‘Not enough to only produce doctors’

WHILE the shortage of medical specialists must be addressed, an overemphasis on producing clinicians can hamper healthcare efforts, particularly during outbreaks like the Covid-19 pandemic.

The focus of medical schools on producing clinicians, rather than clinician-researchers who are able to bridge the gap between fundamental and clinical research, is due to the low specialist-to-population ratio in Malaysia, noted Universiti Malaya (UM) Medicine Faculty dean Prof Dr April Camilla Roslani. But such emphasis, if we are not careful, could derail Malaysia’s plans of becoming a developed nation, she cautioned.