So, finally it has made the headlines. After many years of me talking about it, finally the reality was reported by mainstream newspapers few days ago. When many of us in the medical line brought up the issue of too many medical schools and too little training position, we were condemned. This is partly because the government itself, till 2014 denied that such a thing will happen. For those who know our government very well, surely know that not all said are trustable. Despite overwhelming evidence, people refuse to believe. As I had always said, people would only want to listen to good stuffs. When I tell them the truth and reality, I am accused of discouraging, very negative etc. No job is going to be guaranteed….. The only difference is , you will be spending RM 300-600K for a medical degree locally!
On 19/01/2017, The Star as well as Malay mail published an extensive report regarding contract HO post and no guarantee of a civil service post thereafter. Since I wrote about the contract HO post in November 2016, a Malay mail reporter was trying to get in touch with me to get my views on the issues. However, I did not respond to her since I was overseas till mid December 2016. She contacted me again few days before the articles were published and I gave my views. She was more interested about the JPA scholars. She wanted a copy of the contract which I refused, as the doctor’s name is written on the contract.
As usual, all these happened because there is no such thing as “planning” by our ministries. Each ministry works on its own without proper consultation with other ministries. For Ministry of Education(MOE), their goal is to make Malaysia an education hub, quality aside. It is a money-making business. My stand has always been that education should never be commercialised! License to start medical schools were given like peanuts. Only in Malaysia, colleges in a shop-lot can be given license to run a medical program. Accreditation works on minimum criteria and not based on an expected standard. As long as the college achieve a minimum standard, they will get the green light to continue. It’s like saying, 20% is enough to pass. You don’t need 70% to prove you are good and excellent. MOE treated medicine just like any other educational program!
Medicine is not like any other course. The 5 years undergraduate program is just the beginning. It is a life long learning. You learn by apprenticeship. You are dealing with life and death mater. A simple prescription error can cause a death! Training can only be done in accredited training centres. Many parents live in a delusional world thinking that jobs for doctors are guaranteed. The fact is, not anymore. Even in countries like US, UK, Australia etc, doctors work on contract basis. However, most of these countries have enough internship post for their graduates, due to proper planning strategy. Apart from internship, there is no guarantee that you will get a permanent job. Some survive by doing locum. Malaysia is now entering the same situation. And don’t forget that if your degree is not recognised elsewhere, you can’t work in another country without first sitting and clearing their qualification exam, with no guarantee of a job. This will cost you more money!
From the newspaper report, it is also obvious that all HO post will be given under contract basis from now onwards, even for JPA scholars. Permanent post is only eligible after you complete your housemanship and there is no guarantee that JPA scholars will be given a permanent post. As I mentioned earlier, this is good to kick out the poor performers and retain the best in civil service. However, the selection process must be transparent. If not, many accusation will be floating around in the next few years. Please be informed that if you do get a permanent post after housemanship, you have to go where the post is vacant! You cannot choose or appeal. If you don’t want to go, someone else would be willing. You can’t choose where you want to work. You are also not eligible for car or house loan from the government if you are not holding a permanent post. Even bank loans can be a problem is you don’t have a permanent job.
With 32 medical schools and close to 38 medical programs, oversupply of doctors is inevitable. As of 31/12/2015, based on MOH statistics, the doctor : population ratio is already 1: 656, not including doctors from non-MOH public hospitals. So, we are already 2 years ahead. Chasing after numbers do not make any difference. Quantity does not equate to quality!
Well, I had spoken enough about these issues many times before, including in my books that was published last year. So, I will not repeat it all over again.
It is time for medical graduates to look for other jobs. GP market will be flooded in few years time and as I had mentioned in my last article, unethical practices will become a norm in the name of survival……..
Gong Xi Fa Chai everyone…………..
Contract doctors judged on merit, not government scholarship, MOH says
BY BOO SU-LYN
Published: January 19, 2017 08:50 AM GMT+8
Dr Noor Hisham confirmed that permanent positions for graduating house officers were not guaranteed. ― Malay Mail pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Permanent positions will be offered to contract house officers depending on their performance rather than any government scholarship they may or may not have received, the Health Ministry said today.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that the government started the first intake of contract housemanship last December 5, with Public Service Department (PSD) scholars among the graduate doctors on contract as no permanent positions were offered at all.
“Based on merits, not based on scholarships,” Dr Noor Hisham told Malay Mail Online, when asked if PSD scholars will be prioritised for permanent positions given that they are bonded to the government.
“Bond still the same and when they are absorbed to permanent post, their service from Dec 5 will be taken into permanent service too,” he added.
Dr Noor Hisham also confirmed that permanent positions for graduating house officers were not guaranteed.
“If you are competent and good, then no worries. Those non-performers and MIA [missing in action] should be worried as it’s based on merits. For this, anywhere you go it’s the same — public or private.
“Who wants to employ incompetent and missing in action doctors?” the Health DG said.
Dr Pagalavan Letchumanan, a consultant physician and rheumatologist, said he was made to understand that 1,300 contract housemanship placements were given out, including for PSD scholars, after the last Public Services Commission of Malaysia interview in October 2016.
“There is no guarantee that you will be continued to be employed just because you are a PSD scholar! This comes as a surprise even to me as the scholarship contract specifically says that you will be bonded with the government for 10 years,” Dr Pagalavan posted on his bloglast November.
“What happens if the scholar is not able to get a permanent job with the government? Does he need to pay his bond? An interesting question,” he added.
Dr Pagalavan told Malay Mail Online that a PSD scholar had told him that he was given a contract post and was informed that the government bond was between the scholar and PSD, and had nothing to do with the Health Ministry.
Among the criteria listed on the house officer’s contract for the offer of a permanent position, “depending on the availability of positions”, were completion of one’s housemanship, a good track record and a recommendation from the head of department.
The copy of the contract that Dr Pagalavan posted on his blog also stated that the government could terminate the contract at any time if the house officer’s performance was not satisfactory and that a 30-day notice, or one month’s basic salary, would be given.
“Somehow, I feel this will remove all the dead wood graduates from the system. However, I am also worried about lack of transparency in making such [a] selection,” Dr Pagalavan said, adding that a committee should be formed to ensure that such decisions were fair.
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr John Chew claimed that before the implementation of the contract housemanship system, 20 per cent of doctors holding such posts were not performing.
“So the new system will be better,” Dr Chew told Malay Mail Online.
“For most of us, employment and work are more important. Most people are happy that they have started work”.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam reportedly said last October that offering contract housemanship would help about 2,600 graduate doctors on the waiting list every year, saying that they could wait for up to a year because there were not enough permanent positions.
Medicos no longer guaranteed civil service employment
‘Permanent appointments will be based on their merit during housemanship training and recommendation by the Health director-general.’ – Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min
EXCLUSIVE: PETALING JAYA: Permanent employment for doctors, pharmacists and dentists in the civil service is no longer guaranteed.
The Government has started issuing jobs on a contract basis for them since last month as announced in Budget 2017.
According to the Health Ministry, if doctors successfully completed their housemanship within the three years of contract, they would have another two-year contract for compulsory service as a medical officer.
Pharmacists will be hired as provisionally registered pharmacists (PRP) for one year, with a maximum contract offered for two years and for the compulsory service thereafter, one year, with a maximum contract offered for one year.
There is no compulsory internship for dentists and compulsory service for them is one year, with a maximum contract offered for three years.
Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min said from last month, 1,219 candidates had been offered jobs on a contract basis by the Public Service Commission.
“Permanent appointments will be based on their merit during housemanship training and recommendation by the Health director-general,” he said in an e-mail to The Star.
The move, he said, is expected to reduce waiting time for housemanship training and compulsory service.
Dr Chen said competent staff who fulfilled specific requirements will get permanent posts but they may not immediately get the posts until there are vacancies.
Their salaries will be backdated to the date of appointment once the posts are available, he said.
He said for government scholars who have not been offered permanent posts in the ministry upon completion of their compulsory service, they could seek jobs in the university and military hospitals and the private sector.
He also said that for this year, the ministry planned to take in 9,300 candidates – six batches of intakes which will involve 5,425 candidates for house officers (housemen), three batches (1,921) for dental officers and four batches (1,954) for pharmacists.
He added that housemen will enjoy the same benefits received by permanent house officers as stipulated in a 2008 circular on contract of service with additional advantages.
Those under this “modified contract” will have full-pay medical leave up to 90 days, and the extension of medical treatment for parents in government hospitals and clinics, he said.
But only those who are appointed as permanent medical officers and have obtained their confirmation in service are eligible to apply for government housing loans, he said.
The monthly basic pay of a houseman is the same as the grade category UD41 of the permanent service which is RM2,947, while a dentist (grade UG41) gets RM2,844 and a pharmacist (UF41) RM2,740. With allowances, they could get RM4,000.
On the criteria for a permanent medical officer post, Dr Chen said doctors must fulfil the service requirements, including attaining a good level of competency and performance of at least 85% in the yearly performance review during their housemanship training or compulsory service.
The permanent posts would also be given to the best talents who have the potential for specialty training and are willing to serve at any place in the ministry’s facilities during their tenure, he added.
PSD confirms no permanent spot in public hospitals for scholars
Published: January 20, 2017 03:00 PM GMT+8
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that the government started the first intake of contract housemanship last December 5, with PSD scholars among the graduate doctors on contract as no permanent positions were offered at all. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The Public Services Department (PSD) has confirmed reports that only performing scholars will be offered permanent contracts at public hospitals.
In an email response to a query by Malay Mail Online, the agency said that the government is currently looking at alternatives on how to absorb scholars who failed to secure permanent jobs despite being offered housemanship contracts by its hospitals.
“Students who qualify for our scholarships are excellent students. With that we hope that they can continue to display similar performance as they do with their studies, and show high commitment when executing their duties under their housemanship contracts so that they can be offered permanent jobs,” the agency said.
“Nevertheless, the government is currently looking at several alternatives should PSD medical scholars already offered housemanship contracts fail to secure permanent jobs once their contract ends,” it added.
Yesterday Malay Mail Online reported that public hospitals will only offer permanent contracts to house officers based on their performance, and not to any government scholarship students.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that the government started the first intake of contract housemanship last December 5, with PSD scholars among the graduate doctors on contract as no permanent positions were offered at all.
“Based on merits, not based on scholarships,” Dr Noor Hisham told Malay Mail Online, when asked if PSD scholars will be prioritised for permanent positions given that they are bonded to the government.
“Bond still the same and when they are absorbed to permanent post, their service from Dec 5 will be taken into permanent service too,” he added.
Dr Noor Hisham also confirmed that permanent positions for graduating house officers were not guaranteed.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam reportedly said last October that offering contract housemanship would help about 2,600 graduate doctors on the waiting list every year, saying that they could wait for up to a year because there were not enough permanent positions.
– See more at: http://m.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/psd-confirms-no-permanent-spot-in-public-hospitals-for-scholars#sthash.UYFxAzZA.dpuf
Well, it has been more than a week since I am back from Middle Earth. It was my 15 years dream of going to New Zealand after I first saw ” Fellowship of The Ring” of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 2001. My first son was just 2 years old and I was earning a salary of only RM 2200 with a rented house. It took me almost 15 years to be able to visit Middle Earth with my whole family. My first son is now 15 years old! How fast time flies but eventually, I fulfilled my dream.
Pagalavan's Avatar 
