Malaysian Medical License Examination (MMLE): Is This a Way Froward?

Medical education in Malaysia is facing challenges related to the increasing number of local private and foreign medical universities. The key issue is whether the system is producing doctors who have adequate competencies for fundamental patient-centred care. The Malaysian Medical Licensing Examination (MMLE) was proposed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) as a common licensing examination for which all graduates must sit prior to obtaining registration to practice. Currently, this exam is only taken by Malaysian students graduating from foreign medical colleges. However, the local Malaysian universities, both public and private, have different curricula for preparing undergraduates for future housemanships. The question is whether the educational programs of these universities are robust enough in delivering curricula that produce safe and competent doctors. Moving forward, it must be determined whether there is a need for extending the Malaysian Medical Licensing Examination (MMLE) to all graduates of both local and foreign medical universities, thereby creating a marker of excellence by which to measure Malaysian education and practice.