KUALA LUMPUR: Amendments to the Medical Act will be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting, higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said today, as the government seeks to resolve issues related to the parallel pathway programme.
Zambry said the amendments had been mooted by the health ministry, following discussion with the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“We want a comprehensive solution which we want to bring to Parliament,” he told reporters after attending an event here.
Parliament will reconvene from June 24 to July 18.
In April, the health ministry said it would amend the Act to bridge the gap between the parallel pathway programme and the local medical degree programme.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said amending the law would clarify the status of both programmes and address the shortage of medical professionals serving with the government.
He also said the ministry would propose the amendments, aimed at ensuring prompt registration and recognition of medical professionals trained under the programme, no later than June.
The Malaysian Medical Council recently stirred controversy after it refused to recognise specialists graduating under the parallel pathway programme.
Zambry also said the debate over admitting non-Bumiputera students to Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme on a temporary basis to address the current shortage should not be politicised.
“It is also not the priority now and the issue at hand involves the MMC,” he said.
The Malaysian Medical Association had previously urged UiTM to open the programme to non-Bumiputera students to address the shortage of specialists and surgeons in the field.
The proposal led to brickbats, including from Umno, with former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin labelling such debates as “foolish”. - FMT
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