Only one-fifth of medical grads pass exam

Star: JOHOR BARU: Medical graduates from unrecognised medical universities have fared poorly in the Medical Qualification Examination (MQE), with only 20.3% passing the examination.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said some graduates had to sit for the examination three times.
There were also cases where the medical graduates did not even know how to examine a pregnant woman because they had been poorly trained.
The MQE was conducted to give students who graduated from unrecognised universities an opportunity to practise in Malaysia.
Chua said medical graduates from such universities were given an opportunity to undergo six months' training under different disciplines of medicine. They were even paid an allowance of RM500 a month.
Upon completion of training, these graduates would be required to sit for the theory and practical examination. If they passed, they would be absorbed into the workforce.
Of the 200-odd doctors who graduated from unrecognised universities in India, China and Indonesia, only 81 registered for training. Of the 71 who subsequently showed up for training, 69 took the MQE.
From that number, only 14 doctors – or 20.3% – passed the examination.
Dr Chua said that while the Health Ministry was fully aware of the shortage of doctors in the country, no compromise would be made on the standard and quality of medical care.
“We certainly don’t want to create a situation where a patient turns around to the doctor and demands to know where they were trained,” he said.
“We urge parents not to send their children to universities that are not recognised,” he said, adding that the Health Ministry, through the Malaysian Medical Council, wanted to maintain its standard of practice.
The MQE was coordinated by the ministry and conducted by Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.