MMA: End contract doctor system with better pay, fairer postings

 

The commitment to abolish Malaysia’s contract doctor system must be followed by better remuneration, fairer placements and clearer training pathways to retain doctors in public service. - File pic

KUALA LUMPUR: The commitment to abolish Malaysia's contract doctor system must be followed by better remuneration, fairer placements and clearer training pathways to retain doctors in public service.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers and Specialists (SCHOMOS) chairman Dr Sean Thum Chern Choong said the announcement in Budget 2027 brought considerable relief after years of uncertainty over doctors' careers, but its implementation would require follow-through.

"Our healthcare needs are long term and developing a doctor takes years. We cannot keep asking young doctors to commit their lives to public service while leaving them unsure whether there will be a place for them when the next contract ends," he told Bernama.

He said the uncertainty affected specialist training, family commitments and financial decisions, as well as doctors' willingness to remain in the public healthcare system, with consequences that could ultimately affect patients.

"Permanent positions alone will not solve everything. We still need better remuneration, fairer placement systems, clearer training pathways and working conditions that make doctors want to stay," he said.

Reflecting on his own experience, Thum said he began housemanship on May 15, 2017, under a three-year contract after waiting a year following graduation.

When the Covid-19 crisis unfolded in March 2020, his cohort was offered a two-year contract extension and notified that there would be no further extension thereafter.

"We were doing the same work, facing the same risks and caring for the same rakyat as our permanent colleagues. In the wards and the Low-Risk Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs), there was no distinction in our commitment. We stood shoulder to shoulder," he said.

Thum said advocacy efforts had continued through professional organisations, the Code Black and Black Monday campaigns, Hartal Doktor Kontrak, and engagements with government agencies, Parliament's health committee and the Prime Minister.

"This struggle began long before my chairmanship and the credit belongs to everyone who carried it from day one. No organisation, campaign or individual can claim this entire journey as their own," he said.

Meanwhile, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Hospital Ahmad Shah medical officer Dr Amirul Azhar Zulkifli said the implementation of the plan to abolish the contract doctor system needed to be clarified, particularly regarding doctors whose contracts had expired or who had left public service because family commitments prevented them from accepting permanent postings.

"Will they be given the opportunity to return to service, given that the shortage of doctors is now clearly evident?" he told Bernama.

He welcomed the announcement and praised those who had campaigned for the issue, particularly through Hartal Doktor Kontrak, including members now working in the private sector or overseas.

"The movement fights solely for the welfare of doctors and healthcare workers, particularly those still serving in the public sector. It is not driven by any political agenda, regardless of which government is in power," he said.

Amirul Azhar said follow-up measures should protect and improve the welfare of doctors and healthcare workers to retain them in service and encourage a new generation to enter the profession. - NST