Parallel Pathway still a good way to train medical officers

THE College of Physicians of Malaysia wishes to thank the Health Minister for pledging his commitment to resolving the ongoing specialist training issues. The College, which represents all internal medicine, psychiatry and rehabilitation medicine specialists in Malaysia, is also relieved that the Health Ministry is not planning to abolish the Parallel Pathway Programme.

Internal medicine specialisation occurs after housemanship. Currently, medical officers undergo specialist training either through the Masters of Internal Medicine offered by local universities or the Parallel Pathway offered by the Health Ministry.

Internal medicine training is a vital conduit for further subspecialisation in cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, advanced acute internal medicine, infectious disease, geriatric medicine and hepatology, to name a few. Hence, any impact that adversely affects internal medicine training will have a domino effect on all the other subspecialities as well.

The Parallel Pathway Internal Medicine Malaysia, which has been and remains by far the main pathway for training physicians for the country, is a structured training programme that involves four years of supervised training within the Health Ministry while incorporating Membership of the Federation of the Royal College of Physicians UK or the Royal College of Physicians Ireland.

The programme currently offers training in internal medicine utilising a self-sufficient system leveraging primarily trainers and resources within the Health Ministry itself.

The College of Physicians unequivocally supports the Parallel Pathway for the training of specialist physicians in Malaysia. The College also supports the masters’ programmes being run by local universities.

Both pathways are necessary to ensure that we are able to train as many specialists as possible of the highest quality to address the serious shortage while adhering to the standards determined by the Malaysian Medical Council.

It is imperative that both pathways continue to serve their role and complement each other. This is to ensure that Malaysian doctors are given an unencumbered opportunity to specialise further as physicians, ultimately for the good health of the Malaysian population.

The College of Physicians also urges a relook into policies governing HLP (federal government) scholarships for medical officers, which are limiting options for specialisation in internal medicine. Allow doctors the option of self-funding their specialist training within a structured programme while adhering to standards. This would also remove an unnecessary financial burden on an already overstretched system.

The College of Physicians is gravely concerned by the reduced number of registrations of trainees in the Parallel Pathway.

The College of Physicians is the largest subscriber to the Parallel Pathway with over 1,000 doctors in various phases of training within internal medicine.

A large number of these trainees are based in Sarawak and Sabah, where the urgent need for physician-led healthcare is felt the most.

It is vital that the College of Physicians also be involved in the process of devising a long-term strategy to meet our healthcare goals. Other stakeholders like the medical societies that represent junior doctors must also be included. Malaysia only stands to gain with all parties working together.

Strategic planning is urgently needed in order to ensure that Malaysia is not only able to maintain its excellent international reputation in quality healthcare but also that the fraternity fulfils its great potential in becoming global leaders in medical care.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS MALAYSIA