THE amendment Bill to the Medical Act 1971 is expected to be tabled and passed next month, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said the Bill was expected to be tabled in the third week of this Dewan Rakyat meeting.
“We expect to pass the Bill the following week,” he said in response to Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat) who asked the minister to explain the difference between the local specialist training and the parallel pathway programme, as well as the total cost of sponsorship spent by the government for this purpose.
Dzulkfely said amendments to the Act would streamline irregularities linked to the specialist training programme involving parallel pathways and local master’s degrees.
“Engagements have been made with different stakeholders; we have engaged with everyone worth the salt.
“The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has reviewed the draft Bill and it will be brought to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Health.”
Responding to Dr Ahmad Yunus’ question on the difference between the parallel pathway and the master’s degree, Dzulkefly said the former was conducted by the Health Ministry in accordance with international standards.
He further explained that local master’s programmes were offered by local universities.
“To date, there are 120 local master’s degree programmes in medicine offered by nine universities and 14 specialties for parallel pathway programmes.”
He also said there were a total of 6,933 medical officers who had received government scholarships for specialist training.
The figure comprised 6,142 for local master’s degree programmes and 791 for the parallel pathway, he added.
The government had spent a total of RM10mil for the parallel pathway scholarships and another RM142.4mil for local master’s programmes.
Dzulkefly also said that 2,622 medical officers were enrolled in the parallel pathway programmes without scholarships.
On Wednesday, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir told the Dewan Rakyat that cardiothoracic specialist training was expected to be offered at Universiti Malaya by October as part of the parallel pathway initiative.
He said the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) would offer the course as one of the ways to address the shortage of specialists in the field.
The Star reported in March that the shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons has left some 1,500 heart and lung disease patients in government hospitals in dire straits.
