Comparison of Good Medical Practice Guidelines of Malaysia, United Kingdom and Australia: A Review Paper

Good medical practice guidelines primarily highlight the obligations expected from medical practitioners, which are considered safe, effective and trustworthy by practitioners and the general community. Hence, the purpose of these guidelines is to serve as guidance for doctors to provide the best quality of care for their patients. While the core themes incorporated in these guidelines are often similar, there is nevertheless a need to review the existing good medical practice guidelines to determine the key themes, similarities, differences and gaps across different countries. This review has thoroughly explored the most recently published good medical practice guidelines from three countries, namely the United Kingdom, Australia, and Malaysia. Extracted information was classified under four different domains. Sub-domains were generated based on the general ideas and concepts discussed under each domain. We found a significant number of similarities and overlaps among the three guidelines; however, it is worth pointing out that variations exist in terms of sub-domains and depth of discussions for particular aspects as well. This review serves as a comprehensive compilation of good medical practice guidelines for medical students and doctors to aid their daily practice. Moreover, the findings in this review facilitates the policy-makers as a guide while subsequently updating the good medical practice guidelines in the near future.