LETTER | The junior doctors' dilemma

LETTER | Ever wondered what life as a doctor in a government hospital is like? Here is the bitter truth of reality. 

We should realise by now that much of the younger generation of doctors are in career limbo. Many have questioned their ability to cope in a system that has been up and running for years. The ability to cope is multifactorial and mainly branches out from an individual’s own personal trait vs external factors.

One's personal trait would develop his or her coping mechanism to deal with the long working hours, heavy patient load and the possible harsh treatment receive at work. Ultimately some march forward, some are left behind while others look for what fits their boots.

Not all external factors are amendable (such as patient load) but some are. In all honesty, do we ever look into the welfare of doctors in Malaysia? 

To date, we claim to have a surplus of doctors and many are bound by a contract system. The number of doctors is sufficient, but the distribution is another issue altogether and worth a separate discussion. 

Unreasonable hours

If labour law truly existed, shouldn’t it be applicable to doctors too? The majority of the hospitals are still practising on-call systems which mean doctors work on average of 24-30 hours in a stretch with at least four-five on-calls a month. 

Despite the numbers, the hours are unchanged. This issue has been raised time and again, but the common answers are - “I did it back in my day, why can’t you?” or “You are a doctor and you signed up for this”. 

Times have changed and many healthcare systems have moved forward trying to accommodate healthcare workers with shift systems and protected working hours, but are we truly doing anything about it? 

Would you want to be treated by a doctor in his 23rd hour of on-call, who has had almost no rest? Competency vs fatigue? We know mistakes are bound to happen later and someone must be accountable for them. I have no statistics but as doctors, we know of countless incidents of post-call accidents. Are we waiting for it to be a statistic?

Unhealthy work environment 

Can we create a more conducive environment? I agree that a patient’s life is of utmost importance and it's vital to instil the right attitude and discipline, but does that require humiliating doctors in front of patients and speaking in harsh tones with profanities? 

Professionalism and communication skills, weren't these basic lessons in medical school? Standing on a higher level in the hierarchy has earned some in more senior positions the right to belittle junior doctors who are of little value, I guess. You would be surprised but the culture is real, and it has driven us, junior doctors, away.

The sad truth is that we have a well-established healthcare system that is expanding exponentially. At the same time, we have a brain drain. 

Denying healthcare workers their basic rights and pushing them to the core is no different from modern-day slavery. As trivial as it may sound, we should not be ignorant about matters like this. 

A healthy working environment can build a different league of doctors. We should be open to changes and adapt to a better healthcare system as means of accommodating our healthcare workers. 

At the end of the day, people don’t leave good companies, they leave bad bosses. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, you have been our voice of late. Help us out on this.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.