In an email to three cardiothoracic surgeons, including one who has already completed this training with the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (RCSEd), the hospital said UiTM had agreed to offer this path as a solution to the problem of their non-recognition by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

The UiTM programme was given provisional accreditation by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) in 2021.

It has also offered places to those still undergoing their training at UMMC to have their specialist qualifications recognised under a credit transfer programme.

“UMMC has agreed to the proposal by UiTM for this purpose. You are required to submit your application to the director of the programme in UiTM who will consider it before sending an official offer letter,” it said in the email sighted by FMT.

The email was sent by the training and professional development division of UMMC’s human resources department.

The three cardiothoracic surgeons are seeking registration by the MMC in the National Specialist Register (NSR) pursuant to Section 14C of the Medical Act 1971.

MMC had earlier announced a task force to look into the matter.

When contacted, senator Dr RA Lingeswaran, who has been pursuing the matter at the Dewan Negara, said that while the UiTM programme might have received provisional accreditation from MQA, the cardiothoracic surgery course was not on the website’s list of recognised postgraduate qualifications.

“Under these circumstances, the graduates of the UiTM programme will not be placed in the NSR. As such, they cannot practise as specialists.

“It is important for us to distinguish between accreditation by MQA and recognition by MMC. Without the council’s recognition, these specialists from an MQA-accredited programme cannot be placed in the NSR,” said the former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang.

In January, Institut Jantung Negara asked eight RCSEd-trained cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiothoracic and vascular surgery trainees to seek accreditation by applying to continue their programme at UiTM.

This information was found in a lawsuit filed by four cardiothoracic surgeons, who were trained under the parallel pathway programme at RCSEd, seeking an order to compel MMC to list them in the NSR.

The application for judicial review will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 17.