Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology plans to collaborate with private hospitals to speed up the increase in the number of specialist doctors in Indonesia.

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto on Friday emphasized that this plan is included in the government's strategic programs.

"We continue to optimize all efforts to maximize this program. We need more hospitals as laboratories," he conveyed.

In order to succeed in the plan, the ministry held a meeting with several private hospital managers, such as PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital, Siloam Hospital, and Hermina Hospital, to discuss steps in accelerating the increase in the number of specialist doctors in Indonesia on Thursday.

"The effort must adhere to standardization to ensure quality. We will continue to collaborate with various parties in this effort," Yuliarto emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Medical Personnel Higher Education Policy Study Team, Tri Hanggono Achmad, noted that this program is closely related to hospitals where currently, specialist medical education has mostly been conducted in government hospitals.

According to him, Indonesia has many private hospitals spread across the country and also requires specialist medical personnel. Therefore, collaboration with private hospitals will be key to the success of this program.

He acknowledged this collaboration as an effort to provide wider access while maintaining and improving the quality of specialist education, addressing financial hurdles in specialist education.

"Even though they have the academic capacity, they may not be able to access this education due to financial challenges," he explained.

To address this issue, the government plans to expand the scholarship program, while requiring support from private hospitals as well.

This system is expected to provide a guarantee for private hospitals that have struggled to find specialist doctors.

Besides encouraging access by providing scholarships, hospitals will also benefit from the availability of specialist medical personnel, Achmad explained.

He also noted that specialist medical personnel will receive compensation for the services provided in the form of incentives or wages, which are the responsibility of the hospital.

Related news: Health Ministry, ACGME partner to elevate specialist training standard

Related news: Indonesia faces 210k doctor gap, Prabowo plans 30 medical faculties