Anyway, I hope Dr Subra can put MOH in order again. The recent news about an Houseman becoming a bogus policeman is rather disturbing. Remember what I said before about the deteriorating quality of students who are doing medicine nowadays? Even though this is an isolated case, I am sure it questions on how such a person can become a MBBS holder in the first place. Why was he involved in this crime? Was he in huge debt? I had always said that you should NEVER take huge loans to do medicine. It will take a lifetime to settle it. I know many who do illegal locums to settle their loan which include Car loan etc which will come later. Due to social status, many parents force their child to buy big cars and add more loans to their already huge debt. When the jobless scenario hits the market, many more doctors may land up in illegal activities as what happens in many other countries.

The jobless scenario of nurses hit the market end of last year. Many were left with at least RM 60K PTPTN loan. The government tried it’s best to absorb some into the civil service but could only do so for about 1600 of them. I know many nurses who are asking for a job in GP clinics and even working as Customer Care staffs in some hospitals. The quality is questionable and many do not even have any credits in SPM despite MOHE enforcing at least 3 credits. However, to enter civil service, they need atleast 5 credits!! Was MOHE sleeping? BTW, I still do not understand the logic of combining MOHE and MOE into 1 Ministry but have 2 Ministers!! Who makes the decisions? The minister who was running the MOHE is now the MB of Johor!

After the jobless scenario issue, the government has now enforced a minimum of 5 credits to enter nursing college. A little bit too late, I must say! This will definitely affect the intake of nursing colleges if enforced strictly. I hope MMC will also review its criteria and improve on the quality of the medical schools. The jobless scenario will definitely hit the medical profession soon. With the new Minister and a New DG, I hope something drastic can be taken to improve the quality of medical intakes and graduates.

Junior doc turns bad

Houseman impersonated police officer during robbery with three others

TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013 – 10:56

by P. Chandra Sagaran

Location:

IPOH

 

BUSTED: The toy pistol and other items seized from the group

A 26-YEAR-OLD houseman may have to forgo his dreams of becoming a doctor after he, and three others, were detained in relation to a robbery.

The man, who was pursuing his housemanship at Raja Pemaisuri Bainun Hospital, had also impersonated a police officer during the incident.

In confirming the arrest, Ipoh City Police chief ACP Sum Chang Keong said a 30-yearold businessman was driving his car along Jalan Dato Onn Jaafar when it was blocked by another car with four occupants at 4.25am.

One of the passengers from the car, dressed in an ASP police vest, alighted from the vehicle and punched the victim’s chest before he introduced himself as a CID police personnel.

“The man then pointed a black object, which resembled a pistol, and demanded the driver hand over RM350 or follow them to Sungai Senam police station,” Sum said.

At this juncture, another accomplice alighted from the car, and together with the houseman, got into the victim’s car and went to a bank in Jalan Sultan Idris Shah.

Upon arriving at the bank’s ATM, the robbers increased the amount to RM450. The victim then tried to call a friend for assistance, but was stopped by one of the suspects, who also seized his identity card.

Luckily for the businessman, a police car was dispatched to the scene after the Pekan Baru police station received a tip-off about the incident.

“The two police personnel spoke to the ‘officer’, who informed them he was from the Sungai Senam police station,” Sum said.

When the policemen asked for his authority card, the “ASP” flashed a Malaysian Special Ranger Agency card with his personal particulars.

Realising something amiss, the police officers took the four men to the Pekan Baru police station to conduct further investigations. They also seized the vest with the “officer’s” name tag, the authority card, a police cap, a pair of handcuff s, a toy pistol and two sets of keys.

The car which the four men were driving in was registered under the houseman’s name.

“The case is being investigated under Section 395 of the Penal Code for robbery and Section 6 of the Firearms Act,” Sum added.

The four have been remanded until May 17 to facilitate investigations.

Number of nursing students in Malaysia set to drop

JOHOR BARU – The number of students enrolling in nursing courses in Malaysia is expected to decrease as many students are finding it hard to meet the new entry requirement set by higher education ministry.

Institut Sains dan Teknologi Darul Takzim Chief Executive Officer Shahrul Azila Mohd Salleh said the entry requirement used to be three credit passes but last year, it was changed to five credit passes for nursing students.

“We hope the higher education ministry will review the change as many students are not meeting the mark,” he said after the institute’s seventh convocation here yesterday.

Shahrul said other private higher education institutions were also facing the same problem.

“For the last intake, we managed to enrol 240 to 300 students, but we expect the number to drop to 20 per cent for the intake next year,” he said.

He said the institute would submit an official application to the ministry to review the matter.

Shahrul said that if the institute could not fill the enrolment quota for nursing, it would have no choice but to accept international students from Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and China.

“We had quality graduates in the nursing course and among them were students with three credit passes,” he said, adding that the entry requirement should remain at three credit passes to appeal to a wider intake.

Earlier, a total of 411 students obtained their diplomas for various courses including business management, accounting and information technology during the convocation ceremony held at Persada Johor Convention Centre.

The recipient of the institute’s Executive Chairman Award, Siti Zulaikha Zulkifli, 21, said the key to her success was to be brave to ask questions.

“Besides revisions, I do not hesitate to speak up and approach my lecturers if I have questions,” said the Diploma in Accountancy student. She plans to move on to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Number of nursing students in M’sia set to drop

People were more interested on how he wants to tackle corruption, cronyism, rising cost of living and economy. He did well in the economic part but failed to address the first 3 issues. A clear corruption involving a CM was not acted upon. In fact he even diverted the question when was asked by the AlJazeera interview. He needed the state’s seats so badly that he failed to act against the CM. Throwing some BRIM, KRIM etc is not going to solve the “rising” cost of living issue. His manifesto was a copycat of Pakatan’s. He refused a debate with Anwar but attacked him from the back by using all the media. That was uncalled for and moved a lot of fence sitters to support the opposition. The media was misused to the maximum to the extent that I wanted to vomit every time I accidentally on the TV or MSM newspaper!

Racial issues were played right from the beginning. Mind you, it was NOT the opposition who played the racial issues. They moved as 1 solid block with no racial or religious issues. It was MCA and UMNO who were playing the issues. BUT, now they blame the Chinese for supporting the opposition. This is a democratic country and every citizen has the right to vote for anyone. Secondly, the real analysis clearly shows that it was NOT a Chinese Tsunami which our PM prematurely said. It was more of an Urban-Rural divide and a class divide. There were Malays who won in Chinese majority area and vice versa. In fact, this scenario worries the ruling government as it spells the end of race based politics. That is what they are worried about. The Chinese only constitutes 3.3 million voters but Pakatan received 5.6 million votes. Even if 3/4 of Chinese voted for opposition, where did the balance of 3.1 million votes came from ? How can Pakatan get 51% of the votes without the support of the Malays?

We should move forward and not backward. Race based politics should end and we should move on as Malaysians. So, it looks like the entire 1Malaysia slogan by PM is just a political gimmick! He expects the non-Malays to vote for him after endorsing Zulkifli Nordin and Ibrahim Ali to contest under UMNO (was it Chinese who voted them out?)! What saddens me the most is the fact that there are many so-called “educated” people who believe in these type of racial issues and numerous conspiracy theories of “so and so” wants to take over the country etc etc. They rather vote for a corrupted leader just for the sake of “demi bangsa, agama dan negara” ! Why is it that only UMNO can protect the Malay rights? Why not PAS or PKR ? These are also Malay majority parties. I still don’t understand how a population of 25% and a so-called racist party(DAP) which is contesting only 51 seats ( NOT all Chinese, BTW) can rule the country where the police, army and civil service is almost 98% Malays! To change the constitution, you need 2/3 majority! Another conspiracy theory is Christianisation of Malaysia !! Malaysian Christian population is only 9% and they are supposed to convert 60% of the population!! Are you saying that your faith is so weak? Please think logically. If you want to believe in conspiracy theories, it will never end!

I don’t blame these people as they have been brainwashed by the ruling government right from younger days. Dr M created Biro Tatanegara for this purpose and it seems to have worked very well. However, I salute the many younger people and urbanites for voting against corruption, cronyism and racism. I also salute Penangites and Selangorians ( of ALL races) who, despite all the money and negative adverts thrown at them, voted for a proven clean and good governance. No religion teaches you to condone racism but yet there are people who claim they are Muslims but full of racism within them. This includes some who I thought were my friends. It saddens me but atleast I know their true colours, now.

It is unbecoming of a PM to issue a statement like “Chinese Tsunami” on international TV and condoning Utusan’s racial headline. To my friends who support racism, I am sorry than I may have to unfriend you in FB. And for those who claim that certain party will sell Malaysia to neighbouring country, please see who is buying all the land and high-end properties in Johor ?

With the election over, I will go back to my writing on medical issues………………..

I attended at least 4 Pakatan’s ceramahs just to listen to them and see what they had to say. I must say that they were very professional, talk only on their policies and NEVER brought up any racial or religious issues. Most of the speakers were well educated and could articulate their policies very well in different languages etc. On the other hand, I am sad to see BN and UMNO using racial sentiments to create uneasiness among the population. The Star has been advertising on Hudud, PAS and DAP almost every day on every other page! Rather irritating and I felt like throwing it into the dustbin! UMNO has been playing around with the same old crap of May 13th! Sadly, we have many people who still believe on this propaganda like Chinese taking over the country, Hudud implementation, Christianisation of Malaysia etc etc. I am sure many who believe this propaganda do not understand how our constitution and Parliament system works! Without 2/3 majority, no one can change the constitution. With DAP contesting 51 seats, PAS 72 and PKR 99, no one party can have the majority.

A well-educated person can definitely think rationally. Unfortunately again, I was mistaken. Many people has been brainwashed since young. One thing that this election thought me was the fact that people who you thought were your good friends are not what they seem to be. I got no issue of you voting for anyone. I have had friends who have voted for both BN and opposition from those days. In fact, I was once a BN supporter myself as my father was a strong MIC man, who was once the Vice Chairman of MIC Negeri Sembilan. My father left MIC in early 1990s when he realised that MIC and BN became corrupted and not interested in helping people. Only now I realise that no matter how close you are and how well you trusted your friends, they had their racial sentiments in their heart!  They still do not accept you as a Malaysian but rather as an Indian/Chinese who is a pendatang who should be gratefull to BN/UMNO for giving you a place to stay in this country. This is a democratic country and we have the right to choose who we want. Just because we choose the opposition for a check and balance system, does not make you a traitor!

Whatever the result of this election today, we should move on. I just hope that there will come a day when we can call ourselves as  MALAYSIANS and not by any other race. I hope to see that happening before I go 6ft underground………………

I can only say that 1Malaysia is just a propaganda!

Please vote wisely………………

There is one difference that I am seeing in this election. This will be my 5th election that I will be voting. The one difference that I see is the eagerness of every registered voter to vote! I had never seen that before. Each and every person who I met is going back to vote. I have friends from Singapore , Sabah and Sarawak who are coming back to their hometown to vote. Previously I had many friends who do not vote. When I ask them why, their answer will always be ” Why bother, BN will win anyway!”

I think the 2008 election changed everyone’s perception. What people thought is impossible became possible in last election. BN was denied 2/3 majority for the first time in history. I feel this had made many people to realise that no matter how big you are, you can fall one day! Thus, in this election everyone wants a change and going for a change. Whether it is for good or bad, remained to be seen but you will never know till you have tried.

We have 6 more days for voting. Wether this be a history in the making or will remain status quo, will be known on 5/5/2013. Whatever happens, we should accept the result and move on. I believe in 2 party system and no one party should be given 2/3 majority. MCA has been playing with the hudud and PAS issue in their newspaper on a daily basis. Pathetic! Pas is only contesting 71 seats which obviously they will not win all. How the hell are they going to change the constitution? I leave the readers to ponder upon!

I thought of taking a break from writing about medical issues as the election fever is picking up. The whole mess that this country is facing at the moment is purely due to mismanagement. We are a very rich country and should have progressed way ahead of many other countries. We were better than Korea and Singapore in late 60s and early 70s. In fact, out growth rate in 1970s were higher than anytime after that, despite oil production starting only in late 70s. This is what I call ” The Curse of the Black Gold” ! When we have oil, we forget to develop any other field and try to survive on oil money. What happens when we run out of oil? Despite producing oil, we are a nation with one of the highest debt, reaching almost 55% of our GDP. Why is that so?

We are producing youngsters with instant debts, the moment they leave the university. WE could have easily built more public universities and give subsidised education to everyone irrespective of race or religion. BUT we didn’t. We still have the only race based university in the world (UiTM) but yet shouting 1Malaysia slogan everyday. This very university is funded by public fund aka taxes paid by the citizens of Malaysia of every race. Rather than throwing BRIMs, KRIMs etc etc, why can’t we use this money to pay the PTPTN loan and get our youngsters out of debt! Our cost of leaving is increasing day by day. I can buy an item from eBay, amazon.com and other online stores much cheaper than buying in Malaysia ( including postage)! Doesn’t it look funny? The answer is simple: monopoly and cronyism.

When there is monopoly and cronyism, cost of living will increase. It happened to Russia before and that’s the reason Soviet Union collapsed. It’s socialism and capitalism together! When Penang and Selangor government stopped the leak, they made a tremendous amount of money. The leakage is everywhere due to cronyism. Those who are in medical line in government hospitals will realise that almost ALL drugs are now generic drugs and not the original. The reason given was that it is cheaper and reduces the government’s cost. Unfortunately that is not true. I am sure everyone knows that for all purchases made by government sector, it has to go through a “bumiputera” agent aka UMNO crony!. What this agent does is to sign the forms and transport the drugs from point A to point B. Wholah, the commission is 10% of the total drug price supplied. So, if the total drug price is RM 1 million, he earns RM 100K instantly without doing anything but just signing papers. This is the system created by Dr Mahathir to make instant millionaires among the Malays to compete with the Chinese millionaires, which only backfired later.

Now, the 10% I wrote above is the commission for original drugs. Do you know that the government is buying generic local made drugs for the same price as the original? These cronies are now supplying the generic drugs for the same price as the original, making almost 100% profit!! That’s the reason, the MOH never manage to reduce the total cost despite getting generic drugs! Who suffers at the end ? The RAKYAT as they are getting inferior drugs which most of the time does not work. The doctors in government sector can’t do anything as the decisions are made at the top!

That’s why I believe in what the opposition is trying to say. If they can stop these leakages, we will save tonnes of money which in turn can be channelled to education . By eliminating the “middle man” syndrome, we can reduce the cost of leaving. Of course, this is a difficult task as many of these people are UMNO cronies who need UMNO badly to survive. They will throw all the money they have to sponsor the election campaign in support of BN. Read the book written by Barry Wein on Mahathir tilted “Malaysian Maverick” . How Mahathir created the mess we are in, is clearly stated in this book. I also read “Doctor in the House”, the autobiography of Dr M. I feel the title of the book should have been ” Me and the Malays” . From beginning till the end, it is all about him and the Malays with no mention of the contribution of the non-Malays to this country. Despite bringing physical development to this country, he destroyed it internally.

Well, I will stop here for the moment. As the election comes closer, the country will get heated up. Every single person who is a registered voter should come out to vote. A change might be needed to put things back in place. If we don’t like it, we can always change back! That is what you call ” 2 party system”.

This would be the toughest and the most interesting election ever. Looking at the strategy that are being played by the opposition, I must say that they have planned it well. You can throw all the money that you have or control all the mainstream media but the people are getting smarter. A war is won by people with strategy and not money or numbers. Racial politics should GO. In this new era and new generation, there is NO place for racial politics. Anyone who is in need should be helped irrespective of what race he is.

Every single vote counts. I hope each and everyone who is a registered voter would exercise your duty to this country. It does not matter who you vote BUT make sure you vote and please vote wisely. It is for the future of this country. Every registered voter should come home to vote irrespective in which country you are in at the moment. The date of election will be announced soon within the next few days. You will have an ample amount of time to make necessary arrangement.

Vote with your brain and not with your emotion. Open your eyes and see the truth. Listen to both side of the stories and NOt what is being portrayed  in the mainstream news ( TV 3 suku etc etc). The era of internet has made this possible. I support the 2 party system which will keep the government on their toes. I also feel that we should not keep any one party in power for too long.

Let the  FUN begin………………………

Now, coming back to the topic above. I mentioned in my last post that I will reveal some changing strategies of medical schools in getting students. IMU, the first and most established private medical school in Malaysia, has sent out a survey to their alumni and students asking for their opinion on the introduction of USMLE preparatory course. What interest me the most was the content of the message that was sent out. Every single issue that I had written in this blog that many refuse to believe over the years has been reinforced and confirmed by this message below:

However, I would like to reiterate that sitting and passing the USMLE exams do not guarantee you a residency post or  a training post in US. Yes, US is still short of doctors simply because many of their own citizens are not interested in being one. The high litigation rate and demanding population are some of the reasons quoted. Oh, don’t forget the high indemnity insurance rate, so much so, it is even higher than the income they earn in a year for some speciality. There was once a saying that there were more doctors resigning in US than being produced, not sure how true was that statement.

USMLE exam is needed for anyone to be able to work in US. It consist of 3 Steps with 2 parts in Step 2. It does not come cheap either. Just this year, the fees has been increased again as mentioned here.  Despite spending huge amount of money, there is NO guarantee that you will get a residency post. If you look at the ECFMG fact card over here, you will realise that only 40% of the Non-US citizen IMG got a matching for the year 2012. If you look at the ECFMG annual report over here (page 20), you will realise that Malaysia is not even in the top 45 countries from where the IMGs are coming from! The highest IMGs are from India (16%). Despite that, I just received a comment from a doctor from India who said this “Fed up of applying to every match, sir. Not getting matched. So quit trying. Looking for other opportunities based on usmle credentials like abu dhabi, malaysia, sir” .

I got no issue of IMU conducting this course but they make it sound like it is very easy for students who pass USMLE to get a training post in US. I think it will be as tough as getting a specialist training post anywhere else in the world. You are competing with the whole world! BTW, IMU is not the only university encouraging students to sit for USMLE. Few of the newer medical schools in Malaysia  have also started to promote USMLE for their students.

Well, once someone said that we will become a maid (aka graduates) exporting nation by 2020. It looks like we will also become a doctor exporting nation soon………………

Welcome to GTP, government  Transformation Program…………………

My latest article published 3 days ago on 7/03/2013 seems to have attracted a lot of attention. It achieved the highest single day view in the history of my blog. On 8/03/2013, it achieved 7 222 views in a single day!! Incidentally, it is also the 5^th anniversary of the 2008 General Election (the political tsunami)!

Thus, as a celebration of achieving a million views as well as the highest single day view on 8/03/2013, I am writing the third part of this infamous topic. I based this 3^rd part on what people think about a doctor that is NOT the truth. Somewhere in this blog, a commentator by the name of cardiprin (an MBBS graduate who quit housemanship and doing something else) wrote some interesting quotes from non-medical people. I will elaborate on these quotes.

1. Have a very secured future

This has been proven wrong many times in this blog; the latest was the last article, which I wrote on 7/03/2013. Many countries are now struggling to create jobs to all their medical graduates including Australia, UK and some European countries. Jobless doctors are a norm in Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and even India. With 36 medical schools conducting close to 46 medical programs plus thousands more from overseas, surplus of doctors is inevitable in Malaysia by 2016/17.

As I had mentioned recently, MO post in Selangor, N.Sembilan and Malacca is full. Johor Bahru district, which has only 90 posts are being filled up to 110 posts, utilizing posts that are for upcoming Klinik Kesihatans. This means that the post for the upcoming Klinik Kesihatan has already been filled!

As I have written over here, based on the government’s own statistics, it is obvious that we will have surplus of doctors within the next 3-4 years. The new housemen are being warned that they may not be able to secure an automatic MO post in the future. How they will select is yet to be determined. When this time comes, you have to go where the post is available and the maldistribution of doctors will eventually be solved.

2. 
Nature of Job – sitting in a cozy consultation rooms, joking along with their patients, and ends up with big bucks every month.


This is the most ridiculous statement that I hear from non-medical people. Do they really know what doctors do behind the scene? Many has this impression that a doctor’s job is just sitting in a clinic and prescribing drugs after hearing your complains. It is NOT as easy as that. It may be true for many General Practitioners (GPs) out there who do not do any ward work but as I have mentioned many times before, post-MBBS GPs are a dying field. In the future, even to become a GP, you will need postgraduate degree.

As for specialist, sitting in a clinic is only part of their job. They have emergencies to handle, patients in the ward to manage, surgeries to do and complains to answer. You are “on-call” 24hrs a day and 7 days a week as your patients are your responsibility. There are NO housemen or medical officers in private hospitals to do your job. It is just you and your patients! A small mistake will invite a lawyer’s letter at your doorstep. AND don’t forget that to reach the status of a consultant in private hospital, you would have undergone at least 10-15 years of training post MBBS!

3. Are rich


Another big misconception. The era of rich doctors are gone. Many of the current doctors are struggling to survive. Many clinics had closed down and the incomes of specialist in private hospitals are slowly declining day by day. Many private hospitals have started to “employ” specialist with a fixed income unlike before where every consultant is self-employed. BTW, don’t think the hospital is going to pay you huge amount of salary! I know one private hospital chain, which is offering only RM 20K monthly salary, which after PCB and EPF deduction will come to about RM 16K net salary per-month!

As you will be aware by now, the only way you’re going to make huge amount of money in medicine (return of investment), if ever, is by going to private sector. To do this, you need to complete at least 10-15 years of training after graduating. Being in private means, you are working almost 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and can be called at anytime of the day. The stress level is high and it is not an easy life as many would like to think.

In private, it is a business, with one big difference: you are the ONLY asset to your business. Your business runs only if you are physically there! Patients come to see you and not your clinic! If you take leave or go for a holiday, your income will be zero. If you meet with an accident and unable to work, your income is zero. If you become handicapped, your income is zero forever after that. This is the huge difference between a business in any other sector and medicine, which many do not realize.

4. One can become a specialist merely by attending lecturer classes and passing up assignments/coursework, like MBA


Oh Gosh, what kind of society are we living in? To be frank, I have had medical students (3^rd and 4^th years) who think that Master’s program is a fulltime program like undergraduate. They think that they just need to attend lectures, tutorials and will be thought like an undergraduate!! What they don’t understand is that it is a FULL TIME working with part-time learning! You are practically doing your full-time clinical work and part-time studying. It is learning while working! NO formal teaching is involved.

Worst still, we have parents and students who think they can become instant specialist after graduating!

5. Highly respected

This era is GONE. Most of the younger generations do not give a damn who you are! I had been scolded and given sarcastic remarks by some young fellows who have not even entered university!

6. Are angels and are very passionate about their profession

Angels? Yes, doctors are still the most trusted profession by the public but sorry to say, the number of doctors with unethical practices and profit driven are increasing day by day due to stiff competition. They are not passionate about their profession but more passionate on how they can fill their pockets! It is about survival nowadays! Just look at this news that just appeared today

As what my friend once said: doctors are the best businessmen as the public fully trust them and get cheated in broad daylight! Looking at the trend of students doing medicine for money and good future, it is not surprising at all.

7. Can issue MCs and prescribe drugs (including graduates)


So what? Even pharmacists are selling drugs without prescription. Traditional medicine practitioners are dispensing drugs, which, most of the time contains modern medicine and steroids. According to our great Health Minister, even Sinsehs/TCM practitioners can give MCs ….………. It is up to the employer to accept or not. BTW, housemen are not allowed to give MCs as you are not a fully registered doctor.

8. Can easily retire at a young age


Has anyone seen any doctors retiring young? Please enlighten me! The only doctors who I have seen retiring young are those who quit medicine and go into some other business or profession. Most doctors will die working, as the day they stop working the income is zero! That’s the reason why many doctors are venturing into other business nowadays. I know many who had started food business so that they can leave their job as a doctor one day and relax at home.

Looking back, many regretted not investing the money they spend to become a doctor in some other business! I use to tell the same to many budding doctors whose sole intention in doing medicine is for money! Why waste spending RM500K and endless years of studying when you could have done something else at less than RM100K and use the rest to start-up a business?

9. Had gone through tremendously difficult exams – failure rates are high

Another joke of the year! Do you know that almost all medical schools in Malaysia have almost 100% passing rate? Those who fail just have to repeat the exam in few weeks and eventually will pass the exams. That’s the reality. That’s the reason why you see the deteriorating quality of graduates in Malaysia, not only for medicine but for everything else as well. We also know how many “so-called” graduates from overseas who buy their “certificate”.

10. Can solve all their health problems

“To Cure Sometimes, To Relieve often and to comfort always” has always been the motto for medical profession. To survive you need a lot of luck and fate. Many budding doctors or students feel that doctors can cure and save lives all the time. Yes, we can treat many people with drugs! Without drugs, what can we do? Did doctors create these drugs? Surgeons can operate and correct many disorders but can they do it without anesthetic drugs, antibiotics, equipments etc?

I use to tell medical students that doctors don’t save life. They prolong life! If doctor’s can save life, no one should die. That’s the reason you see many VVIPs dying despite the best medical care and with all the money they have. I have had medical students who went into depression when they entered clinical years. This is because they create a bond with a patient who eventually dies in the ward. Frankly, to be a doctor, you need to be emotionless! Any emotional attachment will lead to depression and resignation from clinical duties.

Medical profession is probably the least exposed profession in this country. Many non-medical people do not understand the real life of a doctor. They also refuse to accept the fact when it is revealed to them. They always accuse us of trying to protect our “rice bowl”. I use to tell them that by the time the person who enters medical school becomes a specialist like me (15-20 years), I would have retired or gone 6 feet underground. So, why do I give a damn about my rice bowl?

Students on the other hand are either totally ignorant or refuse to believe what people say. Furthermore, current generation do not read much and wants everything to be spoon-fed. I would blame it on our education system for creating parrots! That’s the reason the number of medical graduates being referred to Psychiatrists is increasing day by day. Soon, probably the psychiatry department should start a separate clinic days for “depressed” housemen! One of the main reasons for this problem is due to the fact that they had the same perception as written above coupled by pressure from parents in forcing them to become a doctor.

Well, the SPM results will be announced soon. I am sure many will still do medicine. My advice is always the same: NEVER DO MEDICINE FOR THE WRONG REASONS………………….. you will regret it later……………

Next: how medical schools changing their marketing strategy, knowing very well, surplus of doctors is inevitable in the next few years…………

If you look at the letter carefully, MOH is now concentrating on improving the quality of care by asking MOs to become housemen. Housemen will eventually become a 6th year medical student who would not need to take any responsibility. It is also mentioned that shift system MUST be implemented in ALL hospitals. Any shortfalls should be covered by the MOs since there are enough number of MOs to run the service. There is nothing to cheer about for the housemen as you will become a MO soon and need to follow the same orders. Worst still, you will be under trained and underexposed. I can already see that happening around me. I have junior MOs who just finished housemanship who do not even know that ACE inhibitors can cause cough, Amlodipine can cause leg edema and Hydrochlorothiazide can cause rise in uric acid! These are information that I knew when I was a final year medical student! The “training” is getting bad to worst and many are being released with a “license to kill………….”. I just saw a 74-year-old lady discharged with Pottasium tablet 1200mg tds and Mist KCL 15mls tds after 1 day of admission in a hospital. Thank GOD she came to see me the next day! Do they know that Potassium can kill?

I was also informed that very soon, HO post will be given under temporary post. This means that you are not going to be guaranteed a job after housemanship. You also cannot choose where you want to work as you will have to go where the post is available. Remember what I said over here. Again, can anyone deny what I have been saying all this while? All evidence is pointing towards an oversupply and jobless doctors…………….

Personally, what are these pharmacists going to learn from private retail pharmacy stores? Who is going to guide them ? Are they going to become a mere shopkeeper? At least if they are given a job in a private hospitals, there are senior people and doctors who may be of help in their training. I seriously feel that our entire medical system is going down the drain with poor planning, inadequate training and with a “license to kill”………….. Would they soon ask private hospitals to conduct housemanship training? Well, being in bolehland, nothing is impossible!

Whatever said, we still need a lot of pharmacists in rural areas. This is the reason the government is mulling special incentives for pharmacies to be set up in rural areas. This was also reported 2 days ago over here ( see below). Right at the end of the news, it is mentioned that we will achieve the WHO pharmacy to population ratio of 1:2000 by 2016! Sounds familiar? what happens after that? Jobless pharmacist?

The Malaysian Pharmacy Society has already started the zoning system in preparation for the 1Care system. I had written about this over here and it is also mentioned below.

So, can anyone still deny that doctors can become jobless? We are just producing too many graduates in every field. The private colleges are having a field time producing half baked graduates for the sake of money……………. The realisation is simply tooooooo late!!

Read more: Ministry relaxes pharmacists’ training scope – General – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/ministry-relaxes-pharmacists-training-scope-1.224323#ixzz2M0yeMb6E

Health Ministry mulls incentives for opening community pharmacies