Doctor salary in Malaysia

What a government doctor earns

A newly appointed medical officer earns RM3,130 basic at UD9. At UD10 the basic is RM3,840 plus RM1,850 in fixed allowances: RM5,690 a month.

Starting basic from the SPA service scheme. Allowances from Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (UKM) notices for grades UD10 to UD14; the notices we hold do not list UD9 allowances separately.

Sources: SPA service scheme, Pegawai Perubatan Gred UD9; Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (UKM) vacancy notices, December 2025 and Bil 4/2026. Totals computed by Foundific.

• Allowances rise with grade: ITP is RM400 at UD10, RM700 at UD12 and UD13, and RM900 at UD14. ITK is RM400, RM550, RM600 and RM800. BISH and BIPK stay at RM300 and RM750.
• A year at UD10: RM5,690 × 12 = RM68,280 before on-call, locum and overtime payments.
• Housemanship is served at UD9. On-call allowances are paid separately and are not in these figures.

How pay grows on the government scale

Grade 9 pay rises RM225 a year from RM3,130 towards RM11,110, but most doctors move to UD10 and above well before that. Specialists gazetted as pakar move to UD15.

Minimum and maximum monthly basic salary for each SSPA grade, 2026.

Source: Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 establishment list, Lampiran A: SSPA salary codes and minimum-maximum salaries (page A-1). Basic salary only.

• Increments only: at RM225 a year, a UD9 officer would need about 35 yearly increments to reach RM11,110. Promotion to UD10 moves the range up.
• Direct entry: experienced doctors can be appointed straight to UD10, UD12, UD13 or UD14, starting at RM3,840, RM5,530, RM6,210 or RM6,560.
• Specialists: only officers gazetted as specialists are considered for Pegawai Perubatan Pakar posts at UD13 and UD14; UD15 starts at RM7,030.

Compared with Malaysian pay overall

A UD10 medical officer's fixed pay, RM5,690, is close to the DOSM median for all professionals, RM5,821, and above the health industry median of RM4,698.

• Health industry median covers every job in hospitals and clinics, from attendants to specialists.
• Measures differ: DOSM figures cover all paid employees and all ages. The government figure is one fixed pay point. Use them for scale, not as a direct comparison.

Private hospitals and clinics

There is no official figure for doctor pay in private hospitals or GP clinics.

• DOSM publishes salaries by state, sector and skill level, but not by job title.
• The pay scale above applies to government posts only. Private hospitals and clinic chains set their own pay, often with a share of fees.
• Private surveys and job ads use different measures and samples, so their figures are not mixed into the tables here.

Data sources and coverage

Government pay scales and hospital vacancy notices give exact figures for doctors in public posts. No official source covers private practice.

• Compared with Singapore: Singapore's MOM publishes median pay by job title, age and industry. Malaysia publishes exact government pay scales but no market-wide figure by job.
• What a payslip shows is basic plus allowances plus any shift, on-call or overtime pay, so it can be higher than the fixed figures here.

Is medicine affected by AI?

The International Labour Organization rates generalist medical practitioners Not exposed for exposure to generative AI. Its scores cover the job worldwide, so they apply in Malaysia too.

• Average task score 0.29 out of 1, across 11 main tasks.
• Most exposed task: Conducting research in human health and medical services and disseminating the findings such as through scientific reports (0.48).
• Least exposed task: Performing surgery and other clinical procedures (0.13). The full breakdown is on our Singapore guide.
• What exposure measures: how much of the work AI could do or speed up. It does not measure job cuts.

What the pay figures include

Every figure is monthly basic pay or fixed allowances, before deductions.

Related guides

Sources