Dear members,

 

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all members for the trust given to me to lead this organization for the term of 2023/2024. I wish to register my appreciation to all past presidents for all your hard work, contribution, sacrifice and perseverance in uplifting the standard and reputation of the Academy of Family Physician Malaysia (AFPM) to where we are now.

Primary care is an important element in health care system worldwide. It is the point of first contact of health services. Primary care providers play crucial role in health promotion, early case detection, treatment & rehabilitation. Hence there is a need to equip them with sufficient knowledge and skill to be capable and sharp in coming to provisional diagnosis or at least able to sense symptoms & signs of dangerous situation at patient’s first encounter. Internationally, an ideal ratio of one specialist working in primary care to serve for two thousand population. Comparing such ratio to Malaysia, our country needs sixteen thousands of specialists in primary care to serve thirty-two million population. At present, the figure is still too far to reach.

The AFPM was foundered by the College of General Practitioner that was officially formed in 1973. It is one of the largest national medical organizations of family doctors representing over 3000 urban and rural general practitioners, family medicine specialists and academicians. One of the main objectives is to promote and maintain high standards of medical practice in primary care through training doctors and producing family medicine specialists. The AFPM conducted two main academic programs namely the Graduate Certificate in Family Medicine (GCFP) and the Advanced Training in Family Medicine (ATFM). In 2015, the Ministry of Health Malaysia has recognized the four-year program under AFPM as a parallel pathway in this country to become Family Medicine Specialist (FMS). The recognition has attracted many doctors working in primary care especially in government sector to join the program.

We, AFPM members, feel deeply honored to have Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir as the Royal Patron for the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia since the year 2020. We hope with the support from our patron, the AFPM will be better guided and able to achieve its objectives faster.

Until March 2023, the AFPM has produced 679 Family Medicine Specialists working in primary care and has trained 1532 doctors working in primary care under the Graduate Certificate in Family Medicine program (GCFM). The country needs to produce many more trained general practitioners and Family Medicine Specialists in years to come. AFPM will continuously strive to produce high quality Family Medicine Specialist for the country.
This year marked the 50th year of existence of this teaching academy. We would like to increase awareness and highlight the importance of family doctors and primary health care as backbone of health services in this country during this golden jubilee celebration.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to Exco, Council, Dean of Graduate Studies, Censor Board, Programme Directors, Chief Examiner, Board of Examiners, Chapter of Teachers, GCFM Faculty, ATFM Faculty, Mentors and AFPM’s office bearers for their unwavering commitment, dedication, and outstanding support for AFPM to conduct its many tasks. I would also like to commend our dedicated administrative staff and IT teams at AFPM, for having worked so tirelessly and effectively despite various challenges encountered.

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Thank you.

DR NORSIAH BINTI ALI
21st President

AFPM 2023/2024