KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Many Malaysian medical students overseas who take examinations in a foreign language suffer from depression when they return.

Physicians for Peace and Social Responsibility (PPSR) vice-president Datuk Dr Abdul Hamid Abdul Kadir said that large numbers of young Malaysians were being trained in foreign medical schools in Indonesia, Russia, India, Poland, Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

At a forum on Saturday organised by the PPSR, it was highlighted that at least five such houseman are found to suffer from mental illnesses every month.

"These countries have varied systems of medical training and different types of patient care, based on the emphasis of the country. As a result, many of the students who go there undergo a culture shock," said Dr Abdul Hamid.

"Coming from different universities, backgrounds and experiences, they have difficulty relating and working, especially the weaker students," he said, adding that there had been a sudden sprouting of many public and private medical schools.

While the schools have increased, however, the number of teaching hospitals have not.

Dr Abdul Hamid said that although there was an increasing demand for doctors, the standards and quality of patient care should not be compromised.

"These are the major concerns which the country's healthcare and medical educational planners have to constantly bear in mind so that the value systems governing the training of our doctors are never lost sight of in the short term and the long term."