28-5-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) A cohort of parallel pathway cardiothoracic surgery specialists are appealing for streamlined accreditation by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), cautioning that proposals to seek credit transfers from universities would only prolong delays in addressing the nation’s shortage of heart surgeons and the mounting waitlist for patients.
With a mere 14 cardiothoracic surgeons serving public hospitals presently, many cardiac patients face agonizing waits of up to a year for appointments and procedures. The situation has sparked urgent calls for action from the concerned specialists who have completed rigorous training programs overseen by the Health Ministry, National Heart Institute (IJN), and universities.
Speaking on behalf of the group, a spokesperson underscored the impracticality of pursuing credit transfers, arguing it would be “superfluous” given their extensive supervised clinical experience spanning at least six years at accredited cardiac centers. “All trainees adhered to the national curriculum’s standards and those set by the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh,” the representative stated.
With the UK’s General Medical Council granting registration to the specialists, the group has urged the MMC to reconsider its stance on omitting their qualifications from the National Specialist Register. “Pushing for a credit transfer merely diverts responsibility and disrupts ongoing efforts to recognize our existing qualifications,” the spokesperson told FMT.
The appeal follows a recent proposal by Dr. Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, a board member of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)’s IJN cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate program. Raja Amin had suggested “temporarily” opening the course to non-Bumiputera parallel pathway trainees through credit transfers as a potential avenue for MMC recognition.
However, the spokesperson emphasized that the Cabinet must consider the broader implications, as 14 parallel pathway specialist programs across critical fields like family medicine, urology, and obstetrics face similar predicaments due to the MMC’s non-recognition.
“Most senior cardiothoracic surgeons were trained via a comparable framework, which has since been refined with improved coordination and structured assessments,” the representative asserted. “Baseless allegations questioning our competency and training’s legitimacy insult us, our trainers, patients, and the endorsing Health Ministry.”
