Sarawak moves to establish own medical faculty to tackle critical healthcare shortage

KUCHING (Nov 27): The Sarawak government is pushing ahead to set up its own medical faculty at one of the state-owned universities as Sarawak races to address the critical shortfall of healthcare workers in the state.

Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said a feasibility study group has been entrusted to Universiti Teknologi Sarawak (UTS) to conduct a six-month study on the need for such a faculty.

“It is very important for us to carry out a feasibility study. This is one of the requirements for us to obtain a licence to operate a medical faculty,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here.

He told the august House that one of the objectives of the study is to assess the demand for an undergraduate medical school.

“The study would evaluate the institution’s capacity in terms of manpower and infrastructure and determine or assess whether all regulations and procedures set by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysian Medical Council and Malaysian Qualifications Agency are complied with.

“It would also determine the financial capability, which is important in terms of the capital costs, recurring costs, and to propose a financing plan.

“This is to ensure an accurate evaluation of potential risks and ways to mitigate them, and propose a roadmap covering implementation, accreditation and student intake,” he said.

He explained that the Sarawak government’s commitment is driven by the urgent need to address the critical shortage of medical personnel in the state.

“For medical officers, the total number is 1,817, while we are short of 246 specialists.

“As for nurses, Sarawak is facing a shortfall of 2,300 across the state,” he said.

As such, Dr Annuar also urged the federal government to take immediate action to resolve the matter, as healthcare services are a fundamental human right for the people of Sarawak.

“This is a critical stage. It must be remembered that under the constitution, this responsibility lies with the federal government,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, on the special scheme for medical students under the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), he said the Sarawak government will continue to do its best to ensure more Sarawakians become doctors.

“Through Yayasan Sarawak, this special scheme has been in place since 2018.

“Since then, a total of 290 students has benefited from the scheme, and the amount spent by the Sarawak government is significant, amounting to RM110 million.

“This reflects the government’s strong commitment to addressing the shortage of doctors,” he said.

At a press conference, Dr Annuar said the study is expected to be completed by June next year once the group has finalised the report.

“I reckon that if we appoint them by December, they should be able to start the study in January 2026 and by June, they should submit the report to us.

“The state government will study the report and then we will embark on that,” he said.

He stressed that there is a need for Sarawak to have its own medical school as at the moment, the state depended on Unimas to increase the number of medical students.

“But Unimas is under the purview of the federal government, and the intake is controlled by the University Intake Unit (UPU). In other words, it has to be applied centrally, and there is a very stiff competition to get into medical schools.

“We hope that by setting up our own medical faculty, we will be able to mitigate the critical shortages of doctors in Sarawak,” he said.

Dr Annuar Rapaee lead medical faculty state-own university Universiti Teknologi Sarawak