MMC Satisfactory for Students Who Study Medicine Locally

(photo courtesy: nst.com.my)

Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Malaysia’s Higher Education Minister recently talked about the situation of medical students and schools in the country, and those abroad as well. He indicated that both the quality and quantity of medical students and corresponding medical schools currently stand within the quota and the requirements laid out by the MMC.

MMC works through accrediting and recognising medical schools and ensuring the smooth running of operations, as well as students and lecturers. Only through the recognition of schools by the MMC can graduates be provided with a practicing license within Malaysia. Facilities and lecturers are priority when running a medical school, stated the minister.

While the incoming and outgoing students, as well as lecturers in Malaysian medical schools are rightly spaced, “the bigger issue actually comes from medical students graduating from abroad,” according to Jusoh. The large number of students coming back home to practice after studying medicine abroad are not under the jurisdiction of the Higher Education Ministry, but of the MMC and Health Ministry, in need of placements in local hospitals.

Whereas fresh graduates from recognised institutions simply need to intern for a year and spend a minimum of three years in public health services, graduates from non-recognised institutions are required to take and pass a medical exam in order to obtain a practising license.