No need to sit for exam to be listed by UK council, says surgeon
Source says some cardiothoracic surgeons from the parallel pathway programme have been offered jobs as specialists by the UK’s National Health Service.
PETALING JAYA: All parallel pathway cardiothoracic surgeons can be listed as specialists under the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) without needing to sit for an examination, contrary to claims otherwise.
A source, who did not wish to be named, told FMT some cardiothoracic surgeons from this hybrid programme have actually been offered jobs as specialists by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
One of them, who received two offers, said he was already listed in the GMC as a cardiothoracic specialist. He said the NHS would not offer jobs without the qualifications being recognised by the UK’s most powerful medical regulator.
The source said he received an offer from the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and another from a hospital in Bristol.
He also said that all parallel pathway trainees must sit for an exam to obtain a Royal College of Surgeons membership (MRCS) before they can be accepted into the twinning Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Ed) specialists training.
“So, claims that we are not recognised by the GMC are baseless and are being spread by certain groups in an attempt to put parallel pathway graduates in a bad light,” he said in response to detractors to the parallel pathway programme who claim that cardiothoracic surgeons have to sit for an examination by the GMC to be listed as specialists.
On the contrary, the doctor said, there is no entry requirement for those wanting to do their cardiothoracic surgery course at UiTM. He added that there are 15 in its first batch of trainees.
UiTM is the only teaching hospital that offers cardiothoracic surgery specialisation in Malaysia.
UiTM’s programme has only been given a provisional nod by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency while the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has yet to recognise it. The first batch of trainees is expected to graduate in 2028.
Another specialist said the FRCS programme is competitive with only four candidates per year, adding that representatives from the UK college had visited the training centres in Malaysia to ensure the quality of the programme is maintained.
“They only recognise if the trainee to trainer ratio is 1:1. UiTM does not have this ratio, or such stringent entry requirements,” the specialist said.
Recently, eight cardiothoracic surgery trainees under the parallel pathway programme at the National Heart Institute and three from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre were asked to finish their programme with UiTM under a credit transfer programme in order to be recognised by MMC.
However, FMT reported that the plan has been on hold because of UiTM’s Bumiputera-only policy and a lack of funds.
The plight of cardiothoracic surgeons who qualified under the health ministry-sponsored parallel pathway programme came under the spotlight when MMC refused to recognise the qualification from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Four doctors who successfully attained their specialisation in cardiothoracic surgery under the parallel pathway programme filed for an order of certiorari to quash MMC’s decision on Oct 17 last year rejecting their applications to register on grounds of non-recognition of the qualification.
They are also seeking a mandamus order to compel the regulator to recognise their FRCS Ed qualification within seven days of the decision.
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