Higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said he wanted to rope in the health ministry to get to the root of the problem and resolve the matter as soon as possible.
All teaching hospitals come under the higher education ministry’s purview.
“I hope to get this done after Raya,” he told FMT. He would also seek the help of health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad to look into ways of resolving the issue.
“In terms of jurisdiction, this matter falls under the health ministry. What I am trying to do is to get all of us to come together and get to the root of the problem,” Zambry said.
Zambry said the meeting will also include representatives from Universiti Sains Malaysia and the Malaysian Qualification Agency.
The minister’s action comes after six government-sponsored medical doctors decided to take legal action against MMC.
The six, graduates of USM in pathology (medical genetics), are seeking a judicial review to compel MMC to enrol them on the national specialist register to enable them to practise as specialists in Malaysia.
They claim the MMC’s refusal to list them was “unreasonable and irrational” and tantamount to misconduct by the medical regulator.
According to the affidavit, the doctors seek an annulment of MMC’s decision, a declaration of their compliance with registration requirements and an order to compel MMC to register them.
Zambry said he had heard about MMC’s refusal to recognise certain specialists’ programmes after he took over the ministry last December.
Zambry also said he had no issue with Dzulkelfly leading the discussions as the government wanted to get to the bottom of the problem which has since evolved into a major concern for the country.
“Together, we will propose measures to the MQA on ways to settle the problem.”
USM course endorsed by two ministries
USM’s medical genetics programme had been endorsed as a specialist course by both the ministry of health and the higher education ministry. Government scholarships were also offered, which the six doctors received.
However, MMC refused to endorse the USM’s medical genetics programme and asked the university to undergo a re-accreditation of the course.
The council’s decision sparked controversy, being seen as overturning previous endorsements by the two ministries.
Official records seen by FMT show that the affected doctors have already been gazetted as specialists by either the higher education ministry or the director-general of health, who is also the MMC president.
A check with the specialist register revealed that a USM-trained medical genetics specialist was listed in 2015 after completing the same course as the six doctors.
There are currently only 10 medical genetics specialists in Malaysia but only one has a licence to practise.
Last week, Dzulkefly said the Medical Act 1971 is expected to be amended at the June session of the Dewan Rakyat to rectify issues linked to the recognition of specialists by MMC.
He affirmed the ministry’s commitment to increasing the number of specialists to meet the country’s needs.
However, he has yet to confirm whether the amendment to the law will be limited to candidates from a parallel pathway programme, involving foreign universities, or encompass all specialist courses, including the case of the genetic pathology doctors in question.