Thursday, November 20, 2008, 05.54 PM

MEDICAL DEGREEEmulate S'pore in setting standard

It is mind-boggling, to say the least, that we continue to have problems with Malaysian students studying in medical colleges in India and other countries.

As I had written previously in a letter which received no response from the authorities, these problems could have been avoided if the authorities had decided to limit recognition of foreign medical degrees to graduates from top medical schools in selected countries.

I had also highlighted what had been done in Singapore by the Singapore Medical Council which has recognised basic medical degrees from only nine medical schools in India.

These medical schools are: All-India Institute of Medical Sciences; Christian Medical College, Vellore; Armed Forces Medical College, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences; Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi University; Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Pondicherry University; Lady Hardinge Medical College (New Delhi), University of Delhi; Grant Medical College (Mumbai), Maharashtra University of Health Sciences; St John's Medical College (Bangalore), Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences; and Madras Medical College (Chennai), Tamil Nadu Dr M. G. R. Medical University.

It is acknowledged that Singapore has one of the best healthcare systems in Asia.

A major reason for this is the stringent enforcement of standards in medical education, both in Singapore and in the foreign medical schools recognised by the Singapore authorities.

If Malaysia and Singapore were to have a common list of stringently vetted foreign medical schools, then, at the very least, Malaysians would be spared the uncertainty of studying medicine in "unrecognised" medical schools.

If they then still choose to study in "unrecognised" schools, they should be prepared for the consequences.

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