Private hospitals look to train own specialists, says association

 

Discussions are ongoing for private hospitals to be allowed to train their own specialists in various fields, revealed the Association of Private Hospitals in Malaysia (APHM) amid a wave of departures by contract medical officers from the public sector.

APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh said the proposal to benefit hundreds of contract medical officers waiting for permanent positions was discussed with Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a recent workshop by the ministry.

"Current opportunities for medical officers to be trained as specialists and then to be given a post in the government sector is limited," Kuljit said in a statement today.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali previously said a total of 514 contract medical officers have resigned from government service between January and Nov 26.

Noor Azmi also revealed in Parliament that the number of contract medical officers who resigned has steadily increased every year, from 110 in 2017, followed by 168 in 2018, 475 in 2019, and 511 last year.

At present, Kuljit said, the practice of medicine and surgery in private hospitals are largely dependent on competent specialists who are trained with experience from the public sector healthcare system.

APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh

"Many migrate to the private sector because of multiple reasons and one of the main pull factors is the remuneration and the freedom to practice using high technology.

"The concerns of the government are brain drain, but the greater worry now is the lack of opportunities for younger doctors to be trained as specialists and later to serve in the public and private hospitals," he said.

On implementation of the proposal, Kuljit said private hospitals have sought assurance that reserve seats in local public medical universities could be attained annually, in multiple disciplines, for candidates funded by private hospitals.

He said currently there is a specialisation programme conducted by the Kumpulan Perubatan Johor University KPJ, expressing hope it could be further accredited to accommodate a larger number of doctors in multiple specialisations.

"Besides KPJ University, the other private hospitals may embark on their own programme, but the processes could be tedious and complicated," he added.

"Private hospitals could also have an international training programme with international colleges for membership and fellowship as an option and with the hope to get registration with the National Specialist Register based on the experience and exposure attained in private hospitals.

"Such candidates sponsored by private hospitals will have long-term bonds to serve their patients," Kuljit said.

Contract medical officers in the country have complained about the lack of job security and opportunities for them to further study and specialise.

Government junior contract doctors also face the risk of losing their job after the end of their five-year training at government hospitals.

Their frustration has led to a group of the contract doctors forming a movement which they called “Hartal Doktor Kontrak”, which is campaigning for an end to the “two-tier system” between permanent trainee doctors and those on contract at government hospitals, whereby the latter are ineligible for local postgraduate scholarships to become specialists.

Back in July, the movement managed to galvanise hundreds of contract doctors nationwide to walkout from their workplaces. -Mkini