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For Future Doctors: MQE in 16 Medical schools?

May 1, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

We have another brainless idea from our Health Minister, as usual. I wonder why our Health Minister (who is not a doctor) seem to be making these announcements rather than MMC? The news below appeared in the Star today, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/1/nation/20120501165752&sec=nation. I believe MMC is clearly becoming toothless and following the orders of a politician. Since our new DG took over the chairman post, many funny things seem to be happening!! Trying to make politicians happy, I presume.

I am happy for the graduates from unrecognised universities as now, they can sit for the exam unlimited number of times. BUT, rather than allowing 16 medical schools to run this exam, attempts should have been made to standardised the MQE exams like many other countries. Basically, you will be sitting for the final year exam of the respective universities. Every university has its own curriculum and exam format. For example: Monash DO NOT have a final year exam!! Their exams are in 3rd and 4rd year only. Final year is a continuous assessment. So, how are they going to conduct this MQE exam?? Has it been thoroughly discussed with these universities or our Minister is talking rubbish as usual?

I would have definitely preferred a standardised exam conducted by MMC rather than each universities running their own format and exams. Will the students be allowed to jump colleges if they fail their attempt? If you sit for the exam at the same uni repeatedly, would they eventually pass you? Most of our medical colleges have almost 100% passing rate, I wonder what will happen to MQE later.

The MMC has also been ordered to recognised more universities worldwide since the idea of common entrance exam for all overseas graduates was rejected by cabinet ( politicians again!). The common exam was approved by MMC under the previous DG. I was told it was one of the reason why he was asked to leave as he could not agree with many of the politicians idea. Due to political agreement between China and Malaysia http://pagalavan.com/2012/03/17/money-money-moneylots-of-money-part-2/, MMC is being forced to recognise graduates from China!

Whatever said, one thing is for sure going to  happen! We are going to be flooded with doctors by 2015!! Will we be seeing doctors becoming tuition teachers, pharma company reps and taxi drivers? Only time will tell…………………………. we are in TOTAL mess………………..

Medical qualifying exam now available at 16 local varsities

By SHARON LING

Liow: The medical graduates can now take the exam an unlimited number of times instead of three previously.

KUCHING: Medical graduates from unrecognised universities overseas can now sit for the Medical Qualifying Examination (MQE) at all 16 medical schools in the country, including private universities.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said previously these graduates could only sit for the exam at three local universities – Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

“From now onwards they can sit for the exam in all medical schools in Malaysia. We have 16 medical schools offering 17 medical programmes.

“All students coming back from unrecognised universities overseas can sit for the exam in all these universities,” he told reporters after holding a dialogue with several Sarawakian medical graduates who earned their degrees in China here on Tuesday.

The 16 universities are UM, UKM, USM, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Penang Medical College, International Medical University, AIMST University, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Royal College of Medicine Perak, Monash University Sunway Campus, UCSI University, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, and Management and Science University.

Liow said this move would make it easier for medical graduates to sit for the MQE, particularly Sarawakian students who would no longer need to travel to Kuala Lumpur for it.

“They prefer to take the exam here because the cost will be lower,” he said, adding that this was one of the problems brought up by the graduates during the dialogue session.

Liow also announced that the medical graduates could now take the exam an unlimited number of times.

“In the past it was limited to three times. Now they can sit for it unlimited times to make sure they pass,” he said.

Medical graduates from unrecognised universities need to pass the MQE in order to start their housemanship and be registered as medical doctors in Malaysia.

In addition, Liow said the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) was currently in the process of recognising medical programmes in China.

He said MMC would focus on accrediting the 11 top universities in China first as many Malaysian students were studying there.

He said although Malaysia and China had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on recognising the universities, medical courses needed to be accredited by MMC.

“MMC will visit the universities in China to accredit their medical degrees so that we can recognise them as soon as we can,” Liow said, adding that MMC would try to complete the accreditation process in one year’s time.

At present, MMC recognises 375 universities in over 30 countries, not including China.

Posted in Education | 28 Comments »

For Future Doctors: Time is running out?

April 30, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

Well, I have been saying this all the while. The government is set to meet the doctor:population ratio target of 1: 600 by 2015 and 1:400 by 2020. The news that appeared in the Star today http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/30/nation/11201514&sec=nation  is a clear indication of what is coming soon. However, I feel that we will achieve the ratio very much earlier. With the highest number of medical schools per capita population in the world, we will likely achieve the target of 1:400 by 2017/2018. Our Minister’s calculation of 3500 graduates annually is grossly miscalculated. By 2015, we will be producing at least 5000 graduates locally and another 1000-2000 from overseas. I don’t think our Minister knows what he is talking about, as usual. I also don’t believe that there is a 60% vacancies in civil service for doctors. In a true Malaysia Boleh spirit, our Minister has proudly said that we will “do better than WHO’s recommendation“. WTH, of course he never says anything about quality! Chasing quantities is not going to take us far.

I have attached another article below which caught my eye 2 days ago http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/28/nation/11196903&sec=nation. I have highlighted 2 sentences which is what I expect to happen to medical graduates by 2017. When all the posts in MOH are filled, I am sure local public university graduates and government sponsored students will be given priority. The self sponsored, whether from overseas or local private universities will most likely have wait in a “Q” or just have to find another job !

Doctor target within reach

By CHRISTINA TAN newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KLUANG: Malaysia is optimistic of having a doctor-population ratio of 1:400 by the year 2020, beating the World Health Organisation’s standard of 1:600.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Government was confident of meeting the standard despite currently facing a shortage of doctors with a ratio of only 1:800.

He said the ministry was however on track to achieve WHO’s standard of a doctor-population ratio of 1:600 by 2015.

“We are optimistic that we can do better than WHO’s recommendation,” he told reporters after visiting the new Kluang Hospital in conjunction with the MCA roadshow here yesterday.

Liow said the present shortage of doctors was quite high with 60% vacancies that needed to be filled nationwide.

Several measures, he added, had been drawn up to increase the number of doctors and medical graduates, with the country producing about 3,500 every year.

“With the continuing efforts and measures to increase the number of medical personnel, the country can achieve its target,” he said.

At the event, Liow said the ministry would also provide Kluang Hospital with CT scan facilities worth RM5mil and 25 doctors, including specialists.

He also said the hospital needed an additional 150 nurses and other staff, adding that he would talk to the Public Service Department soon on resolving the matter.

4800 New Teachers

PETALING JAYA: The Education Ministry is taking steps to ensure Bachelor of Education graduates from public universities (IPTAs) will be absorbed in schools from May.

Over 4,800 new graduate teachers from IPTAs will receive their posting next month.

“A total of 4,671 graduate teachers will be sent to schools on May 23 while another 150 graduate teachers will be posted in July,” Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in a statement.

He revealed that the Education Services Commission had interviewed 4,953 candidates from IPTAs.

Only graduate teachers from IPTAs will receive their postings while graduates from private institutions of higher education (IPTS) will not be called for an interview by the commission yet.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, explained that graduate teachers from IPTAs were given preference over those from IPTS because their intake and the subjects they majored in were planned by the ministry.

Graduate teachers from IPTAs had earlier experessed concern over a delay in their      posting.

In Ranau, Sabah, Muhyiddin, who was on a two-day visit to the state, said the education system needed a revamp to produce a new breed of experts and skilled workers.

He said the current system had been adequate but the time had come to elevate it further to ensure the country achieved its goals.

“We must place importance on education to meet the manpower needs of the country,” he said when opening SMK Ranau and handing over of land to Institut Aminuddin Baki.

Malaysia, he said, would need another 3.3 million new workers in the next eight years in addition to the existing 12 million.

Meanwhile, at a dialogue in Kota Kinabalu later with the DPM, teachers said they were not given any special allowance for teaching the Kadazandusun language.

Muhyiddin urged teachers who were about to retire to properly plan for their golden years.

Also at the event were Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman and Ex-Education Officers Association of Malaysia Sabah branch chairman Datuk Khamis Noyo.

Posted in Education | 21 Comments »

What happens when you fall 2 storeys in a lift?

April 22, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

Last friday, my orthopaedic surgeon had a marathon of surgeries. A well-known condominium in JB town had a lift malfunction and the lift gave way 2 storeys high. It fell with 10 occupants. About 5 patients landed in my hospital after initial management at GH.

A segmental fracture of RT Femur in a 63 year old lady!

A Tibial plateau fracture with knee joint  involvement in a 52-year-old lady!

Any lift phobias ????

Posted in Rheumatology | 8 Comments »

Do you smell something fishy?

April 19, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

This news appeared in the Star 2 days ago: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/17/nation/11116137&sec=nation. A MOU was signed to allow some private and public university lecturers to run specialist services in district hospitals. Few people asked for my opinion on this issue and whether it is a prelude for something else that is coming. I would say that there are pros and cons to this arrangement. One of the main reason why many do not want to join the private or public universities is because majority would not be able to do clinical practise. Even though all these medical schools are attached to a MOH hospital, the politics that goes inside these hospital prevents the academics from running any service for the hospital. I had written about this in March 2007 in Berita MMA http://pagalavan.com/my-mma-articles/march-2007academicians-vs-service-providers-clash-of-the-titans/. Allowing these specialist to run services in district hospitals will allow them to keep the clinical skills intact and at the same time teach the students.

However, we must understand that majority of the academics in most of our private and some public medical schools are expats. That is the reality. In fact, there is even a joke that some universities can be known as Burmese universities as almost all their lecturers are Burmese. I have seen good ones and bad ones. Some of these academics have not done clinical work for many years. Thus, they may be good in theoretical knowledge but not clinical acumen. Secondly, how many of this district hospitals have enough facilities to run specialist service? For example, do Tapah hospital have ultrasound facilities, CT scans, operating theatres etc? The OT is mainly for minor cases and not for major cases. Most of these hospitals do not even have enough A class medications. Even LSCS cannot be done in their OT.  Most of the hospitals mentioned below are in this category. So, having a specialist in this hospital may not add any benefit. It may be useful for Internal medicine services but not surgical services. I am also not sure whether MOH is paying for these services, as previously they don’t.

The government prevented medical schools from building their own teaching hospitals since the late 1990s, after HUKM. Unfortunately, this rule was removed when our PM launched Perdana University!! Now, every medical school is racing ahead to set up their own teaching hospital. UCSI is setting up in PD, IMU is buying over Pantai Ampang, Melaka Manipal is setting up Manipal Hospital and I heard even Allianz Medical college is building a private hospital too!! So, here comes another madness after 36 medical schools. It is a way for the private uni to make more money. Frankly speaking, private hospital are not suitable to be made a teaching hospital at this moment. How many private hospitals have all the specialities and manage complicated and chronic cases? WE do not have a National healthcare scheme yet to subsidise patients in private hospitals. Almost 80-90% of the patients in private hospitals now are insurance paid. The cost is just too high for any cash paying patients. Most of these patients wants privacy and personalised care by a consultant. Any new private hospitals will take 5-7 years to be fully occupied by patients. It does not mean that when these hospitals open, patients will be rushing in like a shopping complex! There will not be enough pool of patients for training purposes.

Private hospitals do not hire medical officers or housemen. The only medical officers they hire is for the emergency department. Consultants are NOT employed or paid a salary by these hospitals. Will this scenario change? There are still few questions that are unanswered .  Are these hospitals only meant for their lecturers ? Will the specialist be paid a fixed salary by the university unlike the normal private hospitals? Will this private hospitals start to hire MOs and HOs? Economically, it is not viable. That’s the reason why Monash decided to put their plan on hold. Private hospitals will take at least 5-7 years to start to make profit for the investment made. Thus, it is very unlikely they can employ MOs and HOs as financially they will not be able to cope. Furthermore, under the Medical Act, housemanship can only be done in public hospitals. And, will the consultants/lecturers have enough time to teach the students when they are busy with their patients in the ward/clinic?

I was informed that some private hospitals which belongs to big corporate giants are proposing to use their hospitals for postgraduate training. Well, it may be useful for certain subspeciality training in big private hospitals but not for basic speciality training. Again, there will be a lot of issues to settle. Will MOH pay the trainees to be trained in these hospitals? How much will MOH pay to these hospitals to run this “training” scheme? How much will the consultants be paid by MOH or will MOH pay the hospitals only? Will the consultant really train these trainees or merely use them as their free coolie?

Whatever it is , I smell something fishy in all this. For sure, there will be a lot of money involved and changing hands, from right pocket to left pocket! The standard of healthcare will definitely go down the drain due to poor training etc. I wonder whether there will come a time where the rakyat will lose faith in our doctors and go elsewhere for medical treatment? Our politicians are already doing it! Will we become like the Indonesians who rush to Malaysia and Singapore to seek treatment??? Only time will tell……………….

Varsity lecturers to help out at 22 hospitals

By ROSHIDI ABU SAMAH  roshidi@thestar.com.my

TAPAH: The Health Ministry has identified 22 public and private universities which will provide specialist medical services in 22 district hospitals nationwide.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the universities were among 33 public and private universities in the country that offer medical courses.

He described it as a smart partnership as the hospitals would provide all the necessary facilities while the universities would send their lecturers who are also medical experts with various specialisations.

He said the collaboration would result in more patients receiving specialist treatment with a shorter waiting period.

“It is a win-win solution for the ministry, universities and the public,” he said after witnessing the signing of the smart partnership between the ministry and nine universities at the Tapah Hospital yesterday.

The ministry was represented by its secretary-general Datuk Kamarul Zaman Md Isa while the nine universities were represented by their vice-chancellors or top officials.

The nine universities that inked the partnership agreement were Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman that would provide specialist medical service at the Tapah Hospital, Management and Science University (Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital), Perdana University (Bentong Hospital), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Serian Hospital), UCSI University (Dungun Hospital), Lincoln University College (Lahad Datu Hospital), Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (Kepala Batas Hospital), Melaka Manipal Medical College (Jasin Hospital) and Mahsa University College (Tanjung Karang Hospital).

Liow said the signing ceremony with the remaining 13 universities would be held later.

“The partnership will help ease congestion at main hospitals and increase the bed occupancy rate at district hospitals,” he said, adding that priority areas include internal medicine, general surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopedic and anaesthesiology.

Posted in Education, Politics | 5 Comments »

OH! Not again………………..

April 14, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

For so many years, ever since my housemanship days, the issue of overworked doctors have been appearing on and off in the newspapers. Today’s Star headline is about the same issue all over again http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/14/nation/11106586&sec=nation, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/14/nation/11106584&sec=nation. Nothing happens after that,as the usual Malaysian style. All talk but no action! BTW why only HOs are overworked? what happen to the overworked MOs and specialist!!

When the shift system was implemented I wrote this http://pagalavan.com/2011/05/15/for-future-doctors-shift-work-for-housemen/. The whole idea of the shift system is to reduce the number of housemen in each shift so that they will have a better exposure to patients and more rest time. If not, 50 housemen will be running around in the ward every morning !! However, it will definately increase the workload of the housemen during each shift as they will end up seeing more patients at any one time, especially in busy and big hospitals. The entire shift system was not properly implemented and thought of. Our DG, with just a single circular forced all the hospitals to implement the shift duties in September 2011 without proper discussion. Before the implementation, only 2 “small” hospitals were used to run a pilot project. The same principle cannot be applied throughout the country as different hospitals have different problems, different number of ward etc etc. That was my concern then. It is now proven to be correct.

SCHOMOS had a discussion with MOH and came up with the flexi system with total number of hours capped at 60 hours/week. Thus, every hospital was given the authority to implement the shift system based on the best model for the respective hospitals. I was informed that the shift system only made the situation worst in some big and major hospitals in the country. Whatever it is, the rest time was adequate in total.

I have said this before and I will say this again that being a doctor in stressfull. If you can’t handle the stress then leave! If you are incompetent to be a save doctor, then you must be sacked as patient safety should always be the priority. From my experience, most housemen who can’t cope are people who did not realise a life as a doctor and forced by parents. Parents were only concerned about glamour, money and nothing else. So, when they see their child working like a “dog” they get upset and start complaining. I feel the generation Y youngsters are over pempered and unable to handle stress. Probably there is something seriously not right about our education system or the parents!

Everyone is talking about housemen nowadays just because there are too many of them and many are from well to do families and VIPs. If not how can you afford RM 500K to do medicine locally in all our dubious medical schools. Quality is dropping very fast and the consultants are having tough time handling this situation. That could be the reason why the MOs and specialist are beginning to shout at the housemen nowadays, thus labelled as “bullies”. I pity all those medical officers and specialist who are also overworked but never appeared in the newspaper!! This is because, these people have gone throu worst scenarios and able to handle all these situation. Wonder how I can work 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week? good training when I was a housemen.

BTW, the dead of the housemen has nothing to do with being overworked from what I gather and he never worked 5 consecutive days. The director of Kajang hospital said that he has 180 housemen, which means each department should have atleast 30 housemen!!

Housemen still being overworked and bullied, sending some into depression

Stories by LOH FOON FONG, LIM WEY WEN, P. ARUNA and SHAUN HO

Under the Graduate Medical Officer Flexi Timetable system, introduced last September, housemen can only work up to 60 hours a week with two days off. But implementation has been reportedly poor at some hospitals.

Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman said the ministry would seek explanations from hospitals found overworking their housemen, adding that the ministry was willing to help them implement the system effectively if they were facing a shortage of housemen.

However, he said he had checked timetables in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Ampang Hospital, Serdang Hospital, Klang Hospital, Selayang Hospital and Sungai Buloh Hospital but had not seen any houseman made to work for more than five days a week or to do double shifts.

Earlier, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Mary Cardosa urged the ministry to review the shift system and conduct a study on the mental health of junior doctors.

On the death of Dr Lee Chang Tat, 29, who was found dead in a restroom of the paediatrics ward at Kajang Hospital with a used syringe beside him, she said there was no data to show the number of housemen who suffered from depression due to their long working hours and stress.

“There should be some kind of mechanism to assist troubled doctors, whether they have personal or work-related problems or can’t handle the stress.”

The Malaysian Medical Council, meanwhile, reviews an average of five cases of doctors with mental health issues each month. It is learnt that there were 20 cases last October.

“Most of them are housemen, but we have also heard cases on medical officers,” said former Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.

“The types of issues range from psychiatric problems to anxiety and coping problems,” Dr Ismail said.

Dr Ismail, who is also former MMC chairman, said the working hours for housemen may not be as demanding as before the shift system was implemented, but they were exposed to other sources of stress in their work including demands from patients, their superiors and other colleagues,” he added.

System that’s a burden to many housemen

PETALING JAYA: A 27-year-old houseman lamented that although the shift system was good, it was poorly implemented at his hospital.

He claimed that it was up to each department to implement the system.

The houseman alleged that when he first joined the hospital, he had to work 92 hours a week and on 24-hour shifts for up to one and a half months.

But things improved after someone brought up the issue to the management.

However, for departments that lacked housemen, they had to work long hours and without on-call allowance.

This was because allowances were not provided for in the shift system and housemen were not expected to work more than 72 hours a week, he added.

The houseman said they were paid a fixed RM600 a month but without the RM100 to RM200 allowance for each on-call duty.

He also claimed that eight housemen suffered depression and were under psychiatric observation as they could not take the bullying from senior doctors, whom he said constantly shouted and belittled them.

They were also burdened with a training duration that was extended from four to six or seven months for each department.

“One houseman went into depression after he failed his assessment twice,” he said, adding that some housemen got themselves transferred to another hospital or just resigned.

Another houseman Dr G.M. Pillai, 28, said Ipoh Hospital was trying its best to adhere to the rules set by the Health Ministry.

“We work 60 to 65 hours a week and sometimes up to 70 hours. But if we have to work up to 70 hours, we are given less hours the following week,” he said.

Before the shift system was introduced, he had worked up to 36 hours.

But, after it was implemented, the hours were capped at a maximum of 20 and they get a whole day off the next day, he said.

Posted in Education | 39 Comments »

Star: Trainee doctor found dead after suspected overdose

April 12, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

What is happening here? After this report http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/12/nation/11090364&sec=nation appeared in the newspaper today, I received few emails and even friends asking me about this incident. I have always said that doctor’s life is stressful but before jumping into any conclusion, just review the article below critically. Did the police say that it is a suicide?

I was made to understand that bullying is rampant in this hospital. Something that I do not tolerate but our civil service is rotting anyway. Most of the HODs nowadays are good for nothing. Sorry to say this but it is the reality on the ground. How many of them do teaching rounds, grand rounds, supervise housemen and Master’s students? I am sure most of you will know that the universities do pay a fee to the HODs for every Master’s student that is posted to his department. It use to be RM 1000-2000/month! Do you also know that every medical school attached to the hospital have to pay RM 600-1000/month to the HODs? All these money suppose to be used to facilitate the teaching of Master’s student and medical students. BUT I am sure you know what happens on the ground.

Now, coming back to the story below. The police said that it is an overdose and never said that it is a suicide! I have seen doctors who were pethidine addicts before who stole pethidines from OT. Furthermore, he was found in the hospital’s toilet and not at home or in his room. If at all he wants to commit suicide, I am sure he will do it at home or in his room. If it is true that he worked 5 days in a row then the HOD should be taken to task!! No one can work 5 days in a row. Even in those days when I was a housemen, the longest I have worked is 56 hours ( 2 consecutive calls) but it was a passive call. Generally, we work 32-36 hours the longest. Could the system have made him to become an addict to stay awake and energize himself?

I am also surprised to see that this doctor graduated from Uruguay? There is no university from Uruguay recognised in Malaysia. So, if it is true then he must have sat and pass the MQE exams, thus explaining his age of 29.

I am not sure what exactly happened to this guy. We need more info before we can conclude that it is due to work stress. Whatever it is, I hope MOH will conduct a detailed investigation into this matter. I also hope that the housemen in this hospital will contact the state SCHOMOS rep or MOH if indeed it is true that bullying is rampant in this hospital to the extent that extension etc has become a norm!

Trainee doctor found dead after suspected overdose

By M. KUMAR kumar@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: A trainee doctor was found dead in a restroom at Kajang Hospital.

Police believe he had overdosed on an unidentified drug.

Lee Chang Tat, 29, was found dead in the men’s room of the paediatric ward at 7am yesterday by hospital staff who went looking for him after they noticed that he was missing.

He was found with a used syringe beside him, which police believe he had used to inject himself with a drug to fight off fatigue.

It is learnt that Lee, who had been working at the hospital for the past three years, had been working on call for five consecutive days.

Selangor health director Datuk Dr Azman Abu Bakar said hospital staff, who found Lee, tried to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful.

“He was rushed to the emergency room but it was too late,” he said.

Lee, he stressed, had no previous medical problems.

A security guard at the hospital said they found him when someone tried calling Lee on his handphone and heard the ringing tone coming from the restroom.

“We broke into the toilet cubicle and found him lying there with the needle,” he said.

Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rashid Abdul Wahab said Lee, who studied medicine in Uruguay, had been complaining to his family about the hectic working hours.

“His family said he had also been planning to go on a holiday to Cambodia soon with friends,” he said.

ACP Abdul Rashid confirmed that an initial post-mortem indicated that Lee had died of an overdose, adding that the case was being investigated as sudden death.

Posted in Education | 34 Comments »

2011: Pharmacist, 2012: Dentist, 20??: Doctors

April 5, 2012 by Pagalavan Letchumanan

Last year in October 2011, the government reduced pharmacist compulsory service from 4 years to 2 years http://pagalavan.com/2011/10/06/i-told-you-so/. It was reported that almost 90% of the post in government sector has been filled. Subsequently, MOH has also allowed pharmacist to do their internship training in private sector. I was also informed that the 2 years compulsory service for pharmacist are now given on contract basis. The only good thing for pharmacist will be that their opportunity in private sector is still open especially when the government introduces the 1Care system which will need a lot of community pharmacies.

Today, MOH has announced that compulsory service for dentist will be reduced from 3 years to 2 years! This sentence really surprised me as well “For those who have served their compulsory two years, they may wish to join the private sector,” she said before launching the Colgate Oral Health Month 2012 in Bandar Utama yesterday.She said that last year, 415 graduates had registered with the Malay­sian Dental Council. This represents an almost 400% increase from 2002 to 2011 (112 in 2002 to 415 in 2011),” she said.

Even though the increase is almost 400% in 10 years, the total number is still small (415 last year). Compare this with medicine, where the total number was 7000 last year, from just about 2000-3000 in 2008!! An increase of 4000- 5000 in just 4 years with 50% of the 36 local medical schools yet to produce any graduates!

I know for sure that MMC is being pressurised to reduce the compulsory service to just 2 years of housemanship. Once this is implemented, you need to apply for a job after housemanship ( which will be given on contract basis) in government service or wherever else! There are also some plans by private hospitals to offer themselves for post-graduate training!! God save us all!

So, when will be the doctors turn? 2013? 2014?……………….keep guessing but for sure it is coming.

Shorter stint in govt hospital for dental grads

By WONG PEK MEI pekmei@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Dental graduates will only have to serve the Health Ministry for two years instead of three, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said.

She said the Malaysian Dental Council had approved the shorter national service on Feb 29.

“Due to the tremendous increase in the number of graduates, it is timely that the compulsory national service be shortened. This will ensure that new graduates will continue to serve in the ministry.

“For those who have served their compulsory two years, they may wish to join the private sector,” she said before launching the Colgate Oral Health Month 2012 in Bandar Utama yesterday.

She said that last year, 415 graduates had registered with the Malay­sian Dental Council.

“This represents an almost 400% increase from 2002 to 2011 (112 in 2002 to 415 in 2011),” she said.

Rosnah said with the setting up of new facilities and upgrading of existing facilities at the primary care level, the ministry would continue to require the services of dental graduates.

She said there were 4,289 active dental practitioners, with 58% of them serving in the public sector as at Dec 31.

Malaysian Dental Assocation president Dr Mohamad Muzafar Hami­rudin said he was shocked to find that 90% of adults had cavities, according to a survey by the ministry.

He said that since oral diseases might be linked with a higher incidence of life-threatening diseases, it was important to educate Malaysians about regular dental check-ups.

Posted in Education | 35 Comments »

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