Multilevel efforts being made to protect M’sia-based students after UK policy shift
PETALING JAYA: A new law in the United Kingdom, which prioritises UK medical graduates for its foundation programme, is “distressing and unsettling” for Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) students, says the university.
NUMed, the only institution in Malaysia offering a medical programme recognised by both the Malaysian Medical Council and the UK’s General Medical Council, said it is now working with all parties concerned so that their graduates could enter the UK foundation programme, which paves the way towards pursuing a career in UK public hospitals.
Since January, the university has been working with the British High Commission in Malaysia, the British Council, the UK Department for Business and Trade, and the Medical Schools Council on the matter.
This initiative was in view of the enforcement of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act from March 5, which will see UK medical graduates being given priority to enter the National Health Service (NHS) through the UK Foundation Programme and speciality training pathways.
The Act would place medical graduates from UK branch campuses, which includes NUMed, on a “reserve list” for admission into those pathways.
A UK medical graduate is defined by the British Parliament as someone who spent all or the majority of their study within the United Kingdom.
In a statement yesterday, NUMed explained that the university had never guaranteed access to postgraduate training in the United Kingdom, but it acknowledged that there was such a perception, as many of its graduates had progressed into the UK Foundation Programme in recent years.
“We recognise that the UK government’s recent changes to medical training prioritisation in the UK are deeply distressing and unsettling for our students, particularly those who had hoped to pursue their careers in the UK,” said the university.
“While this decision represents a change in prioritisation, graduates remain eligible for allocation to a training post,” it said.
As such, NUMed said it has taken swift and coordinated action to ensure clarity and continued access to opportunities.
For Malaysian students, NUMed said it operates a UK GMC Malaysian Housemanship Programme, through which graduates complete housemanship at one of eight GMC-recognised hospitals in Malaysia.
The GNC refers to the UK’s General Medical Council.
“Upon successful completion and subject to prevailing UK regulatory requirements, graduates may become eligible to apply for UK specialty training,” it said.
The university said its MBBS is identical to the degree awarded by its UK counterpart and remains a GMC-accredited Primary Medical Qualification.
“In addition to recognition by the GMC and the MMC, NUMed’s MBBS programme is recognised by a number of international medical authorities, providing graduates with potential pathways to practise in other jurisdictions, subject to local regulatory requirements,” it said.
NUMed also said it is supporting international students through career events, advisory sessions and tailored guidance on global medical pathways.
NUMed regional provost and group CEO (East and South-East Asia) Prof Dennis Wong said the eligibility to apply for the UK Foundation Programme is unchanged, and graduates of overseas campuses of UK medical schools, including NUMed, are not excluded from applying.
On Jan 27, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, addressed the British Parliament regarding a new law aimed at reducing competition among medical graduates from the United Kingdom for residency positions within the NHS.
Streeting said there were nearly 40,000 applicants for 10,000 places this year, with almost twice as many overseas-trained applicants as UK-trained ones for residency in the NHS.
He said the Act is meant to prevent medical practitioners from “depriving” their own country, which is in desperate need of doctors.
