At least 30 top UM medical grads leave for S'pore yearly - expert

 

At least 30 of the best medical graduates from Universiti Malaya leave Malaysia for greener pastures because of unresolved healthcare worker issues at home.

As such, the government must take grouses of work conditions of healthcare workers seriously to stem brain drain, said UM’s former dean of medicine Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman.

“Each year, UM loses at least 30 of our best and brightest to Singapore. Remember, it costs us almost RM1 million per student to train.

“And now, we are also apparently going to help plug the (UK’s) National Health Service’s (NHS) shortage by also sending our medical officers to the UK,” she lamented on Twitter today.

She was referring to an agreement between Malaysia and the UK, where Malaysian healthcare workers can train in the UK and work for the NHS.

Many head abroad because there is a lack of posts and clear training pathways in Malaysia for fresh graduate doctors and medical officers, she said.

This is a grouse raised by many junior doctors who are hired on contract with the Health Ministry, without a clear path for further training or job security.

Following protests by junior doctors, the government announced it was funding up to 3,000 further-study spots for contract doctors and dentists.

Before that, contract doctors did not qualify for further studies to enable them to become specialists.

Building a resilient health system

Adeeba said junior doctors are not to blame for seeking better opportunities elsewhere because the Malaysian system is failing them.

“How can we expect to build a resilient and world-class health system when we have this continuous internal and external brain drain? And then there are the nurses...,” she said, referring to the severe shortage of nurses for the same reason.

The internationally-renowned infectious diseases expert was responding to an article by health news website Codeblue on improving the conditions of emergency departments in public hospitals.

The website had reported how some patients, including those requiring ventilation, are stranded for up to six days in the Red Zone of Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh’s emergency department due to insufficient critical care beds and staff.

In response, hospital director Dr Megat Iskandar Megat Adul Hamid said it has implemented a bed management unit to expedite admissions into wards. - Mkini