Pediatric resident training in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, medical students graduate from university at the age of 24 after going through 5 years of medical training. Given the most rapid career pathway, the first opportunity to enter the Pediatric Residency Program is at the age of 27, as graduates are required to do three years of compulsory training in the Ministry of Health (MoH). Pediatric Residency Training in Malaysia is a four year structured course leading to qualification as a General Pediatrician at the age of 31. Generally, graduates are then required to spend three years working as a General Pediatrician before entering a subspecialist program, which is for another three years (Fig 1). Prior to 1989, Malaysian doctors would normally go to the United Kingdom for attainment of membership to the Royal College of Physicians, and later on, to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Funding for this training was variable: some were self-funded and some government funded. Following attainment of the MRCP, some returned to Malaysia, but others stayed in the UK. After 1989, Malaysia started its own pediatric training program. Initially the Universiti Malaya, the oldest university in Malaysia, established this as a four-year structured program. Three universities–Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and then lastly Universiti Putra Malaysia–sub-