PETALING JAYA: Groups representing medical professionals have called for more transparency in the government’s selection process for junior doctors to be given permanent positions in government hospitals.
In a joint statement today, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and various medical alumni associations pointed out that less than 15% of the junior doctors who are on contract were offered permanent positions.
With the current system, they said nearly 4,000 doctors would lose their positions in government hospitals by May 2022.
According to them, these junior doctors were mostly left in the dark on the selection criteria for permanent positions as they had only received a general outline of the process from the health ministry.
“This has created confusion as well as a lot of distress to the junior doctors as they are unsure of their future and how they will attain some security in their career.”
MMA and the alumni groups urged the health ministry to make its permanent position selection criteria publicly available and to share the ranking system used to select prospective candidates.
Referring to the problem as a “crisis in human resource management”, they also called for the ministry to increase the number of permanent positions available and to extend doctors’ contracts by at least 10 years to allow for specialisation.
“The pandemic we are facing is challenging not only due to its virulence, but also its effect on the healthcare services that are already overworked, understaffed and overstretched.
“We hope the sacrifices and services of the doctors and other healthcare workers, more so the junior doctors, will be remembered and rewarded justly,” they said.