Malaysia Needs To Double Its Anaesthesiologists

MELAKA, March 17 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry has set a target of one anaesthesiologist to 30,000 population to overcome the shortage of these specialists.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Friday there were currently 450 anaesthesiologists practising in the country, with the ratio at one to 60,000 population.
In the developed countries, the ratio was one to 10,000 population, he said at the opening of the annual scientific meeting of the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and College of Anaesthesiologists here. His speech was delivered by his deputy, Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad.
He said that with the rapid expansion of surgical specialities, the anaeasthetics department of government hospitals were finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate operating time for the increasing number of surgeons.
He added that a survey done in October last year showed that the ratio of anaesthesiologists to surgeons in the ministry's hospitals was one to five.
Due to this shortage, the modus operandi was for the anaesthetics department to train medical officers to administer the anaesthetics while the specialists moved from one operating room to another to provide the necessary supervision, he said.
He said that in many of the smaller hospitals in East Malaysia, the anaesthetic services were still being provided by specially trained medical assistants.
Another strategy to overcome the shortage of manpower was to increase the intake of trainees into the local master's programme.
He said it was important that local master's programme increase its current intake of anaesthetics trainees to about 60 students a year, which would be about a third of the total intake for surgical trainees, bearing in mind that the desirable ratio of anaesthesiologist to surgeons was 1 to 2.5.