Ministry On Info-gathering Mode Of Medical Institutions

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry Tuesday lamented the absence of half of the foreign missions invited for a meeting here last week on medical institutions in their country.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Ismail Merican said only 15 of the 29 invited embassies and high commissions turned up for the meeting.
He said the gathering was called to enable the ministry obtain the latest information on the institutions, some of which had undergone a name change.
"Some of the doctors or students who have graduated from these institutions face difficulty in registering with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) due to the name change," he told reporters after attending a function here.
Dr Ismail said the initiative was made as the government was reviewing the status of more than 300 recognised medical institutions abroad for Malaysian students.
"There has been no review since 1971. We have 344 medical institutions for the training of doctors. It's time for a review. We convened the meeting so that it's easier to get access to current information," he said.
He said the ministry would remind the absentees in writing and if there was no response, he would discuss with Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek on what to do next to glean the information from them.