PETALING JAYA: Medical associations in Malaysia approve of the new entrance examination that doctors pursuing specialist education in public universities are now required to take.
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr N Ganabaskaran told FMT a standardised and centralised examination run by a neutral authority would be a step towards ensuring quality.
He noted that current postgraduate programmes run by public universities were not standardised, with different sets of criteria used for admission into different programmes and specialists boards independently administering the examinations.
“Some specialties, such as general surgery, require an interview and passing an entrance exam, while others, like orthopaedics and ophthalmology, run basic science exams as entry exams,” he said.
Early this month, the Medical Deans Council of Malaysia (MDCM) announced that doctors seeking specialist education were now required to take the Medical Specialist Entrance Exam (MedEx), which will be conducted by MDCM and the Malaysian Education Council.
Ganabaskaran said he believed the standardisation would ensure fairness and transparency.
He said his only concern was that the fee charged for taking the examination – RM800 – was too high.
MMA had asked the governing councils to consider reducing it to RM500, he added.
Dr Milton Lum, a member of the Malaysian Medical Council, said he believed MedEx could help determine the aptitude and professionalism required of the aspirants and this would in turn ensure the quality of specialist care.
He noted that doctors currently pursuing specialist education at public universities were selected by the health ministry, which he said was an unsatisfactory process. This had been shown in the high attrition rate in such programmes, he added.
“MDMC is implementing this exam so that progress can be controlled,” he said.
“I see it as an attempt to regularise what has seemed to be a haphazard process of choosing specialties.”
He said MedEx should be robust, transparent and designed to change with the times.
The president of the Muslim Doctors Association, Dr Ahmad Shukri Ismail, said MedEx could help determine the quality of specialist care by reducing what he described as the “overwhelming number” of doctors seeking specialist training.
He said more than 5,000 doctors were graduating annually and Malaysia did not have enough hospitals to accommodate them.
“With thorough selection and vetting done through MedEx, it will be easier to fit the numbers,” he said. “And it’ll make sure they are knowledgeable and competent.”
The first MedEx will held this Nov 16 at five centres: Malaysian Examinations Council, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital, University Malaysia Sabah and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. - FMT
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