KUALA
LUMPUR June 11 - The Health Ministry will look into claims by a
Malaysian graduate from Akita University in Japan that his medical
degree is unrecognised locally.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad said he was waiting
for full reports on the issue, including that from the Malaysian
Medical Council (MMC).
"I cannot comment further as the claims will be studied in
detail after obtaining feedback and full reports from various parties
including MMC," he said when contacted here Friday.
He said this when asked to comment on a Bernama report Thursday
which said a 27-year-old graduate was frustrated after finding out
that the MMC did not recognise his degree even though his medical
course in Japan was fully funded by the Public Service Department
(JPA).
JPA Deputy Director-General Datuk Zakaria Mohd Taib, when contacted,
said the department would issue a statement over this issue soon.
Meanwhile, president of Japan Graduates of Malaysia Association
Datuk Dr Siow Kuang Ling expressed his disappointment over the issue.
When contacted Friday, he called on the government to recognise
all medical degrees offered by Japanese universities.
Currently, over 18 universities in Japan including Tokyo University
and Akita University offer medical courses but some of these institutions
were not recognised by the MMC.
"This is very frustrating, as we know Japan is a developed
country and the medical programmes there are of high quality,"
said Dr Siow, a medical graduate of Fukushima University.
MEANWHILE, the Public Service Department (JPA) is offering scholarships
to 5,000 students who have successfully obtained places in selected
public and private universities.
Application forms are available from June 14 at selected Bank Simpanan
Nasional (BSN) branches nationwide, JPA said in a statement here
Friday.
Students in engineering, veterinary science, pure and applied science,
law, accounting, economics, business administration, information
technology, computer science, dentistry and medicine course can
apply for the scholarships, it said.
JPA said the scholarships were for first-degree courses.
Details on elligibility for the scholarships are available in the
June 13 edition of Mingguan Malaysia and New Sunday Times dailies.
The information is also available at www.jpa.gov.my.
Deadline for submitting the application forms is July 12. |
