In response to te letter Doctors must put patients first, allowances second , it is my belief that doctors have always put their patients as the highest priority. Their dedication to patients should never be questioned.

Seeking better working conditions is neither synonymous with an uncaring attitude or greed. As we venture into this new century, improvements should be an inevitable. Comparing with and maintaining archaic standards would be foolish and unwise.

The system should not just strive to keep doctors in the initial stages of their careers but to create a conducive environment where they can advance their careers in public service. Leaving after 10 years of public service for greener pastures is no ground to claim that the current system is fair and just.

At a time when healthcare standards are improving by leaps and bounds, more is expected of doctors. Medical errors are no longer as tolerable as in the yesteryears. This era of evidence-based care has certainly made medicine an ever evolving discipline.

The point is that medicine has become more challenging now than it has ever been before. Therefore, expecting a houseman to maintain these high standards for 37 or 38 hours at a stretch would be ridiculous.

Doctors are often confused with Mother Teresa. With bills to pay, a family to upkeep and ever increasing post-graduate examination fees to pay, it is a profession requiring so many years of sacrifice.

The current salary schemes are a great injustice to the profession while spiralling living standards do not help either. Demanding a fairer salary scheme, in my opinion, is justifiable and to be expected. With uncertain working hours that usually extend beyond the official times, a government's doctor current salary - if broken down to the quantum paid per hour - is shamefully low.

Ultimately, the Health Ministry is not doing enough to secure a better deal for doctors. Schomos (Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers and Specialists) and the Malaysian Medical Association has been relatively passive bystanders and on many occasions have ignored pertinent issues involving doctors of today.

Just as we have phased out bullock carts as a mode of transportation, so should the working conditions of doctors be improved. Making comparisons to the situation of years gone by only displays a resistance to change and positive development.