KUCHING, April 16 — The Malaysian Medics International (MMI) has urged the Public Service Department (PSD) to clarify its recent decision to discontinue sponsoring students in local universities intending to pursue medical-related programmes.

In a statement, MMI said the department should provide more information on this decision by disclosing its rationale to the public.

"For some individuals, they may have been discouraged and dissuaded from pursuing the health professions as this scholarship may have been their only means of funding their studies.

"In the long run, this may compromise the quality of healthcare professionals as potential candidates might be deterred due to personal financial constraints.

"We call upon the Malaysian government to acknowledge the significance of investing in these programmes to ensure that the healthcare needs of the country are met,” said MMI in the statement yesterday.

The statement was issued following an official statement released by the PSD to cease scholarships for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and para-medical programmes for the year 2023.

It was endorsed by the Malaysian Pharmacy Students’ Association, Malaysian Dental Students’ Association, Asian Medical Students’ Association Malaysia, UM Medical Society, Military Medicine National Defence University of Malaysia and Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia Student Association.

MMI also called upon the PSD to provide insights and details on its projection of healthcare professionals in the next five years.

It asserted that this would allow policymakers to review policies on human resource planning and tailor them to current healthcare needs whilst taking population growth into consideration.

"The shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly specialists, in our country remains a pressing issue that has yet to be adequately addressed,” it said.

Despite recommendations in the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 – 2020) to achieve a 1:400 doctor-to-patient ratio in public healthcare facilities, MMI said such target had not yet been met.

According to a written reply in the Dewan Rakyat last month by Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, MMI said data from the Ministry of Health (MoH) indicated that only 62 per cent of House Officer positions had been occupied, attributed to House Officer not completing their training, resigning from their posts or termination.

Given this, MMI feared that a reduction of qualified and skilled healthcare professionals in the future can be anticipated with the cease of scholarship.

According to MMI, the PSD’s decision to cease scholarships will undoubtedly impact the near and long-term future of the healthcare sector in Malaysia by reducing the interest in medical-related programmes.

As such, it called on the department to take immediate consideration of the aforementioned issues and revise the decision of scholarship suspension.

"Although it may offer a temporary solution to any pre-existing issues, we may see a deterioration of the public health sector in the near future if this scenario were to persist.

"As medical students, we are devoted to serving the rakyat. Therefore, we implore the stakeholders to strive towards establishing a conducive environment that nurtures the growth and development of healthcare professionals in Malaysia,” MMI added. — Borneo Post