Medicine is a very popular career choice for international students who come to Malaysia to pursue their higher education. The reason is simple. World class accredited medical colleges in Malaysia and medical universities in Malaysia for international students, and an overwhelming demand for specialist doctors and other medical professionals locally. Additionally, there also are some lucrative medical scholarships for international students which can reduce the burden of tuition fees substantially.

So, what does studying MBBS in Malaysia entail?

After successful completion of a course in medicine will require you to diagnose, treat and prevent the occurrence or re-occurrence of a sickness or a disease. You will be required to utilize healthcare practices to maintain & restore the health and wellbeing of a person. From treating the common cold to diagnosing diseases and performing complex surgeries, doctors play a significant role in keeping all those healthy and hearty who come under their care.

MBBS in Malaysia – Requirements

Given below are the minimum academic qualifications required by the medical colleges in Malaysia for international students as mandated by the Malaysian Medical Council.

Becoming a Doctor in Malaysia – The Education pathway

An undergraduate degree in Medicine is 5 years long which is divided into pre-clinical training and clinical training.

Part 1, which is about 2 years, is your pre-clinical training set in an academic environment. It involves training and learning of basic medical sciences, such as biochemistry, anatomy, pathology, microbiology, and pharmacology.

Part 2, is comprised of the remaining 3 years of your degree, and involves clinical training. You will undergo your clinical training at teaching hospitals or clinical schools, taking rounds in various clinical disciplines such as surgery, general medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine.

In order to become a fully registered medical practitioner in Malaysia, you will need to undergo further training to obtain experience as a house officer. This is known as “housemanship” in Malaysia and it is a 2-year compulsory internship that includes both service and training roles. Housemanship ensures that you gain the appropriate knowledge, experience, skill, the right attitude, and above all a caring and compassionate medical professional.

After the completion of your housemanship, you will be a qualified Medical Officer (MO).

MOs often work for several years before going into an area of specialization, such as anesthesiology, orthopedics, cardiology or gynecology. In order to be a registered specialist, you will need to undergo another 4-5 years of postgraduate study and 2-4 years of supervised training as a specialist.

To sum it all up, it typically takes a total of 7 years to be a fully registered doctor, and more than 10 years to become a specialist.

Medical Courses of Medical Universities in Malaysia for International Students –

Given below is the medical courses’ list for MBBS in Malaysia for international students and some postgraduate courses for top medical universities in Malaysia:

Medicine scholarships

The medical universities in Malaysia offer a range of undergraduate medicine scholarships and scholarships to study medicine and surgery abroad for international students. There are more than 132 Medicine Scholarships, grants, and Fellowships available for international students in Malaysia. Some of these are:

• Xiamen University Scholarships For International Students
• HKADC Overseas Arts Administration Scholarships
• ADB-Japan Scholarship Program
• I.W.A Duffett Scholarships 2019
• UCSI University Trust Scholarship
• The Star Education Fund 2017
• SEGi ACE Scholarship
• FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar Scholarship For South Africans, 2019
• UTAR Scholarships for Top Achievers
• Lion-Parkson Foundation Scholarships, 2017
• International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)’S African Regional Committee (ARC) Bursaries 2019
• MOE-AU Scholarship For Singaporean Students, 2017
• NWO Rubicon Scholarship, 2018
• Momeni Iranian Scholarships, 2018
• Kuok Foundation Berhad Scholarship
• Tunku Abdul Rahman Scholarship
• AMU MBBS Scholarship
• AIMST University Scholarship
• Taylor’s University Merit Scholarship
• Flinders University Phil Hoffmann Travel Postgraduate Scholarship
• AIRC International Cancer Research Fellowships (iCARE)
• NNI Research Fellowships 2019 etc.

If you are passionate about medical sciences and your goal in life is to help people by improving their health and lives, then think no more. The medical universities in Malaysia offer umpteen opportunities to international students to fulfill their dreams of becoming a doctor, and as an aspirant you get the chance to continually learn and discover new things that can help you in your career going forward.

Study2malaysia.com also known as Malaysian Universities information center (MUIC) was set up with the sole intention of providing valuable information to those students and aspirants who want to pursue their higher education in Malaysia. We are one of the leading and specialized teams who have been associated with assisting students from across the world to move to Malaysia for higher education for more than a decade now. We have, till now, successfully sent around 5000 students (including medical students) to Malaysia, most of who are now successfully placed in different professional careers.