Jakarta, May 8, 2023 – In support of enhancing the competence of Indonesian doctors and expediting the improvement of the national healthcare system, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Education Fund Management Agency (LPDP), officially launched the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship on Monday morning at Prof. Sujudi Building, Ministry of Health.
The Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship is primarily provided to study four diseases contributing to the highest mortality rates: heart disease, stroke, urology and nephrology, or cancer. The target recipients of the Fellowship Scholarship are Indonesian citizens who work as specialist doctors holding a Registration Certificate (STR) and Practice Permit (SIP) as Specialist Doctors.
A total of 113 hospitals, both domestic and international, have been designated as venues for the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship program. The duration of the fellowship program ranges from three to 24 months.
Arianti Anaya, Director General of Health Workforce at the Ministry of Health RI, explained that the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship is one of the efforts by the Ministry to swiftly and qualitatively address the shortage of specialist doctors and subspecialists in various regions.
"We conduct fellowships for specific competencies within six months to one year so that these regions have specialist doctors with additional competencies," said Arianti in her address.
Prior to the launch of the fellowship scholarship, the Ministry of Health and LPDP had previously implemented a cooperation scholarship for specialist and subspecialist doctors, with regular annual applications from 2014 to 2021. During this period, 615 recipients received scholarships for specialist and subspecialist doctors from LPDP.
Both the Ministry of Health and LPDP are committed to providing scholarships to 1000 healthcare workers each year, distributed for specialist doctor scholarships, subspecialist scholarships, and the latest addition, the fellowship scholarship.
This number may increase according to needs. Arianti believes that facilitating the issuance of the Registration Certificate (STR) for scholarship recipients will also increase the interest of doctors in pursuing education abroad.
Full Support from the Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance, through Minister Sri Mulyani, fully supports the collaboration with the Ministry of Health regarding the provision of fellowship scholarships for specialist doctors. Sri Mulyani expressed her joy because human resources in the health sector are being prepared to catch up and respond to future challenges.
"I, through LPDP and the budget of the Ministry of Finance, including the Ministry of Health, and the government's transfer budget to regional governments, strongly support steps to build a good health ecosystem. Health issues are very complex, challenging, and change rapidly," said Sri Mulyani, who attended the launch of the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Program.
With the launch of the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship, it further adds to the list of support from the Ministry of Finance for the improvement and acceleration of healthcare services in Indonesia. The Ministry of Finance also reminded LPDP scholarship recipient doctors to return and apply their knowledge to improve national healthcare quality.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin expressed his gratitude for the collaboration with the Ministry of Finance through LPDP. He is determined to work as much as possible to recommend the best specialization education venues and encourage the participation of specialist doctors.
"This is an opportunity for us that we must prove. We look for places where we can send our best doctors to learn, especially specializing in handling the four diseases that cause the most deaths in Indonesia," said Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
Stay tuned to LPDP's official channels on social media and LPDP's official website to learn about the registration dates and all the requirements for the Specialist Doctor Fellowship Scholarship.
