Perak ruler tells doctors to put patients first

NST: IPOH: The integrity of medical services will be tainted if practitioners forget their priorities in pursuit of wealth.
The Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah said this would eventually lead to doctors neglecting services to the people, especially the poor.
At the opening of Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Royal College of Medicine Perak’s (UniKL-RCMP) eighth campus here he reminded institutions of higher learning on the need to instil ethical and humanitarian values in undergraduates.
"The philosophy behind medical services must be instilled in the minds, and humanitarian values nurtured in the hearts of all medical practitioners," he said.
Stressing that modern medical services were now a daily necessity, Sultan Azlan Shah said a patient’s comfort and peace of mind should always be the priority.
"The patient and family members need assurance, and medical practitioners must display a high level of compassion."
He said as a college that had been accorded the "royal" status, RCMP had to be intelligent in instilling such values so that its graduates were well rounded and balanced.
"This college would have to push hard to prove that its academic and research performances befit that of a college with royal status."
RCMP started out as Perak Medical College in February 1999 with an enrolment of 27 and a single programme.
In 2005, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) took over PMC, a move which enabled the college to upgrade its status to become a campus of UniKL in June last year.
Now, with an enrolment of nearly 900, there are four programmes — medicine and surgery, nursing, pharmacy and radiology.