Many doctors who were enslaved in the 24-36 straight call hours of medical apprenticeship due to the paucity of numbers would vouch for the good that it has endowed them in their future medical careers.

Many senior doctors, from the high offices of medical directors, deans, consultants down to specialists and registrars would rationalise this as part of the gruelling training process of any wannabe doctor.

Junior doctors are hammered with multiple anecdotes of nightmarish calls including graveyard shifts which their seniors have had to endure during their clerkship and yet survived unscathed.

Junior doctors continue to suffer in silence and are led to believe by their seniors that this is all part of the tradition of medical training. This medical tradition, in due time, becomes entrenched in the system because the values continue to be perpetuated by abused junior doctors who grow up to become abusive consultants.

There is, however, a major flaw in this premise because there is a world of difference between what is deemed as training and what is downright bullying (for want of a better word) and being inhumane. The latter work culture, I am afraid, is more prevalent within our local medical circles. One of my paediatrician colleagues even hastened to add that the local medical culture is second only to the military in harshness.

The overworked and fatigued doctor poses a risk to patient care, compromising quality medical care and resulting in errors. It goes without saying that training, internship and residency are fundamental to the nurturing of a medical professional and his preparedness for future clinical responsibilities.

Long hours, after office hours and on call hours are part and parcel of this holistic training to ensure an adequately and appropriately trained doctor who will discharge his duties with evidence-based medical know how, hands on skills, display and prescribe humanitarian values.

Many who have had the benefit of medical training in the US, UK or Australia at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, would very quickly discern the cultural divide in the Malaysian way of training our junior doctors compared to their own training during their house or registrar jobs.

It would not be too far fetched to suggest that our housemen and junior medical officers, the lowest in the medical tier, are not infrequently harassed, intimidated and humiliated by their senior colleagues (senior medical officers, registrars, specialists, consultants, head of departments, and deans included). And this domino effect of psychological harassment goes right up the echelon to those in high office.

This unhealthy work ambience has somewhat improved over the years but there is much more that needs doing to make the working lives of the junior doctors bearable, enjoyable, a truly learning and meaningful experience.

Those crazy, inhumane call hours should have long been trashed into the bin of painful medical history never to be repeated. Yet our junior doctors continue to be enslaved like their predecessors. Is there truly a lack of enlightened HODs (heads of department) who could sort out this technicality at their various judicial levels?

A surgeon colleague of mine in his MOH (Ministry of Health) days, who gave the weekend off to all who did calls the preceding 48 hours was ticked off by his HOD because this was against the rules. Many of these ludicrous rules which often burdens the junior doctors most. They ought to be scrapped and consigned to the archives of medical nonsense

More importantly, those in the highest of office of the MOH and universities ought to address these oft recurring scenarios apart from many other pressing issues which concern these voiceless and helpless junior doctors.

The tragic death of Dr Nor Baizura in her course of duty, exposing the lack of insurance cover and compensation for the most junior of doctors in the medical hierarchy, is but one such issue.

It is most unfortunate when senior members of this profession of healing and caring, love and mercy, fail to display this very same compassion and benevolence towards those most junior and most vulnerable in their midst.