KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — The public health care sector in Malaysia currently faces an estimated shortage of almost 11,000 specialist doctors, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Based on 2022 data presented at an MOH briefing last month on the parallel pathway programme, the public sector needs 17,393 specialists this year, but there are currently only 7,576 specialists, translating to a deficit of 10,798 specialists. Overall, the public service only has 44 per cent of specialists needed (excluding attrition rates).
MOH’s Medical Development Division calculated the deficit of specialists as the difference between projected needs and the current number of specialists, adjusted by attrition rate.
The top five specialties with the biggest specialist deficits for 2025 in the public health service, by absolute number, are family medicine (2,170), anaesthesiology and critical care (1,123), general surgery (931), internal medicine (767), and emergency medicine (708).
However, based on needs versus current specialist numbers (excluding attrition rates), the biggest gap is actually in cardiothoracic surgery that only has 18 per cent of specialists needed, followed by forensic pathology (21 per cent), family medicine (22 per cent), urology (26 per cent), and oncology (31 per cent).
Most specialties have less than half of the number of specialists needed (excluding attrition rates), except for ophthalmology (50 per cent), rehabilitation medicine (51 per cent), sports medicine (52 per cent), clinical radiology (52 per cent), general paediatric (52 per cent), transfusion medicine (56 per cent), otorhinolaryngology (56 per cent), and internal medicine (70 per cent).
Across all 25 specialties listed, there are estimated shortages in every specialty this year, even as Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said yesterday that the MOH will revive the Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) shift system for doctors under Health director-general Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab.
The Medical Development Division also estimated needs and shortages for 2030. In five years’ time, the public health service is expected to need 20,419 specialist doctors, translating to a deficit of 14,128 specialists based on current workforce numbers.
“The numbers as projected in this table are based on the need in the public sector, not the whole country,” said the Medical Development Division in a presentation slide, as sighted by CodeBlue.
“Based on current workload, it is estimated that 70 per cent of doctors, including specialists, are needed in the public sector. It also takes into account the target of 2.5 doctors per 1,000 population by 2025 and 3.0 doctors per 1,000 population by 2030 onwards.
“The projection was made in consideration with the need of services, burden of disease, and Malaysia’s target to become a developed nation by 2030.”
The Medical Development Division also made projections on the number of doctors needed in the public sector. A total of 63,040 total doctors (including 18,247 specialists) are needed in the public sector this year, rising to 79,931 total doctors (including 22,435 specialists) in 2030.
Dzulkefly announced last Tuesday, following the coming into force of the Medical Act (Amendment) 2024 along with its 2025 regulations on July 1, that more specialists will enter public service, due to a clearer training pathway.
The first batch of specialists expected to be registered under the new law are doctors from the parallel pathways for cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, and family medicine, as well as the genetic pathology master’s programme.
Dzulkefly claimed last Saturday that the MOH was in the “final stages” of resolving long waiting times in government hospitals.
Public hospitals have begun putting up signs in waiting areas to inform patients to expect long wait times due to doctor shortages, such as Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s orthopaedic clinic that said patients will have to wait six hours to see a doctor.
Sungai Buloh Hospital’s spine clinic said in a notice last June 30 there were 300 patients to three medical officers and one specialist, but the MOH’s official X account claimed that the estimated number of over 300 people present included patients’ companions and that 158 patients were present that day.
