Singapore's direct recruitment of doctors a serious concern, says senator
PETALING JAYA : Singapore's bold move to hold direct interviews at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur next month for the recruitment of experienced doctors is likely to exacerbate the brain drain in the healthcare sector, a senator says.
Dr RA Lingeshwaran said the latest advertisement by the republic's health ministry calling for walk-in interviews at Traders Hotel next month, offering an annual package of S$110,000 (RM385,000) plus housing and other perks, would surely attract Malaysian doctors.
He said the salary excluded monthly accommodation allowance, insurance, and other benefits like on-call allowance.
The doctors are only required to have a minimum of three years' experience at Malaysian hospitals and clinics.
RA Lingeshwaran.
'What's more telling is Singapore's decision to open it to all medical degree holders without having to sit for an examination.
'Previously, they only recruited medical graduates from Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) directly.
'I think this will open the floodgates as the costliest expenditure in Singapore, which is accommodation, will be covered. The comments on social media by doctors are an indication that we are going to lose our medical brains,' he told FMT.
According to the advertisement, doctors who qualify from UM and UKM can apply for the post of medical officer while others will be known as clinical associates with the same remuneration package.
Clinical associates are foreign-trained doctors who are granted temporary medical registration to work in specific departments in Singapore hospitals. They perform duties equivalent to those of a medical officer or junior resident.
Lingeshwaran, a former director of Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang, said a Malaysian medical officer with three years' experience only earned a gross salary of about RM6,000 per month or RM72,000 a year.
He said the health ministry should view this latest move by Singapore seriously as it would impact healthcare in Malaysia, which is already under stress.
The senator said he had been informed by the dean of RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus in Penang that about 40% of 105 medical students who graduated there last month had applied to do their internships in Ireland or the UK.
'They are leaving because the Malaysian system provides them with no certainty and support for their future. The unresolved contract doctor policy, lack of permanent positions, limited career progression and poor work-life balance are driving them away,' he said.
In December, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad was reported as saying that a total of 6,417 permanent and contract medical officers resigned from 2019 to 2023.
'The brain drain is not a drip any more, it is now a wave. We need urgent structural reforms to retain our talent, value their service, and give them a future worth staying for,' said Lingeshwaran.
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