MMA wants to work with JPA on housemanship issue

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Medical Association (MMA) wants to work together with the Public Service Department (JPA) on housemen who can now be placed in hospitals on contract basis.
MMA's president Dr John Chew told theSun in a text message: "While we wait for the details of the contract for housemanship, we would like to be involved with the Government employment agency to have transparency in appointments, employment and disciplinary procedures."
This, he added, is to ensure the clear outline of the fairness of employment.
Currently, questions are raised as to what would happen to the housemen when their contract ends.
The contract would be a short term fix to the problem of oversupply in housemen and there are no guarantees what would happen when the contract ends.
On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced that from December, approximately 2,600 graduates who cannot find housemanship placement, can be placed in hospitals on a contract basis.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam was reported as saying that doctors would be given a four year contract while dentists and pharmacists a three year contract under the new scheme announced in the Budget 2017 although housemanship training for medical graduates is two years and dentistry and pharmacy is only a year.

Meanwhile, DAP national vice chairman Teresa Kok said Dr Subramaniam, however, has not addressed what happens after the contract ends although he did state that doctors can find jobs in the private sector.
"But how many of them can be absorbed into the private sector when what most private hospitals require are specialist doctors with sufficient experience and not new medical officers," she added.
The issue of oversupply of doctors has been raised several years ago by MMA and Malaysian Medical Council and still new ones are being churned out annually.
Teresa said its time for Dr Subramaniam to give a honest picture about doctors becoming jobless rather than giving the impression that jobs are still many for them in the private sector.