The de-recognition of Crimea Medical State University (CMSU) by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has brought to the fore many issues which have yet to be clarified. The statement by Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek that he will not entertain any appeals by CMSU and regards the matter as closed, does not reflect well on his ministry's transparency and sense of fair play.
During the emergency debate in parliament pertaining to the CMSU de-recognition, Deputy Health Minister Dr Abdul Latiff Osman stated that the quality of teaching in CMSU had deteriorated dramatically following the exponential increase in student intake.
He claimed the motive of the institution was entrepreneurial rather than educational. He mentioned the lecturer/student ratio had been 1:4 in Malaysia up until 2003. This 'standard' was apparently only relaxed last year following cabinet approval to a maximum of 1:6 because of the unprecedented number qualified Malaysians wanting to study medicine.
CMSU in contrast, had an unacceptable ratio of 1:8, which was compromising its quality of teaching. He remarked, rather insultingly, that he was sure no one would want to be treated by doctors trained in CMSU, given this scenario.
On a personal note, I was a lecturer in the Department of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM) from 1997-2002. I can categorically state that a lecturer/student ratio of 1:4 was an exception rather than the norm.
UM had a clinical campus based at the Klang General Hospital where students spent a whole year. This was because the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (formerly known as University Hospital), on its own, could not provide the necessary clinical exposure which medical students require in order to be properly trained.
The clinical student class at the general medical posting at Klang typically numbered 30-32 students per lecturer. In order to provide daily bedside teaching, the class had to be split into two groups of 16, each having ward-based teaching by a single lecturer in either a morning or afternoon session.
From my experience, this was a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs. I felt it would be impossible to provide hands-on and effective bedside teaching with 16 students crowded round a bed. Furthermore, it often proved to be an unpleasant experience for the patient volunteers when they were examined by such a large group.
In order to provide more hands-on and individual instruction, I opted to reduce the group size to around eight. However, this meant students would get bedside clinical teaching on alternate days only.
Due to administrative duties, clinical duties, research, conference leave and holidays, it was not possible to have a sufficient number of academic staff available to provide the supposedly 'standard' 1:4 ratio which Dr Abdul Lattif rather glibly and misleadingly talked about.
In fact, if CMSU is providing clinical teaching with a 1:8 lecturer/student ratio, as stated by the deputy health minister, then it certainly compares favourably with Malaysia's premier medical teaching institution and does not deserve to be castigated and de-recognised .
When the General Medical Council (GMC) of UK de-recognised Universiti Malaya's medical degree in the 80s, it had done so after giving a five-year notice to redress specific issues which formed the basis of the de-recognition. This included the differential entry requirements and entrance examinations (STPM and Matriculation), one of which was deemed to be of a significantly lower standard.
The manner in which CMSU has been de-recognised smacks of arbitrariness, and sadly, has further compounded the confusion and negative connotations surrounding the whole debacle.