The 425 medical students from Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) in Penang which closed will be placed in six private higher education institutions (IPTS).

Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said the six IPTS are Melaka Manipal Medical College (MMMC), Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS), AIMST University, MAHSA University, UniKL Royal College of Medicine of Perak (RCMP) and SEGI University.

The Education Ministry-Health Ministry Joint Committee which met on Friday decided that the number of students who would be placed should consider the capability of the IPTS and and the welfare of students.

Noor Hisham said apart from teaching staff, consideration must be given to the IPTS' ability to provide lecture rooms, laboratories, and other facilities.

"Comparison between the IPTS curriculum and the AUCMS curriculum must be done and the period of study delay must also be considered.

"It is to enable the students to be at a level consistent with transfer credit policies to ensure they can complete the medical programmes," he said in a statement.

The proposed distribution of 425 students are MMMC (99 students), CUCMS (86 students), AIMST University (81 students), Mahsa University (79 students), RCMP (66 students) and Segi University (14 students).

However, the joint committee also allowed the six IPTS to accept more than the number of students offered.

"Monitoring visits to ensure compliance with the medical programme accreditation standards will be conducted from time to time."

Noor Hisham hopes the decision of the Joint Committee will help the AUCMS students to continue their medical programmes.

"I hope higher education institutions which offer medical programmes will focus on the importance of effective management for the sake of medical programmes in this country."

- Bernama