Register only for genuine specialists

Star: PUTRAJAYA: There is no room for any “wannabe” in the National Specialist Register (NSR) to be launched in August.
“If you do not meet the criteria to be on the list, then you are not a specialist,” said Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.
The registration process, which would include a check on credentials and competency, was vital to maintain and safeguard the highest standards of specialist practice in the country, he told reporters here yesterday.
Describing the register as a landmark move, he said action could be taken against those who falsify information to claim they were specialists.
Dr Ismail said because there was no such register at the moment, the exact number of specialists in the country, especially in the private sector, was not known.
The Medical Act 1971, he said, was being amended to include a provision to register specialists. He hoped it would be passed this year.
“The NSR will ensure that doctors designated as specialists are appropriately trained and fully competent to practise at the expected higher level of care in the particular specialty.
“Until the Act is passed, credentialing of specialists will be undertaken by the National Credentialing Committee established by the ministry.
“Practitioners admitted to the NSR will be deemed to be specialists under the amended Act,” he added.
Dr Ismail said the NSR would be a source of reference for the impending National Health Financing Scheme, where payment for service would be based on the credentials of the practitioner.
He said the NSR was important once Malaysia opened its doors to foreign medical specialists in compliance with the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
The registration exercise for the NSR is a joint effort between the ministry and the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (AMM).
Those who meet the stipulated criteria can register with the NSR secretariat housed at the academy. The fees are at RM1,200 for AMM members and RM1,500 for non-members. The NSR registration is renewable every five years.
The AMM, set up in 1969, has 2,200 members from various specialities.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek will launch the NSR on Aug 24 at the ministry’s annual congress. Registration can be done online at www.nsr.org.my