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...:: New Straits Times, Friday June 30, 2006 ::... |
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...:: The Star , Friday June 30, 2006 ::... |
Register only for genuine specialists
By V.P. SUJATA
PUTRAJAYA (Friday June 30, 2006) : 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
alaysia (AMM).
Those who meet the stipulated criteria can register with
the NSR secretariat housed at the academy. The fees are at
RM1,000 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.
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