Government grants permits for 25 specialist doctor training programmes to meet needs in remote areas

The government has issued operational permits for 25 new hospital-based Specialist Doctor Education Programmes (PPDS) as part of an effort to meet the national requirement of 65,000 specialist doctors, while simultaneously equalising healthcare access to the most remote corners of the country.

The Head of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), Dudung Abdurrahman, stated in Jakarta on Tuesday that this acceleration is a direct response to the President’s instructions on 11 August regarding the medical workforce crisis.

“This is not merely about statistics, but a representation of the needs of our brothers and sisters in regional areas, outer islands, and the underdeveloped, frontier, and remote (3T) regions,” said Dudung.

He noted that since its launch in 2024, the PPDS programme in hospitals serving as Primary Organising Teaching Hospitals (RSPPU) has been implemented in six hospitals. With the launch of 25 new programmes in the first stage of 2026, there will now be a total of 31 PPDS RSPPU programmes.

On the same occasion, the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, stated that these 25 new programmes in the first stage of 2026 consist of 11 basic specialist programmes and 14 programmes focusing on Cancer, Heart, Stroke, and Uronephrology (KJSU).

All programmes, Budi said, will be conducted in the best teaching hospitals that partner with universities and collaborate with Colleges to ensure that competency standards are maintained.

In addition to the first-stage launch, the Minister of Health ensured that the escalation of this programme will continue until the end of the year.

“In the second stage of 2026, an additional 30 specialist programmes will also be pushed to obtain operational permits by October 2026, consisting of 13 basic specialist programmes and 17 KJSU specialist programmes,” he said.

Student selection for the 25 new PPDS programmes is scheduled to launch on 3 September 2026.