They said the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, which comes under the health ministry’s parallel pathway programme, disappeared from the MMC list that year without any announcement.
They also expressed confusion over the council’s statement yesterday claiming that it had never recognised cardiothoracic surgeons from the college despite the health ministry’s declaration that these doctors could apply for gazettement as specialists.
MMC only places doctors in the National Specialists Register (NSR) if the college is on its recognition list. Those not listed in the NSR cannot practise as specialists.
Senator Dr RA Lingeswaran, who has been pursuing the matter in the Dewan Negara, said MMC records did not lie.
He also questioned MMC’s statement which he said had confused the medical fraternity.
“When the health ministry offers letters to trained specialists from this college to start their minimum six-month gazettement process, it definitely must mean that it recognises the qualification,” he said.
“Now, MMC says it does not recognise this training. It’s a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.
“The most shocking part is that the health director-general and the MMC president is the same person. What’s going on?” asked Lingeswaran, a former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang.
MMC president Dr Radzi Abu Hassan said the council had never recognised cardiothoracic surgeons from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
However, he said it had been made aware of issues related to these surgeons, and that a task force had been set up to resolve these matters as quickly as possible.
In a Facebook post, the Section Concerning House Officers and Medical Officers or Schomos of the Malaysian Medical Association also expressed confusion over the announcement.
It posted a pre-2022 record of the NSR website showing recognition of multiple parallel pathways for cardiothoracic surgery, including the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the college’s removal after that.
It also posted a screenshot from January 2022 showing that the qualification was recognised by MMC.