CARDIOTHORACIC specialist training is expected to be offered at Universiti Malaya by October, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
He said the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) would offer the course as one of the ways to address the shortage of specialists in the field.
“A discussion was held with UM through UMMC. We are hopeful the issue can be resolved by October.
“The course offered will allow those interested to pursue the specialisation, and it will also be followed by other universities,” he said in response to a supplementary question by Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor).
Ramkarpal, in his original question, had asked the ministry to explain whether it would allow non-bumiputra students to enrol in UiTM by amending the UiTM Act 1976.
He said the question was put forward following recent reports on an acute shortage of cardiothoracic specialists and that only UiTM was offering the post-graduate course.
Responding to this, Zambry said UiTM would maintain its bumiputra policies, citing a study by the Bumiputra Economic Congress that showed there were still economic gaps between the group and other races.
It was reported that UiTM is the only university that offers a parallel pathway programme in collaboration with the National Heart Institute (IJN) in the cardiothoracic field, which comprises surgery and care for heart and lung diseases.
On April 25, a news report quoted UiTM-IJN cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme board member Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar as saying that the university was agreeable to opening the course to non-bumiputra.
Previously, the Malaysian Medical Association said UiTM should allow the entry of non-bumiputra Malaysians seeking specialised training in the cardiothoracic field since international students could enrol in the university.
Back in May, Zambry said there had been no discussion on allowing the entry of non-bumiputra into UiTM.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat that while there were only 17 cardiothoracic specialists serving in the ministry now, there were 23 doctors receiving training in the specialisation, with 16 of them through parallel pathway training and seven taking the UiTM Medical Master’s programme.
“The ministry is constantly trying to overcome the shortage of cardiothoracic surgery specialists. Among the steps taken is to introduce specialist training through parallel path specialist training in 2014, and in 2020, UiTM established a Master of Medicine in Cardiothoracic Surgery,” he said in a written reply to Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka).Khoo had asked the ministry to explain measures taken to address the lack of cardiothoracic surgery specialists.
Dzulkefly said the ministry had carried out several initiatives to further improve and widen specialist services for Malaysians, including increasing the number of federal specialist scholarships to 1,650 slots annually.
“(The ministry) is also increasing the opportunities for specialist training through the Health Ministry’s parallel pathway programme, with 600 slots being offered,” he added.
The Star reported in March that the shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons has left some 1,500 heart and lung disease patients in government hospitals in dire straits.
