PUTRAJAYA, June 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has withdrawn recognition of the medical undergraduate programme offered by Ukraine's Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) to any students registered and admitted into academic year one after Dec 31, 2005.
MMC president Datuk Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said MMC also decided at its June 14 meeting not to recognise similar programmes offered by 10 other universities in Ukraine.
The MMC was concerned about the quality of medical training or education in Ukraine in producing safe and competent doctors to meet Malaysia's needs, he told a media conference Thursday.
The decision would not affect the current 1,119 medical undergraduates enrolled in various academic years in CSMU as the de-recognition would only apply to those admitted and registered after Dec 31, 2005, said Dr Mohd Ismail who is Director-General of Health.
Those pursuing the pre-medical foundation course would be eligible only if they were admitted and registered into the first academic year before Dec 31 this year.
"In other words, any CSMU undergraduates admitted and registered for academic year one and onwards before Dec 31, 2005 are eligible to register with the MMC upon their graduation.
"Those who register after Dec 31 must sit and pass the Medical Qualifying Examination stipulated under the Medical Act 1971 to be eligible for registration (with the MMC)," he said.
The CSMU was the first institution to be granted recognition by the MMC effective Aug 7, 2001. As of last month, 1,366 students are studying in CSMU -- 1,119 in various academic years and 247 others taking the pre-medical course.
Dr Mohd Ismail said that following numerous complaints, the authorities visited CSMU in October 2003 to verify them as well as the other 10 Ukrainian universities for the purpose of granting recognition.
They found some of the Malaysian students admitted into the medical undergraduate course were school drop-outs with very poor secondary school results.
The students were allowed to pursue the programme after passing the pre-medical foundation courses conducted by the Ukrainian universities.
"Their secondary school qualifications were never taken into consideration. Even arts stream secondary school drop-outs were allowed to pursue such courses," Dr Mohd Ismail said.
He said a study conducted on CSMU graduates working in the Health Ministry, and the feedback gleaned from their supervisors, revealed that the graduates' usage of English medical jargons was limited as they were more fluent and familiar with technical jargons in Ukrainian or Russian.
"Their jargons, being alien to our medical fraternity, may jeopardise the safety of our patients and well-being," he said.
The ability of the Ukrainian universities to provide teaching in English was doubtful as the number of English-speaking lecturers and facilities were insufficient to meet the demand from the sudden increase in the number of Malaysian students.
Dr Mohd Ismail said during the authorities' first visit in 2001, there were only 53 Malaysian students in CSMU, and the number jumped to 900 in 2003.
"The drastic increase in the number of student intake may inevitably compromise the quality of medical education," he said, attributing the spike to purely business considerations.
-- BERNAMA
It looks like our short association with the medical schools of the Ukraine has come to an end. The MMC recognised Ukrainian medical degrees efective Aug 7, 2001. This opened up a means for many who could not get into the medical schools locally to go to the Ukraine. Presently there are said to be more than 1000 Malaysians pursuing medical studies there. The first recognised batch of Malaysian Ukrainian trained doctors have already graduated, this batch is said to consists of about 35. The MMC has announced that students who enrolled for their medical studies after 31st Dec 2005 will not be recognised. And those who are presently in pre-medical classes better ensure that they are in the first year before 31st Dec.
There have been complaints earlier on that these medical schools were not very particular regarding who they admit, now our Health DG has revealed that even arts students and others with a science background in schools. The DG is absolutely right in ensuring that such students should not receive iimmediate recognition upon their graduation.
The CSMU is asking why it has not been told why recognition of its medical degrees has been witdrawn and why it has not been given a grace period to rectify any shortcomings. Lets await answers from the DG.
There have been complaints earlier on that these medical schools were not very particular regarding who they admit, now our Health DG has revealed that even arts students and others with a science background in schools. The DG is absolutely right in ensuring that such students should not receive iimmediate recognition upon their graduation.
The CSMU is asking why it has not been told why recognition of its medical degrees has been witdrawn and why it has not been given a grace period to rectify any shortcomings. Lets await answers from the DG.
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