Minister urges regional governments to fund medical scholarships
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Higher Emeregence, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, has expressed his appreciation for the Faculty of Medicine (FK) at Manado State University (Unima) for providing a quota of 50 students from local regions, fully funded by the North Sulawesi provincial and local governments.
“We understand that Indonesia’s current health challenges are not solely about the number of doctors, but also the distribution of doctors to serve in areas that truly need them. I am truly happy that, in addition to opening the Faculty of Medicine, Unima is expanding access for new students from every city, regency, and province. This is an extraordinary achievement,” he stated in Jakarta on Friday.
Minister Brian assessed that the development of human resources in the health sector is a long-term investment that cannot be measured by cost alone.
He noted that the scheme implemented by Unima’s Faculty of Medicine demonstrates how collaboration between higher education institutions and local governments can provide real solutions to community needs.
Consequently, Brian mentioned that the team at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology has studied and will soon disseminate the Unima Faculty of Medicine selection model to other medical faculties across Indonesia, as it is deemed capable of strengthening the equality of healthcare services through the development of doctors graduated from their respective regions.
Responding to this, the Rector of Unima, Joseph Philip Kambey, explained that the admission of the first cohort of students to Unima’s Faculty of Medicine was conducted through a recommendation pathway from regency/city governments across North Sulawesi, initiated by the North Sulawesi Provincial Government.
The scheme combines regional affirmative policies with national-standard academic selection and rigorous psychological testing. The admission process for Unima’s Faculty of Medicine is managed by the Faculty of Medicine at Brawijaya University, acting as the supervising faculty.
A total of 50 seats have been provided with full funding from local governments, distributed evenly among provincial, regency, and city governments.
Nevertheless, Unima continues to prioritise the quality of prospective students. In the first stage of selection, only 37 participants were declared to have met the national passing standards, meaning the remaining 13 seats will undergo further selection in the next stage.
“We believe that the steps we are formalising today will trigger a great wave of change in the future. With support from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, the North Sulawesi government, regional heads, and continuous guidance from Brawijaya University’s Faculty of Medicine as a mentor, Unima’s Faculty of Medicine will stand tall as a beacon of health justice,” said Joseph Kambey.