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For Future Doctors: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures…….

Posted in Uncategorized on January 10, 2017| 37 Comments »

It’s been one and a half month since I last updated my blog. As I wrote in my last post, I was going for a long holiday after an hectic year dealing with IRB. Coming back from a long holiday is the worst nightmare. Clinic was packed to the brim, multiple medical reports to write and multiple reply letters to type. Then came Christmas, New Year and finally my hospitals MSQH audit which just ended today! Phew………

Unfortunately, doctors were in the limelight for the wrong reasons towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year. A daring expose by Al-Jazeera regarding baby selling syndicate in Malaysia on 24/11/2016 was a disaster for doctors. The faces of many doctors involved were clearly shown. Unfortunately this is nothing new. Many years ago, a similar syndicate was exposed and caught in Johor. The police acted swiftly and did manage to arrest few of the members of the syndicate that was exposed by Al Jazeera.

Just when we thought it was already damaging enough, came another exclusive expose from NST. Doctors venturing into unethical practices of cosmetic products. Frankly, this is nothing new as well. I have seen enough doctors practising what was exposed by the report. Injecting IV Vit C for whitening/anti ageing and many more so called aesthetic practices are common nowadays.  In 2012, MOH (tr-vitamin-c-injection) had already issued statement that there is NO evidence that IV Vit C has any benefit. In fact, ViT C is NOT approved by MOH for intravenous injections for cosmetic reasons. Anyone found doing it can be charged for unethical practice. Ozone therapy is another major complimentary medicine practise that doctors are widely involved. Way back in 2011, MMC had already issued a statement that ozone therapy do not provide any health benefit and any doctors found guilty of providing ozone therapy by claiming that it can cure diseases, can be charged for unethical practices. Unfortunately it did not prevent many doctors from doing it. In fact I even know nurses who are openly promoting such centres on Facebook and showing many VIPs who are taking their ozone treatment. Again, on 3/01/2017, our DG issued another press statement regarding ozone therapy. The press statement came after NST reported that many celebrities who were openly promoting ozone therapy for advertisement purposes expressed their regrets. I have heard of reports of people dying during the procedure and even developing cardiac and renal failure. It is not a procedure without complications.

The question is, why are doctors venturing into such practices? The answer is simple : money and survival! Since I started blogging in 2010, I had written several times regarding these issues. In fact in 2012, I wrote on how desperate have doctors become. That is the reality out there. No matter what passion that you talk about before going into medicine, at the end of the day, it all boils down to money and survival. There is no such thing as easy money or easy life in medicine. Many doctors especially GPs are struggling to survive. Thus, to keep their income and their clinic running, they venture into these unethical businesses.

I get a lot of query regarding aesthetic medicine etc. My reply has always been to ask yourself why you became a doctor! Is it to treat and cure people with sickness or to become a glorified beautician! Yes, there is a lot of money in aesthetic medicine. There are huge financial backup from big suppliers all over the world. Cosmetic and aesthetic suppliers are one of the largest companies in the world. The companies need doctors as doctors are the only people licensed to inject substance into a person! At the end, no doctor will do it if not paid well!

The situation will only get worst. My last article talked about the introduction of contract HO post with no guarantee of a permanent post. I had mentioned that those who do not get a permanent post will end up flooding the GP market. Imagine what will happen then. Issues mentioned above will only get worst day by day, in the name of survival. WE have to blame ourselves for loosing the respect and trust once given by the public. Worst still, many of these young doctors would have huge amount of debts to pay! As I had always said, never take huge loans to do medicine!

Well, it did not end there. Just when 2016 was coming to an end, 2 cases of botched circumcision were reported. Interestingly, the first clinic was reported as not having a  license to run! Interesting indeed if the report was true.

On the other end, MMC has now started their own qualification exam for those from unrecognised universities. It is now known as EPR (Exam for Provisional Registration). Is this a prelude for a common entry exam? Only time will tell……….  As the years pass by, almost everything I predicted is becoming a reality. God save this country……

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For Future Doctors: BUDGET 2017, as reality hits………..

Posted in Education, Uncategorized on October 21, 2016| 90 Comments »

I have been very quiet over the last 2 months. I am sure those who are in the private sector(specialist) would know the reason. All of us are undergoing a huge heartache due to a change in the policy of LHDN/IRB to disregard any income declared under our own company (Sdn Bhd). For those who do not know, private specialist are independent contractors in a private hospital. We are not paid a salary by the hospital, thus we are not employed by the hospital. Basically, our income is the fee paid by the patient as what we charge, based on PHFSA act minus 10-15% administrative fee by the hospital. Our fees are limited by the government BUT not the hospital charges. Thus, to manage our tax better, we form our own company where the income is channelled. This practice has been going on for close to 30 years since private hospitals started in this country. Unfortunately, as the government tries to get more income from taxes, the rule has suddenly been changed. Effective mid of this year, a letter from IRB has declared that all income generated by a specialist in a private hospital MUST be subjected under personal income tax! AND it does not end there, we are being asked to redeclare our income tax from 2013 and pay the penalty for the difference not paid! AND we have to do that by 15/12/2016 to receive a reduced penalty rate of 15-20% under the amnesty period introduced by PM from March 2016. Now you know why I was very quiet over the last 2-3 months! The penalty and tax arrears can cost hundreds of thousands of our hard-earned money, working day and night.

Coming to our Budget 2017. In August 2016, I wrote about the soon to be introduced contract HO post to reduce waiting period for housemanship. Well, it has been confirmed in this budget. 2600 contract post will be created by December 2016 to cater for the shortage. He also mentioned that contract post will also be created for dentist and pharmacist but that is nothing new as it has been done. Unfortunately, the budget is silent on what happens to these contract post after they complete housemanship. Will this shorten the waiting period? Personally I don’t think so but it may shorten by 1-2 months for a short period of time. Always remember that starting from this year (2016), ALL medical schools in this country will be producing graduates and those who started to produce graduates about 4 years ago will be producing maximum number of graduates from this year. Another question is how they will select candidates for permanent and contract post? My prediction: probably government sponsored and public university graduates may be given preference and those who do well in the interview might be given priority as well. What happens after you complete housemanship? MO post are also FULL!

Another interesting development is the introduction of a new grade for specialist known as Grade U56. As we all know, since the time based promotion  was introduced in 2010, there is a bottle neck at U54 as all specialist of 9 years of service will be automatically promote to U54. Unfortunately, no JUSA C promotion has been coming since the last 2 years as there are not enough post or money to do that. Thus, the creation of U56 is to relieve the anxiety among all these specialist and to encourage them to stay. I know many U54 and even JUSA C specialist resigning from government sector but with the recent IRB ruling as above, private sector may not be as lucrative as what you expect it to be. You will end up paying 26-28% of your hard-earned money to the government. You will be working 3 months in a year for the government. Now you will know why the mood among all the private specialist is down over the last 2-3 months. For me, the introduction of U56 is just to say that you are not going to get JUSA C anytime soon or even forever!

Budget HO

 

 

The government is also planning to expand their Full Paying Patient scheme to more hospitals as another form of encouragement for specialist to stay in the government sector. I still remember almost 11 years ago, I was one of the SCHOMOS committee member involved in this discussion to introduce FFP.

FPP

 

Interestingly, there is also a suggestion in the budget to build “non-profit charitable” private hospital under government initiative. RM 20 Million loan is nothing as far as building a hospital is concerned.I wonder how long will that last unless the government comes up with a National Health Financing scheme…… How a private hospital is going to survive with government hospital rates? Isn’t that what the government is doing with government hospitals? Sometimes I don’t understand all this populist ideas which most of the time never happens.

Budget 2017 Hospital Non profit

Anyway, government servants will receive RM 500 bonus and no income tax reduction as promised. He did promise few years ago of a gradual personal income tax reduction when GST is in full force. AND what happened to “janji” of reduction in car prices? Janji dicapatikan,  I guess.

Finally, today’s BUDGET speech in Parliament felt like a election public rally! Why do we need all the “public” icons to be made present and introduced? First time in the history of Malaysian Parliment!

I give up some times!

 

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Finally, my Books are ready…………. “Hard Truths of Being a Doctor” Vol 1& 2

Posted in Introduction, Uncategorized on April 14, 2016| 43 Comments »

On this auspicious Tamil New Year 2016, after almost 6 months of writing and another 4 months of publishing process, finally my first book is out! I started to compile my articles into a book in June 2015 and completed it in November 2015 before sending it to publisher (Snappars Publishing). It took another 4 months of editing, proof reading and type setting before it was finally printed. The book will be officially available from 15/04/2016 (only online at the moment).You can also visit http://www.hardtruthsofbeingadoctor.com if you wish to buy using credit card/pay pal.

These books are meant for budding doctors, parents, medical students and even junior doctors. Despite all the articles in this blog, I keep being asked the same questions repeatedly. Thus I thought of compiling everything into a book. Unfortunately, due to high volume of the book, it has to be divided into 2 books of about 250 pages each. Foreword is written by A/Prof Wong Yin Onn from Monash Malaysia. Here are the titles:

HARD TRUTHS AI BLUE - New Blue

 

HARD TRUTHS AI BK2- New Red

 

HARD TRUTHS AI BLUE - New Blue (2)

 

Please be informed that there are many updated information in these books compared to some of my old articles. Information about income, salary, post-graduate educations etc have been updated. There are 5 chapters in Book 1 and 4 chapters in Book 2 with the following titles:

Book 1:

  1. General Misconception of Being a Doctor
  2. General Information for budding doctors
  3. Malaysian Healthcare system for Dummies
  4. Housemanship, Medical Officer and Post Graduate Education in Malaysia
  5. Employment and Job Opportunities

Book 2:

  1. Housemanship
  2. Post Graduate Training
  3. Income of Doctors
  4. The Doctor’s Dilemma

At the moment, these books will be sold as a set of 2 books , only via this blog and my Facebook.

This is how you can order your copy:

  1. Make a payment of RM 120 (including postage for within Malaysia) to CIMB Bank Account No: 8006158099 (Pagalavan Letchumanan)
  2. Send your Bank-In Slip to email hardtruths2016@gmail.com with your name and address/particulars
  3. Bulk mailing will be done on weekly basis (likely on every Friday)
  4. Courier tracking number and invoice will be sent to you via email after it has been mailed.
  5. An Invoice will be provided for Tax purposes
  6. For those who are ordering from overseas, please email me first as I need to check on courier charges.

Hope everyone will enjoy reading this, one of its kind book in Malaysia……………

 

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Something is coming ………….Part 2

Posted in Uncategorized on March 27, 2016| 7 Comments »

It’s getting very close for a release date…………………

 

HARD TRUTHS AI BLUE - New Blue (1)

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For Future Doctors: The Waiting game continues………….

Posted in Education, Uncategorized on December 29, 2015| 31 Comments »

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

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Back from Middle Earth while the Force awaits…………

Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2015| 4 Comments »

DSC01142Well, 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.

It was an hectic but worthwhile 12 days where I travelled from North to South island. Landed in Auckland, moving to Rotorua and Wellington before going to South Island. Driving in New Zealand is like being in another world. Sceneries and weather changes from one place to another. I drove from Picton to Christchurch to Dunedin to Te Anau to Milford Sound where I took a wonderful cruise of  the 8th Wonder of the World. Then I drove down to Queenstown where we spent 3 days before driving back to Christchurch. A day in Christchurch and we flew back to Singapore.

Despite being the beginning of summer, I could still see the snow topped mountains. Roads were beautiful with not a single pot hole over thousands of kilometres that I drove. Visiting Hobbiton brought back memories of seeing the Hobbits and the ” ring that ruled them all”.

DSC00668 DSC00773 DSC01104,
DSC01279 IMG_0493

 

Well, I am back to work. In 2 days time I will be seeing the Millennium Falcon flying for the first time after 30 years! Bringing back my memories while I was still in school! The Force has awaken ……………..

 

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A Drama Unfolding as the Force Awakens………….

Posted in Uncategorized on November 19, 2015| 22 Comments »

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there was a planet by the name of Pendora. As part of the transformation program, the Emperor of the planet Pendora decided in a typical “ Pendora Boleh” style to invite a well renowned academy from planet Uncle Samy to start an academy in Pendora. The academy supposes to train young padawans to become Jedis. These young padawans are enthusiastic lots who had always wanted to become a Jedi. The force, while is strong in them could not support their stint in another planet due to logistics and financial reasons.

The academy started with grand celebration as it suppose to send fears among the neighbouring planets which includes planet Tatooin, Dagobah as well as the grand empire of Capitol. The academy was promised a lot of goodies to establish themselves, including generous contribution from the Pendora’s government. A Jedi council was appointed to oversee the program, which was introduced for the first time in Pendora. The young padawans are trained for free.

3 years passed and Pendora started to get intertwined in a big controversy involving a mega scandal. Promises that was made to Uncle Samy’s partner was not fulfilled. Uncle Samy’s partner decides to leave the academy. The academy was caught off guard and decided to bring another Jedi trainer from another part of the same planet Uncle Samy.

While Pendora’s future remains hanging, the young padawans were promised a smooth transition to become a Jedi. The Jedi council kept a close watch as not to compromise the training. The Force and the power of the Dark side need to be kept at bay. One year after the controversy erupted, the first batch of Jedi apprentices graduated. Unfortunately, the academy faced another obstacle. The Jedi council decided not to recognise/accreditate the academy’s training. The Jedi council wary of the influence of the dark side. The council felt that the academy did not fulfil the requirement to train the young padawans, to prevent them from being influenced by the Dark side.

By this time, the force has awaken. The dark side of the force has started to influence the world of Jedis. Pendora’s academy was not the only one that has been producing Jedis’. Many more similar academies from various planets were producing the same. The Jedi’s, which were once considered the crème of the society, are now degraded to unemployable status. The protectors and peacekeepers of the galaxy are now jobless. The Jedi council took it for granted as the dark force died 30 years ago. Little did they expect such a situation. The young graduated Jedis are now being asked to sit for the Jedi Council’s special exams to test their knowledge and mental strength. 6 months has passed with no answer !

Will the unemployed Jedi’s become the next Dark side of the force?

“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to Suffering”

Master Yoda’s quote that still lingers in the minds of the Jedi Council. Will the fear of un-employability of the young Jedis, turn to anger and eventually to the dark side?

The Force has awaken………………. The frustrated Jedis are bound to turn to the dark side. Only time will tell……………

 

Disclaimer:

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

 

 

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For Future Doctors: The Nightmare continues………….

Posted in Uncategorized on April 12, 2015| 161 Comments »

When a university up north became very ambitious and decided to run 5 medical programs ( the first in the world), I cautioned many students that it is not viable and not to fall into a trap. IN 2012 , I wrote THIS and THIS. However, students being students, they will take whatever offer as long as they do not need to pay anything. Thus, the so-called ” scholarship” that was offered by this college attracted many middle-income parents to send their children. Unfortunately, what I feared most happened last year. As I wrote over HERE , HERE and HERE, the college finally closed down and all it’s students were forced to transfer to another MMC accredited university. Some ended up repeating their years. The UKM degree students were absorbed into UKM. So, what happened to the loan promised by this college? I understood then, that the college were offering almost free tuition fee as you will receive RM 150K from PTPTN and the balance will be paid by a collaboration with Maybank. This fund paid by Maybank suppose to be a convertible loan, informed to many as “scholarship”. Many did not realise that they are going to end up with a huge loan. I had always said that doing medicine by taking a huge loan does not make any economic sense. While the students have been transferred to other colleges, Maybank is now going after their loan. I attach a letter from Maybank to a student asking them to pay back the loan already paid to the college. So, now you are in debt even before you graduate!

Malaysia is probably one of the very few countries where their people go into debt to make someone else rich! A private college gets its money from PTPTN loan and many more scholarship/loans from MARA, JPA etc. Most of these loans are paid back by the students but the college can go laughing to their banks! Education should never be commercialised. Another interesting fact has emerged recently. As you are aware that the government has slashed PTPTN loan amount by about 15% for private colleges and 5% for public universities except for medicine (which will be a maximum of about Rm 150K). This has resulted in many private college’s intake reducing. The minimum entry qualifications introduced in 2011 had also gradually reduced the number of medical students in many private medical schools. A research done by a think-tank group revealed that close to 45% of private colleges do not have sufficient assets to cover their liabilities. It also said that close to 35% of private colleges and 41% of universities have bigger debts than their total assets, technically insolvent! This may affect close to 120 000 students!

There are many medical colleges which are facing enrolment problems. The MMC’s guideline and the cost of medical program has prohibited many students from entering medical course. The recent issues concerning possible unemployment of future doctors has also opened the eyes of many people. Medicine is no more a guaranteed future and money! I know a foreign university branch campus which is struggling to even get more than 100 students as the chances of their graduates getting an internship post overseas are very slim. This resulted in them not being able to recruit foreign students. A major administrative restructuring will happen soon.

I believe this could be a blessing in disguise. I had expected that some of the medical schools will close shop sooner or later. With the demise of AUCMS resulting in 5 medical programs closing shop, I also heard that UniKL’s twinning program with an Indian university will also close it’s doors. I also know that MMC has asked some of the medical schools which had intention to start twinning programs with overseas universities to postpone/terminate the idea.

I just hope our general public will realise that being a doctor does not guarantee anything. MMC being a corporatised body under MOH after the Medical Act was amended in 2012 will soon increase their fees. A recent letter was circulated to all organisation regarding their proposed fee hike as shown below. I did mention about this last year. Worth to mention that the fee for sitting MQE examination will also be increased to RM 2500 from RM 200. Please also note that you need to pay RM 500 for Certificate of Good Standing ! A specialist will pay RM 300 for APC and RM 300 for specialist registration per year. I wonder whether this will apply for government doctors as well? Hopefully they will revise some of it after feedback. All doctors will also need certain minimum CME points for APC renewal( I heard 10 points per year and 20points per year for specialist) as well as a compulsory Indemnity Insurance.

Well, the world is changing and the cost of living will only increase further. Never take huge loan to do medicine. Never forget that many more loans will come along the way after you graduate. Life will never get any easier…………..

 

New rules squeezing private colleges of funds, says think tank
Published: 6 April 2015 11:02 AM

The Alliance University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) in Kepala Batas, Penang, which closed down to shortage of funds. The Penang Institute warns that more private colleges may have to close down. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, April 6, 2015.
The Alliance University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) in Kepala Batas, Penang, which closed down to shortage of funds. The Penang Institute warns that more private colleges may have to close down. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, April 6, 2015.
The Penang Institute in Kuala Lumpur has warned that some 70% of private higher education institutions can see red this year, following changes in funding rules.

The think tank said based on data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), 45% of private universities and university colleges have insufficient assets to cover their current liabilities.

Around 71% are below the market average in terms of sufficient assets cover while SSM data also showed that 28 private varsities, or 46% of those reported, made year-on-year losses in the 2013 fiscal year.

Penang Institute said finances were further tightened starting November last year when cuts were made to the public loans system for higher education or National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) by Putrajaya.
PTPTN loans were cut by 5% for public universities and 15% for private universities. Loans for medical courses were unchanged.

“According to estimates by the Penang Institute using the SSM data, these changes would lead to 69.2% of private varsities falling into the red in the coming year.

“Around 76.2% of university colleges and three-quarters of the foreign branch campus could see their finances in negative territory due to these changes.

“Around 120,000 students are currently enrolled in those private varsities facing financial stress and this could rise to 215,000 students, or 44.5% of total private sector enrolment, due to funding changes according to the research,” Penang Institute said in a statement today.

The think tank cited Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS), which had around 2,000 students and 500 staff, as an example. The medical school had to close due to financial problems.

The Masterskill Education Group Berhad, which owns the Asia Metropolitan University, has also been a case of financial squeeze, it said.

The group saw its share price fall from RM4.24 in August 2010 to a low of RM0.30 in May 2014, before recovering only to RM0.62 last month following restructuring and changes in its management and share ownership.

Penang Institute’s study looked into 41 private universities, eight foreign branch campuses and 27 university colleges.

At least two university colleges were upgraded to university status in recent months, but both are in the “financially stressed” group.

The revelations come as the National Higher Education Sector Blueprint 2015-2025 is set to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tomorrow.
Penang Institute’s general manager Dr Ong Kian Ming (pic, right) said the preliminary blueprint released by the Education Ministry for public feedback appeared to largely focus on the public higher education institutions.

“The fact that the private higher education sector was largely ignored is a serious omission given that almost half of the total enrolment in post-secondary education are in private universities, university colleges and colleges.

“In our recent comprehensive study to examine the organisational structure and financial sustainability of 41 private universities, eight foreign branch campuses and 27 university colleges in Malaysia, we found serious implications on the overall health and sustainability of the private higher education sector in Malaysia,” he said.

Ong, who is also Serdang MP, said the think tank would release a series of statements over the next few days to highlight some of the other important findings from the study.

“The complete report will be released at a later date at a public forum where the authors of the report will present their findings and invited panellists will be asked to comment on this report and the National Higher Education Sector Blueprint 2015-2025,” he added. – April 6, 2015.

– See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/new-rules-squeezing-private-colleges-of-funds-says-think-tank#sthash.9YrohBsN.dpuf

11138528_10153288657513436_2612300260409492396_n-2

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For Future Doctors: Housemanship and Employment……. Part 2

Posted in Education, Uncategorized on January 25, 2015| 80 Comments »

The government recently had slashed the 2015 budget by at least RM 5.5b, mainly operational budget. I am not sure whether it will affect civil servant promotions for this year as promotions involves a lot of money. Generally, during any economic recession, promotions will be postponed. If the oil prices do not increase or the ringgit falls further, we may be in for a roller coaster ride this year. FYI, Petronas contributes at least a third of our government’s revenue! The government has also started to charge maximum full rate for any foreigners seeking treatment in government hospitals/clinics. This is also to generate more income for the government as they become desperate for money.

In my previous blog post, I mentioned that the waiting period for Housemanship stands at about 6 months as of end of last year. The waiting time is expected to get longer this year as more and more medical schools starts to produce their graduates. However, from March 2015(hopefully), MOH will be introducing what is known as e-Houseman! NO, IT IS NOT Housemen working from HOME for heaven’s sake but a way to shorten the waiting period (see below).

MOH will be introducing an on-line housemanship placement portal for newly graduated doctors. Fresh graduates will first need to apply for Temporary Registration with MMC after which they need to apply to SPA/JPA. Once you  are accepted into civil service, you will be given a password and user ID to log into ” e-Housemen”. This portal will list all the available post in various hospitals and the vacancies. The waiting period will also be mentioned. It will be available online twice a month.

Thus, it is entirely up to you on where you want to do your housemanship. You decide based on vacancies and waiting period. If you decide to choose the popular hospitals aka Klang Valley, the waiting period will be even longer. It will subsequently affect your seniority in civil service. I hope this system will work flawlessly but as usual, I am a bit skeptical about it. How the system works will depend on how fast the system is updated by the respective hospitals/MOH. Human and system errors can occur.

ON another note, this will eventually overcome the maldistribution issues between rural and urban hospitals as well as East and West Malaysia. If you want a job early, go where the vacancy is. Similar situation will occur when the MO post becomes full. As I said many years ago,  as the situation becomes tight, maldistribution will be solved.

Happy Thaipusam and Chinese New Year ………………….

Massage from Dr Krishna Kumar MMA President

Massage from Dr Krishna Kumar MMA President

 

e-houseman bantu graduan pilih penempatan dengan cepat (http://bm.therakyatpost.com/berita/2014/12/19/e-houseman-bantu-graduan-pilih-penempatan-dengan-cepat)

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Disember:
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) hari ini melancarkan sistem penempatan graduan perubatan yang dikenali sebagai e-houseman, bagi memperbaiki sistem sedia ada.
Menterinya, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam berkata, sistem itu yang akan mula beroperasi pada 15 Mac 2015, memberi peluang kepada graduan perubatan untuk memilih hospital pilihan mereka.
“Kami mengenal pasti kelemahan dalam sistem penempatan graduan perubatan sebelum ini dan melihat sistem baru yang diperkenalkan ini lebih telus dan mudah.
“Ini sekaligus mengikis persepsi orang ramai terhadap kementerian yang kononnya memilih kakitangan dalam proses penempatan,” katanya selepas merasmikan Persidangan Pengurusan KKM di Hotel Royal Chulan, hari ini.
Beliau berkata, graduan perubatan yang berdaftar dengan Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam (SPA) dan mendapat sijil pendaftaran sementara daripada Majlis Perubatan Malaysia (MMC), layak menggunakan sistem ini dan proses seterusnya dilaksanakan serta diluluskan KKM.

Tambahnya, proses ini hanya memakan masa 10 minit, jika graduan sudah memilih penempatan mereka dan bersetuju dengan syarat ditetapkan.
Katanya lagi, sebelum ini proses penempatan memakan masa lama dan kerjasama dengan SPA serta MMC dapat mempermudahkan semua urusan.
“Sebelum ini, KKM akan memilih penempatan untuk graduan dan kini mereka boleh memilih sendiri, sekiranya ada kekosongan. Permohonan itu akan dibuka dua kali sebulan dan prosesnya adalah mudah,” katanya.
Dalam perkembangan lain, Subramaniam berkata, persidangan bertemakan ‘Towards a seamless organisations’ bertepatan usaha mentransformasikan sektor kesihatan, bagi memberi perkhidmatan lebih cekap dan berkesan.
Seramai 229 peserta menyertai persidangan itu, bagi menambah pengetahuan dalam aspek pengurusan menyeluruh, untuk mendokong visi dan misi KKM, selaras peranannya sebagai peneraju perkhidmatan kesihatan negara.
Read more: http://bm.therakyatpost.com/berita/2014/12/19/e-houseman-bantu-graduan-pilih-penempatan-dengan-cepat/#ixzz3PpH9dGQp

 

Just 10 mins for emplacement of interns under e-Houseman system
Posted on December 20, 2014, Saturday

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry yesterday launched the cutting edge ‘e-Housemen’ system for emplacement of medical graduates during their housemanship.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam saw the new system would expedite processing of housemanship applications from one month currently to just 10 minutes.
“Before this system, medical graduates had to register with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), Public Services Commission (PSC) and the Health Ministry.
Now they just have to register with MMC only.
“After registration with MMC, they will be given a temporary registration certificate following which they can use the ‘e-Housemen’ system that will be operational from March 15,” he told a press conference after opening Health Ministry’s Administrative Conference and Innovation Night 2014 here yesterday.
Elaborating on the system, Dr Subramaniam said medical graduates could choose which hospital they wanted to do their internship and if there were no vacancies, they could defer it until that particular hospital had an opening.
He added that system would also put an end to perceptions that the housemanship system was bogged with bureacracy and favouritism.
The three-day conference themed ‘Towards a Seamless Organisation’ which began yesterdaY is being attended by 229 senior officers of the ministry and hospitals. — Bernama
Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/12/20/just-10-mins-for-emplacement-of-interns-under-e-houseman-system/#ixzz3PpHQMw8e

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2014 in review

Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2014| 11 Comments »

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 670,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 29 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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