History Of Neurology in Malaysia

PIONEER NEUROSURGEON IN MALAYSIA
Dato’ (Dr) Nadason Arumugasamy, who has passed away on 19th December 2003 at the age of 69, was the most senior and influential Neurosurgeon in Malaysia. He was the first Malaysian Neurosurgeon and throughout his career he has been tireless in promoting and developing Neurosurgery in his home country. He started his career in Neurosurgery in 1963 as the first Medical officer in Neurosurgery under Dr. Roy Selby, the American Neurosurgeon who started neurosurgical service in Malaysia in the same year under the United States of America CARE /MEDICO Program.Dato’ Aru (as he was usually referred to) was the first Malaysian Neurosurgeon to be trained in United State of America. Dato’ Aru was the first local Neurosurgeon to practise in this country in December 1969. Today, thirty-four years later, there are a total of thirty-four Malaysian Neurosurgeons currently practising in this country. All but a small handful of these neurosurgeons, at some stage of their careers, had received neurosurgical training at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Institute of Neurosciences. The more senior ones had the unforgettable and privileged experience of being personally tutored by Dato’ Aru himself. Dato’ Aru has blazed the trail for Neurosurgery in the country and he has left a legacy we Malaysians are forever thankful.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEUROSURGERY AS A SPECIALTY IN MEDICINE
Neurosurgery in Malaysia was first established in 1964 under the United States of America CARE / MEDICO programme. An American neurosurgeon, Dr Roy Selby started the neurosurgical unit in Hospital Kuala Lumpur with the help of a group of local doctors and nurses headed by the late Dato’ Dr Nadason Arumugasamy. He later became the first local neurosurgeon in this country. The service was then rather rudimentary and had limited facilities and infrastructure.It was only in 1975 when the Tunku Abdul Rahman Neuroscience Institute was officially opened in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. This institute consisted of three allied and interdependent disciplines of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Neuropsychiatry. Since then, neurosurgical services have expanded to 7 government hospitals, 4 teaching hospitals and numerous private hospitals in the country. Moreover, the demand for this specialty service has been increasing. At the moment there are 74 neurosurgeons in this country, serving 28 million people, but only 45 are in the public sector. There is an acute shortage, especially in the east coast, northern region of the peninsula and East Malaysia. However, it is still considered a vast improvement as compared to 2004 when there were only 36 neurosurgeons in this country. A comprehensive, minimum of 4 years, local training programme in collaboration with international faculties was established in 2001. This programme has increased the number of trained neurosurgeons in the country since 2005. The Ministry of Health Malaysia is planning to increase at least 3 more neurosurgical centres in the near future, which will significantly improve the coverage of neurosurgical services and patient care, especially in the management of neuro-trauma cases which are still a major problem in this country. The Ministry of Health is committed to support recent advancements in neurosurgery by bringing in new operating microscopes, image guidance navigation systems and new instruments in almost all the government hospitals over the last 3 years. We are also in the midst of setting up a new, cutting edge brain suite operation theatre in one of our hospitals. Coupled with the emphasis on training programmes in the respective subspecialties, we are aiming to provide high quality neurosurgical care of international standard for our patients.