANGAT: Medical schools should get serious about offering high quality medical education to lessen the need to send students abroad, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The Prime Minister said fewer schools offering high quality medical education would be a far better strategy than having too many offering sub-standard education.

He said adhering to basic requirement for accreditation was insufficient, adding it was far better to benchmark the quality of medical education with the best schools in the world.

"Once we have achieved that, there may no longer be a need to send our students abroad as they can get equal or better medical education locally," he said at the ground breaking ceremony of Mahsa University College in Bandar Saujana Putra.

The Prime Minister said, currently, some students were sent to sub-standard medical colleges overseas and this had become a perennial problem.

He added medical schools should also re-examine their curriculum not only to impart medical knowledge and clinical skills but also psychosocial, communicative, interpersonal and people skills to help their students become good healers and safe and competent clinicians.

Najib said the Health Ministry should forge formal relationships with proven medical schools for training opportunities where medical institutions could provide specialist care in smaller public hospitals and the ministry would upgrade facilities to cut down backlog of cases for minor surgery and emergencies.

Najib advised aspiring doctors to have passion and a genuine interest in taking care of the sick, at whatever cost, and be prepared to toil and sacrifice irrespective of time.

"The vocation of health care is not for everyone although we know that many students aspire to become doctors. Good doctors are not only those who are competent and skillful but those who are caring, compassionate and motivated to provide service above self.

"Malaysia requires the services of healthcare providers who are well trained and well mannered. They must be beyond reproach. They must be professionals who are ethical and put the welfare and care of their patients above everything else," he said.