Expanding Specialist Doctors: KSP and Ministry of Health Announce 25 New Specialist Training Programmes
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chief of Staff to the President, General (Ret.) Dudung Abdurachman, and the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, have announced that the government has issued operational permits for 25 new specialist doctor education programmes (PPDS) to be implemented in several hospitals across various regions in Indonesia.
At the Presidential Staff Office, Bina Graha, within the Indonesian Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Dudung explained that the granting of these 2cal 25 new PPDS operational permits aims to increase the number of specialist doctors to 55,712. These doctors are planned to be distributed across 481 regencies and cities, particularly in areas outside Java and Eastern Indonesia.
“Today, 31 August 2026, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia is taking a historic step. We have just concluded a ministerial-level meeting marking the ratification and handover of operational permit decrees for 25 new study programmes, specifically specialist doctor education programmes (PPDS), to be held at primary education provider hospitals (RSPPU),” stated the Chief of Staff to the President during a press conference at Bina Graha, Jakarta, on Monday.
Dudung noted that the issuance of these 25 new specialist doctor education permits is a follow-up to the directives of President Prabowo and the President’s ‘Astacita’ mission.
On the same occasion, Dudung also explained that this government achievement is the result of ‘de-bottlenecking’ the obstacles previously faced when attempting to increase the number of specialist doctors domestically. These issues included unsynchronised regulations and sectoral egos between relevant ministries and agencies.
“In the last two months, we have successfully overcome the hurdles of regulatory limitations and bureaucratic issues,” said the Chief of Staff to the President.
Previously, meeting the required number of specialist doctors in the country faced a structural deadlock due to differing policies regulating the ecosystems of higher education institutions and educational facilities. In response to these issues, the KSP coordinated with the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) to facilitate reconciliation, which included leading coordination meetings and overseeing expert panel and plenary sessions.
This series of bureaucratic diplomacy successfully dismantled the sectoral barriers between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology. As a result, 25 PPDS operational permits have been officially issued today for Phase I of 2026.