MMC: Fewer new doctors registered
Provisional registrations of graduate medical practitioners across the country have declined by almost 40% since 2017, a Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) report revealed.
The MMC annual report for 2022 showed that the registrations decreased from 6,147 in 2017 to 5,218 in 2020, and then to 3,857 in 2022.
Provisional registrations of graduate medical practitioners in local private institutions went down from 2,022 in 2020 to 1,810 in 2022, with qualified foreign institutions seeing the biggest drop by almost 60%, from 1,882 in 2020 to only 690 in 2022.
The provisional registration allows newly qualified graduate doctors to undertake the general clinical training needed for full registration.
During this time, they will practise as house officers in hospitals and institutions approved by the Medical Qualifying Committee under Section 13 of the Medical Act 1971.
However, the MMC said statistics of provisional registration of postgraduate students entering graduate training in Malaysia did not accurately reflect the exact figures.
“Some medical practitioners choose alternative pathways or decide to start their careers abroad after obtaining registration.
“Although MMC manages pre-registration procedures and postgraduate training standards, the recruitment of graduate medical practitioners for clinical appointments depends on the availability of training slots at the Health Ministry,” it said in the report which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Despite the decrease in provisional registrations, MMC said the passing rate for the provisional registration examination actually increased significantly in 2022.
It said all 33 examinees passed the first batch of clinical tests in June 2022 while the second batch in December 2022 saw a 90% pass rate in contrast to 2021, when the first batch had a 93% pass rate and the second at 84.6%.
The annual number of medical specialists registered by MMC saw a four-year high in 2022 at 1,077 registered compared with 937 in 2021, 908 in 2022 and 893 in 2019.
This boom included 994 new medical specialists in the public sector, 52 in the private sector and 31 in other sectors for 2022.
The report also stated that MMC issued 126 temporary practicing certificates (TPC) in 2022, a three-year peak since 2020 when only 45 where issued.
It said the increase was due to the reduction in Covid-19 cases nationwide which allowed foreign medical practitioners entry into the country.
The issuing of annual practicing certificates (APC) also hit a six-year high of 66,820 in 2022, a 30% increase from 44,802 APCs issued in 2017.
The APC is a requirement for medical practitioners to practise medicine in Malaysia that needs to be renewed annually.
MMC also said it received 85 complaints under the Medical Act 1971 (Amendment 2012), which is also a six-year high from only 11 complaints in 2017.
Source: The Star
Category: MJN enews
