Day by day, the waiting game seem to be getting more interesting. Right from the beginning of this year, we knew that fresh graduates are waiting for a period of 4-6 months to get a Housemanship post. We also know that MOH has stopped any foreigners, even if you are married to a Malaysian from getting a Housemanship post. I know a person who spend time and money sitting for MQE last year only to be told to take SPM BM paper in order to get a job. She went on to do her SPM BM paper and passed ( she is an Indonesian). Unfortunately, after going through all these hurdles, she was yet again told that jobs will not be given as they do not have enough post, even for Malaysians.
Today, our DG aka Chairman of MMC has issued a press statement. The statement says that due to long waiting time to start Housemanship, provisional MMC registration will ONLY be given once your job and posting is confirmed. Till then only a letter stating that you are eligible for provisional registration will be given for submission to SPA/MOH.
This basically proofs once again that more and more housemen are being retained for poor performance and competency which is making the waiting period even longer day by day. By 2016, all medical schools in Malaysia will be producing graduates. This will further increase the numbers which will create a bottle neck into housemanship. As I predicted almost 5 -7 years ago, the year 2016/17 will be the year when this will happen. We will be flooded by medical graduates!
The Star went a step further by saying that all medical graduates will be screened before being offered a job. I feel they interpreted it wrongly. All graduates have to undergo SPA/PSC interviews before being employed into civil service. It is a standard procedure. It is nothing new but the The Star make it look like it is never done before.
The statement by DG is quite clear that Provisional Registration will only be given once your job and posting is confirmed. The only hidden message I can sense is that ” job may not be guaranteed” soon!
Now, didn’t I say so!
Kenyataan Akhbar KPK/YDP MPM 29 Dis 2015: Penyelarasan Pengeluaran Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara bagi Graduan Perubatan
Posted on December 29, 2015 by DG of Health
KENYATAAN AKHBAR
KETUA PENGARAH KESIHATAN MALAYSIA
PENYELARASAN PENGELUARAN SIJIL PENDAFTARAN SEMENTARA BAGI GRADUAN PERUBATAN
Majlis Perubatan Malaysia (MPM) dalam mesyuaratnya yang ke-347 pada 15 Disember 2015 telah membincangkan dan mengambil maklum bahawa semua graduan perubatan perlu menjalani temuduga yang dijalankan oleh pihak berkuasa Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam bagi tujuan mendapatkan pekerjaan sebagai Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah (Gred UD 41).
Mesyuarat juga mengambil maklum bahawa pada masa kini terdapat sejumlah Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah yang sedang menjalani latihan siswazah di hospital-hospital Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, gagal menyempurnakan latihan siswazah dalam tempoh yang ditetapkan dan terpaksa melalui pemanjangan tempoh latihan oleh kerana pelbagai sebab; antaranya adalah masalah kompetensi dan juga masalah kesihatan.
Pemanjangan tempoh latihan siswazah telah menyebabkan ‘backlog’ Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah yang sedang menjalani latihan di hospital dan telah menyebabkan kemampuan untuk mengisi kekosongan jawatan gred UD 41 bagi tujuan latihan menjadi amat terhad.
Keadaan ini menyebabkan graduan perubatan terpaksa menunggu bagi tempoh yang lebih lama bagi mendapat peluang untuk dilantik menjalani latihan siswazah.
Dengan mengambil kira faktor yang tersebut di atas dan selaras dengan peruntukan Seksyen 12(1)(b) Akta Perubatan 1971, MPM telah menetapkan bahawa:
- Proses pengeluaran Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara kepada graduan perubatan diselaras dengan keperluan Seksyen 12(1)(b) Akta Perubatan 1971, iaitu Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara (Provisional Registration) bagi tujuan menjalani latihan bagi memenuhi keperluan di bawah Seksyen 13 Akta Perubatan 1971 hanya akan dikeluarkan kepada mereka yang dapat menunjukkan bukti bahawa mereka telah dipilih dan ditawarkan untuk bekerja sebagai Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah (Gred UD 41) bagi memenuhi sebagaimana peruntukan Seksyen 13(2).
- Sehubungan dengan itu, tatacara pengurusan permohonan Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara bagi memenuhi keperluan peruntukan Seksyen 13 telah dikaji semula, di mana semua permohonan yang layak akan diberikan satu surat memaklumkan bahawa mereka layak dipertimbangkan untuk Pendaftaran Sementara dan tertakluk kepada mereka dipilih dan ditawarkan jawatan Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah sebagaimana yang diperlukan di bawah Seksyen 12(1)(b) Akta Perubatan 1971.
- Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara bagi membolehkan mereka menjalani latihan sebagai Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah di hospital KKM hanya akan dikeluarkan setelah graduan berkenaan mengemukakan surat tawaran bahawa mereka telah ditawarkan jawatan Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah.
Penyelarasan proses pengeluaran Sijil Pendaftaran Sementara kepada graduan perubatan dilakukan bagi tujuan mengemaskini proses dan juga bagi memastikan pematuhan kepada Akta Perubatan 1971.
DATUK DR. NOOR HISHAM BIN ABDULLAH
KETUA PENGARAH KESIHATAN MALAYSIA
Merangkap YANG DI PERTUA MAJLIS PERUBATAN MALAYSIA.
29 Disember 2015
Pagalavan's Avatar 
Yea. for my juniors good luck !
last year, most of my seniors got the job after waiting for about 4-6 months.
now, i have just been informed that even after 6 months we may not got the job. I have passed my interview but unfortunately due to lack of vacancies it will take 1-2 months before offer letter from KKM arrives at your house ! More likely 7-9 months now is the waiting period
The situation is getting very bad !
Finally,the rumble has begun!
So.. It finally happened.
I dont like the fact that our DG does not say anything about malaysia having too many medical uni and too many graduates.
He blamed it all to those getting extensions. Well, it is true but they should not be the only one to take the blame
Too many dubious medical school, not just some of the private ones, but also few public ones too. Hopefully the quality could be supervised more strictly, and also carefully regulate their student intake.
Furthermore, please stop sponsoring students using tax payer’s money to study medicine in countries like Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan etc.
Heard that MMLE is arriving before year 2020.
Sooner or later,they have to come up with something
Its pretty dumb to do medicine nowadays. No return of investment. Not even cool to hold a Dr title anymore cos everyone has one. Go do investment banking or something. When you are 25 hours without sleep and dealing with a sicky in icu at 3 am you will regret ever thinking you had ‘passion’ for this.
Exactly
Throw a stone blindly and you will definitely hit a doctor or a med school students on the street
It does not only happen in medical field, so is dental! Fresh grad from local private college is waiting for more than a year for induction program after the interview with SPA. Being in the private sector, I’ve applications from a fresh grad as a dental assistant and some dental officer who had just completed one year service with government, asking for job as an associate. Patients always think being a doctor or a dentist is so great and profitable, they do not really look into our profession and choose to laugh it off when we said “do not send ur kid to medical or dental school, it’s over saturated now.” Very soon our country will end up like Philippines and India …
good luck guys!! we all know this day will come 10 years ago, somehow only the politicians clown do not know it!!that is why they are called comedian!!
By the way Dr P, what do you think about the future of specialist in Malaysia which hold FRCP like you and those with MRCP ? Do you think Malaysian specialist eg FRACP from overseas should come back for the seek of “serving the nation only “?
That depends on the situation of this country. The way things are going, I don’t think many would be interested to return.
I have been following this blog now and then, I appreciate Dr Pagavalan effort and professional sharing , especially on facts and reality of doing medicine, But I find sometimes the comments get too discouraging and too much of ” see I told you so”. I agree with all those fact especially the standard of entry requirements and mushrooming of Medical Institutes , our government really screws things up for medical profession, But I really think we have to be responsible in sharing this blog with the youngsters , while inforrming them about the reality but not to the extend of scaring them away if this is their passion. In fact, graduates in ALL profession is just every where and almost everyone. Is just a competitive world now , wherever and whichever line you are in, Anyway ,thanks for all the sharing. Happy 2016 to you and your family,
Thanks for the comment . The reason why i said so is because when i said all these possibilities many years ago, there were so many nasty comments made against me. Thus this was meant for them. Furthermore, 5 out of 10 students who do medicine, do it for job security and not for passion! If you are truly passionate about this profession, you will not bother about job security similar to engineers etc. However, medicine is a costly affair. Happy New Year to you too
Medicine is a very different field. The graduates has to wait for housemanship. If they cant get housemanship, there is almost no other place for them to practice medicine. There’s gone all the money, time and effort spent for 5 years. Many parents cannot understand that.
Dear Sam Khoo,
I am not a doctor. I have taught law for the past few years and I agree that earning a living is extremely competitive across all professions. I agree with you that passion should be the only reason for pursuing any course of study. The fast-food generation must learn to stop thinking that medicine or law or any other profession is automatically your ticket to quick money, fame, and job security (no, these things do not constitute part of “passion” in my book) or they will suffer.
HOWEVER, I feel that there is a world of difference between competitiveness within the legal profession and the medical profession. Like Dr. Pagal and desperate have mentioned, medical graduates have very limited options as opposed to law graduates. In addition to that, if you are in law for the wrong reasons, you may suffer for long hours but you do not suffer for as long as those in the medical profession. You are not constantly forbidden from sleeping for 36 consecutive hours on a regular basis (on-calls, anyone?) – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I have followed Dr. Pagal’s blog since 2010 and I also read all posts and comments prior to that. I am pretty sure that Dr. Pagal has made himself clear that you should only pursue a career in medicine if you are passionate about it. He only discourages students from taking up medicine for the – wrong reasons – and I believe that is extremely beneficial “discouraging”. All he has done is to quell misguided perceptions of the profession. I’m pretty sure he has mentioned many times that if you have the passion for it, you can go right ahead.
Further, assuming an aspiring and medical student with “passion” comes across this blog and is “scared” off by the facts Dr. Pagal has posted. I would first question this student’s determination. I will assume that this student is either unable to make their own judgment call and easily persuaded by others, OR not that passionate about a career in medicine to begin with. If you are truly passionate about something, you must be unfazed by trials that will inevitably be thrown at you. Conclusion? In both scenarios, both the student that is indecisive and unable to make a stand (not exactly venerable traits for aspiring medical practitioners) as well as the student that is starting to question his “passion” would be better off in other professions.
Therefore, I believe Dr. Pagal has behaved in a most responsible manner – in fact, he has gone over and above his duty and I salute him for that. He has rightfully helped many without TRUE passion to reconsider their decision. As for Dr. Pagal’s “I told you so”, I trust he has dibs on that. Many people did not believe him back then and they thought he was making up stories. They thought he was only trying to reduce the competition – but they were wrong. I think it is normal for poor Dr. Pagal to feel vindicated now, haha.
Now that’s a professional argument. Well said. Takes a lawyer to do that. Have you sued any clown doctors?
I’m merely explaining facts, PatDave. Haha, according to Rule 2 of the Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978, advocates and solicitors must give advice or accept any brief in the Courts in which he professes to practise at the proper professional fee unless there are special circumstances.
Dear sam khoo,
This blog has been telling the facts on medical education and predicted this glut since a long time ago when nobody wanted to accept the reality. Hence why this blog has become so popular among doctors/medical students.
Personally, I was a medical student when this blog began. And now, after years down the line, I am in the system and can testify that everything written here is true.
So when you talk about responsibility in sharing, I think Dr Pagalavan IS the one sharing responsibly.
But yes, if the passion is there (but of course passion is a subjective word), one would be willing to take on the burden repaying of a huge medical education loan for decades immediately upon graduating, on top of a car loan, housing loan etc. So if passion is indeed the only factor doing medicine, by all means go ahead- we need doctors who are passionate and not looking for fame and money.
thanks for the comment.
u r all the same.. even paga r out to make money.. passion aside..
Money rules u each time n every day.. did u ever asked
This clearly shows that you have not read this blog in detail! Who said no?
Dr P, what do you think about the latest cracking down on tax of private specialist by inland revenue, is it foul play or justified??
I do not know the detail yet. Still in early stage
[…] Fine. Fine. I get it… Too many housemen, 20% extension, not enough positions, too many medical schools, housemanship post not guaranteed. […]
Read:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/01/10/be-realistic-in-your-pursuit-of-a-medical-degree/
Well said
Dear Dr Pagavalan
I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I enjoy your posts immensely.
I am a medical officer in a goverment hospital.
I would like to advise everyone who wants to be a doctor to read Dr Pagavalan’s blog. This includes the parents of those who want their children to enter medicine.
Medicine is not what I thought it would be. Back in university I was taught by good lecturers who told me that clerking should be comprehensive, presentation consise, investigations decisive.
I had dreams as I graduated. I wanted to use what I’ve learned to help others the best I can.
As I started working I realised that although you try to practice the principles you are taught, other people don’t necessarily play by the same rules.
One thing they don’t teach in medical school is how to deal with nasty colleagues, taking referrals from poor presenters, uncooperative support departments and the overemphasis of unnecessary investigations because of “medicolegal” issues.
On top of that there is the thought of money. Medical school is not cheap.Post graduate qualifications I.e. mrcp mrcs mrcog are not cheap. They cause money. I spent rm 14k on my mrcs examinations. And if you’re surgical based the Masters is the only way to go and it’s not even recognised elsewhere.
There are too many of us gunning for good posts and specialist training. In the end quality will decline. Would you seriously want to be known as a paper specialist? Would you want your family members to be treated by someone who doesn’t know what he is doing ?
Please don’t be a doctor. Be something else and enjoy your life.
Thanks for the comment. I am compiling all my writings into a book. Hopefully out by March.
Dear Dr Pagalavan,
Here I am again, trawling your blog and scaring myself with the prospect of working at home.
But home is where I am coming 🙂
I am an FY2 in England, I have written in one of your comments section in one of your older posts. Thank you for your advise back then, and thank you for your bittering truths, I think your blog is the best spot for info for “job-hunting” Malaysian doctors like me. Every time I read it I feel like I have been splashed with cold water – in a good way. Heh.
I am resolved to be patient and wait for a post when I do apply for one, and when that happens I will take the advise from one of your readers/fellow bloggers – take up a hobby/volunteering/do a part time job.
I am aware that it takes a lot for our system to change for the better in Malaysia, but I hope I will live to see the day it does.
[…] The more popular the hospital, the longer the waiting period. Based on the press statement by DG in December 2015, only once your appointment is confirmed, provisional registration will be issued by MMC. Please be […]