(Pic from adm.monash.edu)

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong announced in early September that the Cabinet has decided to increase the intake of medical students by 100 for deserving students aspiring to be medical professionals, bringing the total of 2014 intake by public universities from 919 to 1019.

However, despite the increase, the number of students admitted to public universities for the year 2014 has been reduced substantially from previous years.

According to a written answer by Minister of Education to MP for Pasir Gudang, Puan Hajah Normala Binti Abdul Samad dated November 3, 2014, the total number of student admitted to medical schools in public universities were 2,619 and 2,027 for year 2012 and 2013 respectively. It is a reduction of 61% if compared with 2012 and a reduction of 49.7% if compared with 2013!

It was stated in the same answer that the total intake by 21 private institutions that offer 26 medical courses for the year 2014 was 8,344. In other words, the total number of 1st year medical students for the year 2014 is 9,363. So the next question is, do we have the capacity to provide sufficient training for them when they graduate?

In a separate written answer, Minister of Health Datuk Seri Dr. Subramaniam disclosed that the number of trainee doctors in public hospitals has increased from 3,743 as at 2012 to 4,991 for the year 2013, an increase of 33%. In the same answer, he also provided the projection of medical graduates for the coming 5 years: –

Students newly enrolled in the nation’s medical school will graduate in 2019, and not to forget those students who go to overseas. At the current trend, it seems that 40% or even 50% of them will end up being unable to get a placement in our hospital to be trainee doctors!

This is a classic example where the right hand of our Government has no clue what the left hand is doing. The Minister of Education and Minister of Health need to sit down and discuss how to solve the dilemma immediately. Or else, the lack of co-ordination between the Education Ministry and Health Ministry will definitely jeopardize the future of our medical students.