It was very kind of Beng FFARCSI and Be Fair to point out the error of my ways as expressed in my letter Gomez saga proves doctors right in not returning .
It appears from both letters that doctors trained overseas are no more than vile, money-obsessed ingrates rather than highly-trained, disregarded, grateful health workers they ought to be, singing praises from the Bolehland hymn sheet.
In the meantime the ideals that they obtained abroad - ethics, professional freedom, quest for continuous improvement and the practice of evidence-based medicine are being ridden over roughshod by the health departments' puppet-masters; their careers are hostages to the prevailing political winds, their patients at the receiving end of poor practice.
The letter Pollutants in the medical environment outlined these problems while the letter Medical schools ailing from 'know who' syndrome painted a grim picture of public healthcare in Malaysia.
I am 'glad' that this current gripe is also focused on the 'bumiputeras' who are the majority of the Public Service Department's sponsorship recipients. This current batch of 'ungrateful' doctors however, crosses the racial divide.
In one hospital where I was employed, there were three non-bumi ex-Public Service Department sponsorship recipients. One was pursuing a career in anaesthetics, one obtained a higher specialist training in cardiology. Both have continued their studies in the UK from the time of graduation.
The third, qualified in the UK, served her time in Malaysia and returned to the UK on her own steam and worked for higher specialist training here in order to avoid the local dead-end 'Masters' programme. So, please, do not play the race card here.
PSD-sponsored medical students returning as professionals with varied and varying degrees of expertise, all have to do time in government service. Some choose to return with a little more than a basic medical degree so that they are of more use to the country's health service - or so they had hoped. I have covered the reasons for these doctors staying on in The sinister side of gov't policy for doctors .
What the government wants are the very junior doctors, the workhorses of any hospital. After four years, they are left at the mercy of anyone who can 'pull strings' to get them into the 'prestigious' Masters programmes. Unfortunately, many of these overseas-trained doctors have not established any 'who-you-know' portfolio. They understood fully the precariousness of their situation when they returned with just a basic degree.
Anyway, are there enough 'Masters' programmes to absorb all these doctors after they have done their time at that lowly Registered Medical Officer/ House officer level?
As for Be Fair's charge that these doctors are guilty of 'treason' by staying on, it is a charge too shaky. The PSD has been pursuing these 'deviants' as they qualify. They have to pay up somehow; in services after their postgraduate training or in monetary terms which very few could afford.
The on-going question is that if the government service is the route to professional development, why do doctors, whether trained locally or abroad, bumiputra or not, leave for the private practice at the earliest opportunity? What are the long-term costs to comprehensive healthcare for all when the brains are leaving the sinking ship of public service? Are general hospitals services going to end up as just a rudimentary service for the poor?
The lack of professional autonomy, development and accountability is not enfranchising the profession for the good of the country. At the receiving end of this sorry situation are the patients who are not wealthy enough to buy private healthcare.
Those in the position to stop this rot appear to have chosen to look away. Consequently, suspicion and distrust, whether deserved or not, reign in this chasm of the bumi/non-bumi divide. This, my fellow rakyat, is treason.
