Register only for genuine specialists

Friday June 30, 2006


Register only for genuine specialists

By V.P. SUJATA

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.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/6/30/nation/14700172&sec=nation
Move to register specialists
30 Jun 2006
Annie Freeda Cruez


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KUALA LUMPUR: A doctor who claimed that he was a specialist in gastroenterology later
described himself as a cardiologist, while at least three other doctors who had
attended a medical training programme claiming to be specialists were found to be
not.

The increasing number of bogus specialists has prompted the Health Ministry to
register all medical specialists.

A National Specialist Register has been established and the Medical Act 1971 will be
amended to include a provision for mandatory registration of all specialists if they
intend to practice.

Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said currently the Act required
all practising medical practitioners to be registered with the Malaysian Medical
Council.

This, he said, only required them to provide details of their basic medical degree,
and didnot provide for the registration of specialists who numbered more than 5,000.

"Although the ministry has its own process to keep track of specialists working in
Government hospitals, this does not extend to the private sector, thus making it
difficult to ascertain whether a doctor who claims to be a specialist actually has
the required credentials.

"The register, to be launched on Aug 24 by Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, is
to maintain and safeguard the highest standards of specialist practice in the
country," said Dr Ismail.

The register is a combined initiative of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia and the
ministry and would ensure specialists are appropriately trained, attended accredited
courses in recognised universities and are fully competent to practise.

With the register in place, Dr Ismail said, not only doctors would be able to
identify fellow specialists in the relevant field, but more importantly, it would
protect the public, who would know who the qualified specialists in the various
fields were.

"The register will be an essential reference for private hospitals in meeting the
requirements of the Private Health Facilities Services Act which requires such
facilities to have a credentialing mechanism in place.

"It is important to maintain the register when we open our doors to foreign medical
specialists in compliance with the General Agreement on Trade in Service."

He said the ministry had decided that until the amendments were passed, the
credentialing of specialists would be undertaken by the National Credentialing
Committee.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/National/20060630080910/Article/local1_html

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