Wednesday, January 27, 2010

go directly to jail

heard over the radio that the sentence service of govt doctors may be extended to 5, or even 10 years, from the current 3 years. no explanation was forthcoming but i suppose it's something to do with stemming the exodus of trained doctors/specialists into private practice.

instead of forcing compulsory service, doesn't it make more sense to provide conditions to make doctors WANT to stay in service?

like, specialist training for those interested, irrespective of background?

or, fair promotion across the board based solely on experience, qualification & ability?

or, higher financing & lower interest rates for cars & houses?

sounds like another ill-conceived bird-brained poor idea, not unlike the 1malaysia clinics. with the 20 or so local medical school producing thousands of doctors yearly, the hospitals will feel like prisons for the young ones.













a game of monopoly, anyone?

PS. however, it's true that remuneration has markedly improved over the years. a 1st year houseman takes home over RM4k a month, & a senior specialist up to RM20k, so this may not be the main contention for want-away doctors

16 comments:

Superman said...

Doctors make big bucks! But Malaysia government is really bad in retaining good servants. Already feel hopeless for the government.

wenn said...

not bad RM4k.

doc said...

Superman,

actually, now docs are less likely to leave govt service earlier because the remuneration for junior docs have improved markedly. i took home about rm1500 when i was a houseman.

most are likely to stay on to specialise before leaving, hence the 3-year service has become irrelevant, hence has to be increased to 10 years.

doc said...

Wenn,

rm4k is GREAT if you work office hours, but expect a houseman to put in about 72 hours a week, with skipped meals & disturbed sleep.

i still think a secondary school teacher earns more for the hours put in, not including extra from tuition.

foongpc said...

That's a shame. They should increase the remuneration instead of forcing govt doctors to extend their years of service!

doc said...

what they need is better service conditions, not just the remuneration, eg. generous training opportunities, fair promotions, a reasonable transfer policy, etc.

iml said...

Without job satisfaction i.e. better incentives, renumeration, recognition, how will patients get the most from this arrangement?

missyc said...

perhaps its for the betterment of
patients as they can see same doc (houseman) rather than seeing many others during the course of treatment.

Eg my aunt with advanced cancer sees so many doctors in span of 8mths that we find all give differing opinion, at times Blur &
one being ticked off 'Brainless ! you wanna kill the patient is it' by the Prof head.

You mentioned the hospitals will feel like prisons for the young ones.. isn't it a good learning place to see the real sick world ?

anyway its unfair for those self funded through medical schools to be in compulsory service to serve the public in the 1st place unless its voluntary

doc said...

Iml,

hence, the many complaints about the health service. but since the charges are relatively low, what can one expect?

on the other hand, self-paying patients in private hospitals also complain about high charges & relatively poor service.

doc said...

Missyc,

the houseman on his 1st day of work will definitely feel like the beginning of a 10-year sentence, unless he plans to remain long in govt service.

even so, it depends how he sees this period of time. if he is anything like Jeffrey Archer, he'll enjoy the stay & may even get something (eg.make some money) out of it!!

if this rule is imposed, it should only affect those studying in public varsities or those govt-sponsored in private ones. the govt is also aware that training opportunities for new doctors overseas, eg. uk & aust, are now limited by immigration laws. maybe that why they are so blatant to suggest this extended service period because they know many will not get jobs overseas.

but this may backfire, when they all end up in s'pore, hong kong or US!!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear...having to serve 10 years is horribly scary! :)

Thanks for visiting. Good to hear from another photography enthusiast.

doc said...

Mei Teng,

looking at the bright side, you're guaranteed a job for THAT LONG!!

zewt said...

this will literally cause overseas medical grad coming back to malaysia drop from little to zero.

doc said...

Zewt,

those govt scholars as well as private students in russia & indonesia will have no choice but to come back; even so, i heard even those scholars in UK & australia are trying to wrangle their way out of returning, using post-grad training as an excuse.

even private students in UK & aust may find house officer jobs hard to come by these days, esp in UK where the policy is to offer jobs to Brits 1st, EU citizens next, & others last.

Unicorn Girl said...

Finally ! the government is thinking out of the box .

doc said...

Unicorn Girl,

i hardly think they are doing that. more like a shot in the dark!