Last week Deputy Health director-general Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran said that the Health Ministry can absorb up to 5,300 new housemen every year for its facilities nationwide and therefore, the situation is “manageable”.
“Some 4,300 doctors graduate from local medical schools while the rest are from abroad. The situation is not that bad and we still have places for them,” he said.
He further said that those who graduated from local universities only need to wait an average of three months for their posting and only those who graduate from foreign universities have to wait longer.
However, Dr Jayaindran’s claim has been rebuked by at least two medical graduates as nonsense and untrue. Till today, he has not been able to prove his claim and has chosen to remain silent. I am still puzzled how could he make such a claim that was so wrong.
The long waiting period for hosuemanship training is not the only problem. The issue of quality of training has been highlighted and it is an aspect that the Health Ministry cannot ignore.
In March 2015, the then president of Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Dr Krishna Kumar had revealed that at the obstetric and gynaecology (O&G) department in Seremban Hospital 65 housemen have come under the supervision of two consultants and five specialists while the Kuala Pilah Hospital O&G unit only had one obstetrician overseeing about 30 housemen.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/03/30/new-docs-may-have-to-wait-a-year-for-housemanship/
In 2010, then MMA president Dr David Quek had expressed concern that he hundreds of housemen who throng major urban hospitals share the same patients and duties.
He was quoted to say, “What is worse, they have lesser personal time with their trainers, registrars, clinical specialists and consultants.”
So can quality of training be assured when there are too many housemen to be supervised?
In order to reduce the waiting period, the government s decided to offer jobs to the new medical graduates on a contract basis. But as it is obvious that not all will be offered permanent posts, where will those not offered go after the expiry of their contracts? To become Uber drivers?
The whole issue boils down to the oversupply of doctors and it is most puzzling that so many colleges have been approved to offer medical courses, resulting in the problem that we face today.
In 2010, then Penang Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nam had revealed that Britain which had a population of 61 million had 26 medical collges, and Canada with a population of 34 million had 17 medical colleges. But Malaysia which then had a population had 24 medical colleges.
How could the authorities approve so many medical colleges? Because private colleges and universities are good lobbyists?
Everyone can see that to reduce the oversupply of doctors, intake must be restricted. But till today, other than imposing a moratorium on new medical programmes, nothing much has been done.
Obviously, what is lacking is the political will to do what is necessary, that is, to restrict the intake by private medical colleges and universities.
When will the government exercise the political will to address the root cause of oversupply of doctors?