I'm writing this letter in reference to the letter Taiping Hospital snuffed out my father's life.

I sympathize with the plight of the writer. At the same time, as a man involved with medical training in Malaysia, I would like to highlight certain issues surrounding the conduct of final year examinations in medical schools in Malaysia.

I have across many medical students who failed in their final year examinations even though they were hardworking and had good record of attendance. Often, the excuse on why these students failed was because they were unlucky to get tough cases or tough examiners on the day of the exam.

In other words, luck rather than the students’ competence plays a big part in deciding the outcome of the exams. Thus the reason I would like to gain the attention of the relevant authorities.

To the authorities in education including the Higher Education Ministry, MQA (formerly LAN), the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and medical colleges:

1. I would like to know what is the criteria to enable a medial student to graduate? Is there a clear demarcation in the criteria between passing a student and failing a student?

2. If there are no clear guidelines, does it mean the element of luck plays a major role in the final year MBBS examinations?

With over 10 medical colleges set up within the last decade, it is high time the relevant authorities come up with a standard guidelines for examiners for the final year MBBS examinations if there aren't any yet.

To the higher education loan agencies like PTPTN and others:

1. Are they willing to end up with cases of a few medical students defaulting on their loans worth thousands of ringgit due to a lack of ability to pay after failing numerous times?

2. Are they willing to write off the debts or prosecute these medical students resulting in these medical students being declared a bankrupts?

I hope a good solution can be found by the relevant authorities.