Common licensing exam for Malaysian medical graduates

education-msia

3 years ago we heard some noise about an MMLE or Malaysian Medical Licensing Examination which was to be a common licensing examination for all graduates but apparently this proposal did not see the light of day.
Now we hear the MOH is mulling a licensing examination for foreign medical graduates

The Health Ministry is considering a proposal for all graduates from foreign medical schools to sit for a licensing
examination before being granted registration in the country.
Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry was looking into measures suggested by the Malaysian Medical Council in order to enhance the standard of medical practice in the country.
“The proposal (sitting for a licensing examination) is the practice of many countries now, among them the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom has the Professional and Language Assessment Board examination.
“In the United States (US), they have the US Medical Licensing Examination.
These measures will ensure that all medical practitioners who wish to practice in Malaysia meet a certain standard,” he said in a statement here today.

If we really want to emulate the USMLE and ensure common standards for all medical graduates, shouldn’t we apply the examination to both foreign and local medical graduates? Already some think that if applied only to foreign graduates it would be unfair especially as a blanket exam for foreign graduates includes graduates from top 100 Universities in the world, of which Malaysian Universities are nowhere to be found, and very famous and long established medical schools.
Moreover, who is to say that just because a medical school is local that the standards are acceptable? Are all the local schools having adequate student: staff ratios? The private medical school business is a business and there is always the temptation of taking more students than the medical school can handle. It has happened before as a private Malaysian medical school was derecognised by the MMC for taking more than it’s allowed quota.

So what do you think? Should we have a common medical licensing examination and should it be for foreign medical graduates only or both local and foreign graduates? Take our poll:

[poll id=”6″]

** CALLING ALL MALAYSIAN DOCTORS **
DISCUSS IN OUR DOBBS FORUMS FOR DOCTORS

About

Malaysian physician, haematologist, blogger, web and tech enthusiast