Dr Sim Kui Hian
KUCHING: The Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) Heart Centre in Kota Samarahan has been recognised as a training institute to run cardiothoracic surgery programmes, disclosed Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Thus, those wanting to become a cardiothoracic surgeon no longer have to go overseas for training, he said in his Facebook posting yesterday.
Dr Sim, who is also the centre’s senior consultant cardiologist, revealed that the Malaysian Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery (MBCTS) has designated SGH Heart Centre as a training centre for the running of the programme for a duration of six years starting tomorrow (July 1).
The posting was accompanied with a picture of the board’s letter addressed to SGH director Dr Chin Zin Hing and the centre’s head of Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Dr Jong Yuan Hsun. Dated April 23, 2016, it mentioned that the approval was supported by the Ministry of Health, the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
“Before, Sarawakians who wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon needed to be trained overseas – in countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) to be recognised. Now the reverse is happening. Britons can be trained in the jungles of Borneo, where SGH Heart Centre is now a recognised training centre back in the UK.
“This is all made possible due to the strong support from non-governmental organisations such as the Sarawak Heart Foundation and the Ministry of Health, added with utmost professionalism and teamwork demonstrated by the centre’s medical personnel, nurses and technicians,” Dr Sim wrote.
The letter, signed by the board’s secretary Basheer A Kareem, stated that MBCTS will propose to place trainee surgical candidates at the heart centre for fixed durations in capacities to be determined.
The board also expected detailed logs of work performed and procedures conducted by the trainees, while consultants participating in the training programme will have to provide periodically detailed appraisals of the candidates’ progress. Terms of their rotation will be discussed with the centre’s head of Cardiothoracic Surgery Department (Dr Jong).
MBCTS expressed its gratitude to the surgeons and management of SGH Heart Centre for participating in this programme, geared to further improve provision of cardiothoracic surgical services in this country.