Medical grads see red with MMC

FMT PETALING JAYA: Medical graduates from three unrecognised Ukranian universities are seeing red with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) for allowing a local university to run an offshore programme with those universities.
FMT learnt that last week, a large group of overseas medical graduates and their parents met with MMC president Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman to vent their frustration.
“About 300 students and parents had gathered but only 40 of us were taken in to meet with Hasan and other officials,” a medical graduate said on condition of anonymity.
“Our objective is to get an explanation from MMC regarding the Medical Qualifications Exam (MQE) but we are sad because Hasan did not answer our questions,” he said, referring to the examination which graduates from unrecognised universities must sit for in order to practise here.
He claimed that MMC was more interested in the welfare of private universities as opposed to that of students.
“Just look at Lincoln University College (LUC). They will make millions with the blessing of MMC,” he added.
A check by FMT showed that MMC had given the green light to LUC to run offshore programmes in three Ukrainian universities unrecognised by the Public Service Department (PSD).
The three universities were the Ternopil State Medical University, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Ivano Frankivsk National Medical University.
LUC was the only local university to obtain an approval from MMC to run offshore programmes in unrecognised universities.
“Why did LUC receive such a special privilege?” asked the student, who graduated from the Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University.
“The actual cost of completing a medical degree in Ukraine is between RM120,000 and RM130,000. But with Lincoln being the intermediary, the price will now escalate to about RM200,000 (with accomodation),” he said.

‘This is unfair’
Furthermore, the student said that with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) having given its approval, students doing these offshore programmes would receive higher education loan funds (PTPTN).
“PTPTN loan is usually given to those studying in local institutions that are MQA-approved,” he added.
He also pointed out that while the Malaysian ambassador to Ukraine had suggested that a Ukranian university could only enrol 50 Malaysian students if recognised, MMC however granted LUC 300 seats for the three universities.
“So LUC would earn about RM70,000 from each student and RM21 million in total from the 300 seats,” he added.
The student also asked why MMC appointed a third party (LUC), which resulted in students having to pay more, when the three universities had submitted a proposal to MMC directly to be recognised.
He also accused LUC of misleading the students by claiming that the programmes in Ukraine would be conducted in their offshore campus.
“Those three universities are Ukrainian government universities and their staff are paid by the Ukrainian government. There is no evidence of LUC building an offshore campus in Ukraine,” he said, adding that Lincoln was merely operating as a recruiting agent to send students abroad.
The student also said that those who complete the LUC offshore programme would not need to sit for the MQE upon their return to Malaysia, whereas he being a direct student of one of the universities, was forced to sit for it.
“This is really unfair. Why has MMC given this privilege to LUC students when the syllabus are the same? We want an explanation,” he added.

LUC: We’ll conduct classes
When contacted, LUC’s marketing manager Murtado Alao said LUC was only using the Ukrainian universities’ facilities but the teaching would be conducted by LUC’s academic staff.
“It’s an offshore programme. The students, upon graduating, will get their medical degrees from LUC, not the Ukrainian universities,” he said, adding that their course was recognised by the MMC, the MQA and the Higher Education Ministry.
He added that even their exams would be conducted by LUC, under the strict supervision of MMC.
As for the programme cost, Murtado said it would be RM180,000 and not RM200,000. “The fee is inclusive of accommodation. No hidden costs involved,” he added.
When the matter was referred to Hasan, he redirected the e-mail queries to one Dr Ghani in LUC for response.