Federal Govt to continue offering medical, dentistry and pharmacy scholarships, says PM

GEORGE TOWN: The Federal Government will continue to provide scholarships for students pursuing medicine, dentistry and pharmacy under the Public Service Department (PSD), says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said the decision to continue the scholarships was made based on the current needs of the country.

"Last week, I met with PSD to discuss the sponsorship which was supposed to have been stopped, but I ask them to review," he said, adding that the positions were in high demand.

Anwar said this meant that PSD would continue with the scholarship programme for students pursuing studies in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

Anwar said this in response to a question from a student, who attended the Temu Anwar programme at Universiti Sains Malaysia, which was organised by the university and the Anwar Ibrahim Club (AIC) here on Sunday (June 11).

He arrived at the university at about 4.30pm and spent about an hour speaking to students and answering their questions.

Previously, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said her ministry was in talks with PSD to review their decision to discontinue the scholarship for students pursuing studies in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

This was following a study by the Health Ministry pertaining to the oversupply of medical officers.

Dr Zaliha was also reported to have said that the ministry was prepared to review a study conducted in 2019 which projected the country having an oversupply of medical officers from 2026 to 2030.

She had said the decision would adversely affect students and discourage them from pursuing these fields of studies.