Putrajaya must protect interests of Perdana U medical students, says DAP

DAP today urged Putrajaya to step in to protect the interests of students at the Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine (Pugsom), which recently had their ties with ‎the prestigious Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ‎severed over late payments.

‎Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming (pic) said in light of the development, the RM2.3 billion Perdana University campus project should be put on hold.

"With the announcement of the withdrawal of the Johns Hopkins faculty and its curriculum, the first responsibility of the university and the government of Malaysia is to find a fair and transparent manner to ensure that current cohorts under Pugsom will be able to graduate," he said in a statement.

Ong, who has been vocal on education issues, said‎ the solution may not be as simple as to suggest a transfer of these Pugsom students to another joint medical programme, between Perdana University and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (PU-RCSI), which is a 5-year undergraduate course.

"One must remember that the Pugsom is a GRADUATE programme, meaning that the current students already have a degree," Ong said.

"Proper consultation must be held with the stakeholders especially the students and their parents," he added.

Medical school in the United States, like law school, is a post-graduate degree and only those who have an undergraduate degree can apply for these programmes.

The Malaysian Insider reported today that ‎Johns Hopkins ended its partnership in Pugsom, Malaysia’s first private teaching hospital with research facilities, because payments to Johns Hopkins under the contract were often late.

Johns Hopkins also said that it had yet to be paid for over 12 months before the partnership was terminated last month.

"It was our honour and privilege to help create a new model for medical education in Malaysia by providing guidance and advice to Pugsom and by assisting in teaching and in the initiation of the school," its director of marketing and communications, Lindsay R Rothstein, told The Malaysian Insider in an email.

"However, we reached the difficult decision to end the existing relationship because payments required under the agreement for the services provided by Johns Hopkins and its faculty were frequently received late and at the time the agreement was terminated, Johns Hopkins had not been paid for more than 12 months of work."

Pugsom, established in 2011 under the initiative of the Academic Medical Centre Sdn Bhd (AMC), offered a four-year medical course in collaboration with John Hopkins, which reportedly cost RM800,000.

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the partnership between Johns Hopkins and Malaysian and American investors in September 2010, he said the school would become a medical research hub in the region.

It was also announced later that up to 50 students per year were to be funded by Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships.

Ong said PSD should ‎stop sending students to Perdana University for the Pugsom programme and even the PU-RSCI, saying the institution has come under question.

‎"According to the financial accounts submitted to the Companies Commission, Academic Medical Centre Sdn Bhd (owner of Perdana) had negative reserves of RM189 million and it made a loss of RM63.6 million as of 2013 year end.

"The welfare of our current and future medical students must not be jeopardised or taken lightly," he added.

Ong said Putrajaya should cease funding the RM2.3 billion public Private Partnership Project to construct the Perdana University campus which would include a 600-bed teaching hospital‎.

‎"The fact that this project was allocated to Chase Perdana, the parent company of Academic Medical Centre – raises many questions as to why a construction company was given the land and license to operate a medical university and why the construction of this university campus had to be awarded to the parent company of Academic Medical Center," he added.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the end of Pugsom's partnership with Johns Hopkins is "symptomatic" of the failure of the transformation programme to "pursue ‎excellence" in the field of education and only reinforced the culture of mediocrity in Malaysian educational standards‎.

"The end of the 4-year medical romance with the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from the United States, reinforces the culture of mediocrity in Malaysian educational standards and the sad reality that there is no room for excellent institutions or brilliant students," he said in a statement today.

The Bagan MP said Putrajaya should explain to the public how much it spent on the failed venture‎.

"What is equally worrying is not just that the elite excellent foreign universities are abandoning Malaysia, but that the federal government is also abandoning our top students."

- TMI