Concern over ‘exodus’ of medical grads

Tuesday May 4, 2010
Concern over ‘exodus’ of medical grads

KUALA LUMPUR: There is concern that some medical graduates who complete their studies do not register with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) for their compulsory service but opt instead to serve in another country.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) vice-chancellor Tan Sri Prof Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said these graduates applied for their testimonials so as to obtain jobs in a neighbouring country.
“Among our medical students graduating in August this year, there are 20 who have applied for their testimonials,” she said yesterday when opening the Asia Pacific Conference of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences 2010 on behalf of Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
UKM Medical Centre director and Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof Datuk Dr Lokman Saim said the university produces between 200 and 215 medical graduates annually.
“When someone wants to work in a foreign country, one of the prerequisites is a testimonial. Since they have not practised as doctors here, they are unable to get one from the Health Ministry, so they need to get it from me as the faculty dean,” he said.
Prof Sharifah Hapsah added that as long as the medical graduates had not registered with the MMC for their compulsory service, “they are free to serve in another country”.
She said the same was happening with the university’s allied health science graduates, with many opting to work in a neighbouring country.
“We must see how we can retain our talent. I am sure it is not just the salary that matters,” she said.
Prof Sharifah Hapsah said she was appealing to the graduates on moral and ethical grounds to remain and serve the country.
“We are not stopping them from going for further studies or work experience but want to remind them to fulfil their obligations to the country, as the degrees are highly subsidised by the Government,” she said.
Earlier, in her speech, Prof Sharifah Hapsah said UKM’s Audiology and Speech Sciences Department was collaborating with De Montfort University under the British Council Prime Minister’s Initiative II Grant on language development in Malaysian children speaking Malay and Mandarin.
When further developed and standardised, the potential of this tool to clinicians to assess and manage children with language difficulties would be enormous, she added.
She congratulated project head Dr Lixian Jin (from De Montfort University) and co-head UKM clinical linguist Assoc Prof Dr Rogayah A Razak for pioneering the prototype test, a first in Malaysia and South-East Asia.