Sarawak is ready to take in returning Malaysian specialists and international medical students in Malaysia to help address the shortage of doctors in the state, says Datuk Michael Tiang.
The state Deputy Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister said the Sarawak Medical Committee (SMC) was seeking approval from the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) on this matter.
He said overseas-trained Malaysian doctors who wished to return often faced the obstacle of needing a pass in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Bahasa Melayu and History to serve in public hospitals.
“We also notice that international medical students who graduate in Malaysia are generally not allowed to do housemanship in Malaysia, according to council regulations.
“We are now proposing to MMC to delegate to us the authority to recruit this group of talents to come to Sarawak to serve or do their housemanship,” he told Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh (GPS-Bawang Assan) during Question Time in the state legislative assembly.
Tiang said Sarawak’s healthcare sector still has 5,738 vacancies in existing approved posts by the Health Ministry.
He said the state also needed an additional 18,814 posts to be created to meet its healthcare demands.
In light of this, he said the SMC’s establishment, under delegated authority from MMC, would strengthen Sarawak’s capacity to suitably address its own healthcare workforce and regulatory challenges.
“The SMC provides a platform to facilitate workforce planning and expedite regulatory processes related to medical practitioners and specialists serving in Sarawak.
“This includes facilitating the issuance of limited practising licences for qualified foreign medical practitioners and returning Malaysian specialists with internationally recognised qualifications that may not yet be formally recognised locally.”
Tiang also said the SMC was part of Sarawak’s pursuit of greater healthcare autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) to meet the state’s unique healthcare realities.
“Greater healthcare autonomy under MA63 does not imply separation from the national healthcare system.
“Rather, it empowers Sarawak to implement context-specific solutions more efficiently,” he said.
