Sunday, July 09, 2006

Malaysian Docs not coming back?

Palmdoc wrote this interesting article :

Well the DG apparently is blaming “unnamed individuals” so the NST reports

“While Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek and I have met Malaysian doctors, specialists and students studying and working in these countries and advised them to return, there are individuals who go and say they can carry on staying there.”
Dr Ismail, who is upset over this turn of events, said they took great pains since November last year to visit Malaysian doctors and students, make presentations and convince them that there were tremendous opportunities for them back home.

I gather from the DG’s comments, that the efforts to convince these Malaysian doctors working abroad to return have not been very successful. But really, is it true that this is due to “individuals” advising them otherwise?
Perhaps the DG and the MOH should look at themselves and examine the entire situation again
1) The current working conditions of the MOH. Despite the efforts of the Minister of Health and DG to change the system, how much has really changed in terms of salary and promotion prospects? Has it really got better or worse? How many stumbling blocks does the JPA still put in place?
2) The recruitment system. It is passive at the moment. Who do they think they’ll attract? Look at how SingHealth goes round the world attracting and recruiting talented and bright doctors. I really think they need to change the way they advertise for jobs - be specific in order to fill the gaps. Target individuals not groups of doctors. This way you make people feel wanted. Be more active (but the Catch-22 here is you have a poorer pay structure and you are less competitive compared with Singapore). You also need to be specific in your job offers.
3) Meritocracy - does it truly exist in the MOH? As long as it is perceived otherwise, there will be those that are reluctant to return as they would prefer to work where their hard work and dedication are truly rewarded.
4) How much information are you putting out to help people make the move? Just check the MOH website - how much info is there for Malaysian doctors working overseas intending to come home? I found this little unexciting page.

On average, a normal doctor earns 3000 pounds a month in the UK which is about RM25,000 ringgit a month. So you can take your RM$7000 and stuffit.

1 Comments:

At 8:40 AM, Blogger Dan said...

"So you can take your RM$7000 and stuffit"

Ha Ha Ha! I like the way you ended your post!

I'm a Bruneian working in the UK, & Bruneian doctors have a very similar dilemma.

 

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