Zambry told the Dewan Rakyat that Universiti Malaya (UM) would “hopefully” obtain the necessary approval for a cardiothoracic surgery course by then.
He said the ministry had held discussions with UM through the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and found that the university was already planning to introduce the programme.
“By October, we expect UM to be able to offer the cardiothoracic surgery course,” he said, responding to a question by Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) on the possibility of other universities offering the programme.
It was previously reported that only Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) has a cardiothoracic surgery specialist programme although it has yet to be recognised by the Malaysian Medical Council.
The Malaysian Qualifications Agency has however given the programme a provisional nod to train cardiothoracic surgeons.
On May 29, Zambry said UM was among the universities in the process of being accredited to run a cardiothoracic surgery course.
While he did not identify the other universities, Zambry said such courses would be offered in the near future once these institutions obtain the accreditation.
Malaysia has been plagued by a lack of cardiothoracic surgeons at public hospitals, resulting in a long waiting list for surgery for heart patients, some of whom do not survive the wait.
Speaking today, Zambry also reiterated that UiTM would maintain its admission policies, citing a report from the Bumiputera economic congress earlier this year which he said necessitated that the university continue catering to the community to improve their socioeconomic status.
According to the report, he said, economic disparities remained in terms of average monthly income, corporate equity ownership, poverty rates, skilled labour output, and professional qualifications.
“Moreover, hardcore poverty among the Bumiputeras still requires an ongoing effort. Therefore, maintaining UiTM’s policy for the Malay community, the Orang Asli, and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak is still necessary to achieve the government’s goal of narrowing the socioeconomic gap between ethnic groups,” he said.
The Malaysian Medical Association previously called on UiTM to prioritise public health needs by temporarily opening its postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme to non-Bumiputera students.
But Zambry said there had been no talks at the ministry level on opening UiTM’s enrolment to non-Bumiputera students.
UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahim also said the university had held no talks at the senate or executive council level about changing its student admission policy.