KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad announced yesterday that the Medical Act (Amendment) 2024 is now in effect, along with the implementation of the 2025 amended regulations under the Act.
He said the new Medical (Amendment) Regulations 2025 establish a clear and consistent pathway for the recognition and registration of specialists trained through the parallel pathway and the local Master of Medicine programme.
“These changes also clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) in ensuring that all specialist qualifications are evaluated fairly and transparently,” Dzulkefly said in a statement yesterday.
“In addition, the amendments strengthen the structure and representation within the MMC to better reflect the current composition of the medical workforce, especially the proportion of doctors serving in the public sector.
“The amendments provide a robust legal foundation for the local specialist training programmes, ensuring they are properly recognised and regulated. This will allow many specialists who were previously left in uncertainties to be fairly assessed, registered, enabling them to serve the public with full professional standing.
“It also ensures equitable access to high quality specialist care and strengthens public confidence, as all specialists serving in the health care system are held to the same competency standards regardless of the training route.”
In a post on X yesterday, the health minister said the first batch of specialists who would be registered under the 2024 amendment of the Medical Act are doctors from the parallel pathways for cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, and family medicine, as well as the genetic pathology master’s programme.
“You’ll soon see more specialists at hospitals and clinics, giving Malaysians better care, faster!”
Dzulkefly thanked stakeholders like the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (AMM), the Malaysian Association for Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery (MATCVS), Majlis Professor Negara (MPN), the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), and the MMC.
The College of Physicians Malaysia said in a statement yesterday that the 2025 Medical Regulations set the foundation for a more coherent, transparent, and legally robust approach to specialist training in Malaysia.
