Overworked, bullied, racially abused: Trainee docs in Penang ‘tell all’

 

Current and former housemen claim that they are overworked, abused and bullied – even by staff nurses.

GEORGE TOWN: The recent death of a Penang Hospital trainee doctor has prompted other housemen, past and present, to share their own experiences about what critics see as a bullying culture prevalent in the public hospital.

In December 2020, another houseman who quit the hospital died, fuelling speculation of bullying and humiliation being common among trainee doctors, or housemen.

Contacted by FMT, Penang Hospital director Dr Teo Gim Sian directed questions on the issue to state health director Dr Ma’arof Sudin. There was no reply at the time of writing.

FMT spoke to current and former housemen to get a clearer picture of whether there was a toxic culture at the Penang Hospital that made life difficult for housemen.

Most respondents claimed that it was “a baptism of fire” and touted it as the “worst hospital” for trainee doctors in the country.

Almost all claimed they were overworked, abused and bullied – even by staff nurses.

Former houseman Arjun (not his real name) said Penang Hospital was well known for its bullying and was usually “dreaded” by many housemen.

He recalled his immediate superiors, the medical officers (MOs), as being “heartless” for the hurtful words and action levelled at him and his batch mates.

“Everyone has their limitations, and people perform differently – these malignant MOs preyed on the weak ones. One doctor said I was hopeless and told me to go to the highest floor and jump off the building.

“When I said my life was more precious, and I won’t take my life, I had my stay in that department extended for two more months,” he told FMT.

Housemen go through training rotating through different departments for four months each for at least two years before they become MOs. MOs typically supervise housemen.

Arjun also claimed that he and other housemen would sometimes have to suffer racial slurs thrown about by their MOs.

“I was asked to go back to tapping rubber, while the Malays were told to go back to the sawah (padi fields). I was depressed. We were made to work 18 hours straight.

“When those badly affected sought psychiatric help, they were made fun of and labelled as ‘mad’,” he claimed.

Another houseman, J, claimed that he was blamed for the death of a patient by his superior.

“The MO in charge was a master’s candidate and was three weeks away from starting his course. And I became the fall guy. I was looking at 20 other patients and the MO was nowhere to be found. I was then called a murderer for doing something I didn’t do.

“It was the darkest months of my life at the hospital. These bullies prey on the weak ones,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior health ministry official has denied the housemen’s claims, saying there should be evidence to substantiate their allegations while the focus should be on the houseman who died recently.

In urging Putrajaya to address the issues faced by junior doctors, state health committee chairman Norlela Ariffin said yesterday it seemed that being overworked was almost like an accepted culture in the medical profession here.

She compared this to her daughter-in-law’s experience working as a doctor at a hospital in the UK, which she said had a more “humane” work-life balance compared to Malaysia.

Norlela also claimed that a family member of hers, who was a houseman, once got into 27 car accidents because of fatigue from working long hours. - FMT