KUCHING, July 18: The Malaysian Dental Council (MDC) has today clarified that basic dental qualifications from Taiwan dental schools have never been recognised under the Dental Act 1971, hence has never been listed under Second Schedule of the said Act.
Its president, who is also Health director-general, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was responding to news reports that MDC had removed recognition for seven Taiwan dental schools from the Second Schedule of the Dental Act 1971.
The reported Taiwan dental schools removed from the said Act are Taiwan University School of Medicine, National Defense School of Medicine, Yangming University School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, China Medical University, Zhongshan Medical University and Kaohsiung Medical University.
“The MDC would like to clarify that this is not true, as basic dental qualifications from Taiwan dental schools have never been recognised under the Dental Act 1971, hence has never been listed under Second Schedule of the said Act,” he said in a media release.
“However, dental graduates with unrecognised qualification (including from Taiwan dental schools) may be considered to be registered under the Dental Act 1971 if they fulfil the criteria determined by the MDC for registration, either under the Section 12(3) or Section 12(9) of the same Act,” he pointed out.
Dr Noor Hisham revealed that currently, there are 139 such graduates from unrecognised Taiwan dental schools who have fulfilled the stipulated criteria and are already registered with the MDC.
“Thus, these 139 dental graduates are all allowed to practise in Malaysia,” he added.
For any further queries, MDC can be contacted via email: mdc@moh.gov.my, phone 03-83186440/4510/7366 and fax 03-8318 6121.
Meanwhile, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) education bureau chairman Ding Kuong Hiing had on Wednesday (July 17) claimed that the MDC had removed seven Taiwanese dental schools from the Second Schedule of the Dental Act.
He claimed that dental graduates from these schools were left in the lurch as this meant they could not work or intern at government dental hospitals, nor commence private practice.
Dudong SUPP chief Wong Ching Yong said the matter came to light last week when dentists who graduated from Taiwan and their parents complained to the party’s education bureau. — DayakDaily
