Medical assistant salary in Malaysia

What a new government medical assistant earns

A newly appointed medical assistant with a degree earns RM2,580 basic plus RM1,065 in fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur: RM3,645 a month. With a diploma, at U5, the figures are RM1,974 basic and RM2,934 with allowances.

Grades U9 and U5, from the SPA service scheme and the JPA allowance circular. Penolong Pegawai Perubatan is one of the 32 critical schemes that receive BIPK.

Sources: SPA service scheme; JPA Pekeliling Perkhidmatan 1/2024, Lampiran E (allowance tables). For the P&P group BISH is RM250 in Kawasan B and RM150 elsewhere; for the Pelaksana group RM300 and RM200. Totals computed by Foundific.

• Outside the big cities: fixed pay at U9 is RM3,595 in Kawasan B and RM3,495 elsewhere; at U5 it is RM2,884 and RM2,784.
• A year at the start: RM3,645 × 12 = RM43,740 at U9, and RM2,934 × 12 = RM35,208 at U5, before shift or on-call payments.
• Two entry grades: the SPA scheme lists the U5 diploma route and the U9 degree route under one service. Grade 5 allowances follow the Pelaksana tables: ITKA RM160, BISH RM350 and BIPK RM150.

How pay grows on the government scale

Grade 9 pay rises RM225 a year, from RM2,580 at the start up to RM11,110; grade 5 rises RM145 a year, from RM1,974 towards RM6,620. Promotion to U10 and above moves an officer onto a higher range.

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.

• By increments alone: at RM225 a year, about 38 yearly increments reach RM11,110 from RM2,580 at U9; at RM145 a year, about 32 reach RM6,620 from RM1,974 at U5.
• Promotion grades: U10 starts at RM3,840 and U12 to U14 at RM5,530 to RM6,560.

Compared with Malaysian pay overall

A new degree-entry medical assistant's fixed pay, RM3,645, is below the health and social work industry median of RM4,698, which covers hospital staff of all grades and years.

• Health industry median covers hospitals, clinics and social work agencies, 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

DOSM publishes no figure for medical assistants as a single job. The health and social work industry median is RM4,698 and the median for all professionals is RM5,821.

• DOSM publishes salaries by industry, state and skill level, but not by job title.
• Industrial Court awards name too few medical assistants to form a job family, so no court figure is published here.
• The pay scale above applies to government posts. Private hospitals and clinic chains set their own pay.
• 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 for medical assistants is exact at both entry grades. Private-sector context rests on the health industry and professional-group medians.

• 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 medical assistant work affected by AI?

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

• Average task score 0.23 out of 1, across 9 main tasks.
• Most exposed task: Reporting births, deaths and notifiable diseases to government authorities to meet legal and professional reporting requirements (0.51).
• Least exposed task: Performing basic or more routine medical and surgical procedures, including prescribing and administering treatments, medications and other preventive or curative measures, especially for common diseases and disorders (0.09).
• 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