He teaches neurosurgeons, but can’t be one in M’sia

PETALING JAYA: Dr Lu Yeow Yuen completed his compulsory housemanship at the Sarawak General Hospital and then went abroad to qualify as a neurosurgeon.

He now wants to return to Malaysia to serve, but he cannot. The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has rejected his application to be registered on the National Specialist Register.

Lu says that he has a recognised qualification under Section 14B (c) of the Medical Act 1971 as he has passed exams under the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, FRCS (Ire).

Speaking to The Star, Lu said his qualifications are intercollegiate exams, where the Royal College of Surgeons – Glasgow, Edinburgh, England and Ireland combined to offer exams for the international community.

“I sat for the exam and obtained the FRCS (Ire), but I was told that my qualifications are not recognised.

“But my exam is exactly the same and the examiners are from the Royal College of Surgeons,” he said.

He is now pursuing legal action and has been granted leave for judicial review proceedings against MMC and the Registrar of Medical Practitioners.

Lu described his rejection saga as similar to that of four other cardiothoracic surgeons who were also rejected by the MMC.

“We took the same intercollegiate exams; only theirs is with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, while mine is with Ireland,” he said.

Lu has appealed three times internally with the MMC over the past three years.

“I went abroad to train myself and now I want to come back to serve, but the council is stopping me.

“Malaysia is definitely home for me. My wife and children are all in Malaysia. I have been trying to come back since Covid-19 times,” he said, adding that he has been flying between Malaysia and Hong Kong, where he is now an assistant professor in neurosurgery at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

He has also previously worked as a neurosurgeon in Singapore and Hong Kong.