In view of the current media spotlight on our medical students and doctors overseas, particularly in the UK, I wish to draw attention to the sudden change in the UK immigration rules which now grant all UK medical graduates from overseas only two years of postgraduate training.

After that stage, employers are now obliged to offer posts first to UK and European Economic Area (EEA) nationals if they meet the minimum criteria, with any places remaining going to foreign nationals regardless of where they qualified. The change was announced in March and took effect in April.

This situation has grave repercussions for Malaysian medical students and doctors currently in the UK. Given the current demand for training posts, foreign nationals are all but denied opportunities for further training. It is widely believed that this change was brought about to stem the influx of overseas-trained doctors mainly from the Indian subcontinent.

UK graduates of overseas origin will now only be allowed to progress less than a quarter of the way through postgraduate training before the door is shut in their faces, leaving them with no postgraduate qualifications to show for their efforts.

While it is indeed understandable that any country should wish to protect the interests of its own nationals and those which it considers partners, what is incomprehensible and indefensible is that UK medical students from overseas, many of whom are Malaysians, have been lumped together with those who qualified abroad.

This despite the fact that medical school places in the UK are matched with postgraduate training slots by agreement between the health and higher education authorities. International student admissions to UK medical schools are also quota-capped at 7.5 percent to ensure adequate undergraduate and postgraduate training provision for UK and EEA nationals. Hence upon gaining admission all should be treated equally, which indeed used to be the case.

Many Malaysian parents would not have sent their children to the UK for medical studies had they known that the rug would have been pulled from under their feet. For many current students and graduates, the UK was a country which valued merit and fair play, as well as welcomed talent with open arms. Thus in spite of having to pay arguably the highest tuition fees in the world, many of our students went there for their medical training.

These very same people who put their faith in British meritocracy now face the prospect of being out of pocket to the tune of up to RM1 million and no way to easily recoup their investments, besides being denied the opportunity to continue training in the place of their primary qualification.

Ironically, the UK medical education establishment places a high value on geographical continuity of training. With many families having made great financial sacrifices to send their children to the UK, it is surely not unreasonable to expect the chance to recover what has been spent.

The argument put forward by the UK government that overseas students should go back immediately to their home countries may be applicable to many fields, but medicine is not one of them. The developing world needs fully-trained doctors, not fresh young doctors. Many developing world nations also lack the capacity, or even the facilities, to train junior doctors.

In view of this, those wishing to study medicine in the UK now should think twice, particularly as the financial implications may be significant. The present UK government, by its rash and insensitive action, has shown its willingness to compromise excellence and merit, as well as to jeopardise the goodwill and training links acquired over the years between those countries which have been helping to finance its universities.

In contrast to the intention of the British prime minister that international students will build lasting links of friendship to the country, its medical students from overseas will leave disillusioned and with a bitter taste in their mouths.

In keeping with natural justice, the UK government should phase in these changes gradually, and all those overseas medical students and doctors who are currently there should be allowed to complete their training if they are good enough.

It is also only fair that the new rules be made known to those contemplating medical study in the UK so as to allow them to make an informed decision. Lastly, the policy-makers who came up with this new rule should bear in mind that one is judged not by how he treats his peers or superiors, but rather those over whom he has power.