The money in Health & Science: first pay and growth

Key facts

• Among new degree graduates in health and welfare who finished in 2025, 43.7% earned more than RM3,000 a month (our sum of the published bands); the most common band was RM3,001-RM4,000 (18.0%).^[1]
• Among new health and welfare diploma graduates, the most common band was RM1,501-RM2,000 (37.4%), and 45.2% earned RM2,000 or less (our sum).^[1]
• A 2026 public hospital notice lists RM1,974 a month as the starting basic salary for a nurse with a Diploma in Nursing, with fixed allowances on top.^[2]
• 93.0% of new health and welfare graduates had a job in 2025.^[1]
• Your first salary depends on the role, the employer, the location and your qualification. These ranges are what other new graduates reported to the government's survey, not a promise of what you will earn.^[1]

Health & Science goes beyond doctor or nurse: labs, public health, allied health and research. Many routes need registration with a professional body, which affects when you can start earning.

Typical first roles

People in this area often start as a biomedical scientist, physiotherapist, public health officer, pharmacist, nurse or medical laboratory technologist. Job titles vary between employers, so read what the job involves, not only its name.

What new graduates earned in 2025

These figures come from the Ministry of Higher Education's (KPT) Graduate Tracer Study 2025. It covers Malaysian citizens who convocated in 2025 and was published in October 2026.^[1] The amounts are gross monthly pay, before EPF (your retirement savings) and SOCSO come out. The study's fields of study do not match our career areas exactly, so we use the closest field; that choice is ours. The last two columns are our own sums of the study's published pay bands. We show two fields: health and welfare, and natural sciences, mathematics and statistics for lab and research routes.

Source: KPT tracer study 2025.^[1]

Two rows rest on small groups: 578 people for the health certificate and 520 for the natural sciences diploma, against 5,682 for the health degree.^[1] The report does not explain why the health certificate row is so high, so ask which courses and jobs it covers before you rely on it.

Pay for new health degree graduates is spread wide: the most common band held only 18.0% of them. Employment was high, at 93.0% for health and welfare and 92.1% for natural sciences.^[1]

The tracer study does not cover people who start work straight after SPM. For all Malaysian employees whose highest qualification was SPM or below, the median in 2025 was RM2,203, but that includes people with many years of experience.^[3]

A public hospital example

Many health jobs are in government hospitals, which publish their pay. A 2026 recruitment notice from a public university hospital lists the starting basic salary for a nurse (Diploma in Nursing, registered with the Malaysian Nursing Board) and for a medical laboratory technologist, both at grade U5, as RM1,974 a month. The grade's scale runs from RM1,650 to RM6,620, with a yearly increment of RM145.^[2]

On top of basic pay, the notice lists fixed allowances for nurses: RM300 for housing, RM350 for cost of living, RM160 for public service and RM150 as a critical-service incentive.^[2] So monthly pay before deductions is higher than the basic salary.

Pay later on

DOSM's 2025 survey gives the median for everyone working in an industry, at every age. In human health and social work it was RM4,976.^[3] By type of job, the median was RM6,124 for professionals and RM3,852 for technicians and associate professionals.^[3] Across all jobs, the median rose from RM1,931 at ages 20-24 to RM2,884 at 30-34.^[3] These are different people at different ages, so they show a general pattern, not your future pay.

What this means for you

• In 2025, 43.7% of new health degree graduates started above RM3,000, but pay was spread across many bands, so the role and the employer matter.
• A health diploma most often started at RM1,501-RM2,000. In the public hospital notice above, a nurse's fixed allowances add RM960 a month to the basic salary (our sum), so compare total pay, not basic pay alone.
• Lab and research routes through natural sciences started lower: 73.4% of new diploma graduates in that field earned RM2,000 or less.
• Registration with a professional board can delay your first pay. Find out how long it takes for the job you want before you choose a course.

Your next step

1. Find two real entry-level job adverts for one role in this area (for example staff nurse or medical laboratory technologist). Note the pay, the location and whether EPF and SOCSO are mentioned, then compare the pay with the band for your route above.
2. On Day 3, bring that band and its source ("KPT tracer study, graduates of 2025") to the first-salary simulation. first-salary-simulation-explained shows how a gross salary becomes take-home pay and a month's budget, and payslip-basics-epf-socso-eis-minimum-wage explains each deduction. For every career area side by side, see first-salaries-by-career-area.

Scope and current-policy check (24 October 2026)

All graduate bands refer to citizens graduating from the institutions covered by KPT in 2025, grouped by field of study. They are not salaries for all SPM leavers or for a particular job title. DOSM medians cover different people across ages and roles; they do not establish a pay trajectory, causal qualification premium, job security or Malaysian vacancy growth. A tech startup is an employer type, not a separately measured salary population in these sources. Do not invent a startup premium.

RM1,700 is the reference in the published Minimum Wages Order 2024.^[4] Budget 2027 announced RM2,000 from June 2027 with an MSME sales exemption; treat that as an announcement until a new instrument and implementing guidance establish the applicable scope and effective date.^[5] Check the official 2027 updates guide before accepting an offer.

Ask whether pay is basic or includes overtime, whether shifts and probation apply, who pays licence and safety costs, and when progression is reviewed.