There is probably a cyber-reaction that gone spiral objecting to the government’s appalling decision to relocate the esteemed Parliament and burning up a decently small hole in our Treasury. I advocate they should instead do what the YB Nizar et al did below some shady trees during the hostile take over, just to slow down our progression to Bankruptcy 2019.
June 2010 is an important landmark in the history of medical world in our Bolehland. Probably just another understatement. Probably.
2 years ago, our amorous ex-Health minister waved his wand of power (no stray thoughts, please) and had extended the housemanship training to two whole years, which drove a good portion of junior doctors into depression and anxiety, plus drove another cohort of them to our neighboring country which puts a big fortune on human resource rather than natural resource.
In these 2 years, as expected, there was shortage of Medical Officers (MOs) in various departments of public hospitals with the inevitable backlogged excess of house officers. Everyday, facing the overloading work burden as workforce was reduced as medical officers left the department, either by resigning or going for postgraduates training, every medical officers believed that the storm will be over in due time.
But it doesn’t.
The Ministry, in the name of ‘best interest of training’ for the house officers, they were by default had, yes, had to be sent to the district posting to complete whatever training the major hospital failed to provide – independence in managing all kind of patients at primary care level or higher, as the much as the resources allowed (which is not much to begin with).
While they replaced their seniors in the districts, the seniors came back to the big hospy. The seniors were expected to plug the holes in all specialties, especially some department which seems to be in shortage forever, but instead their choices differed and surprisingly accepted with blessings from the management team.
And the shortage and heavy workload which initially can be lighten down by the entry of the enthusiasts and interested few from the pool of fresh graduating house officers, now continues to lie over the shoulder of those who are still within the department, waiting for miracle and continuing their service in the name of ‘noble’. The last time I looked that word up in an online wicked dictionary, it equals ‘stupid’.
By default, as the time comes, at a regular interval, a good number of Master’s MOs will be called back to their parent university, while the enlightened Service MO will quit due to their realization that all those unnecessary stress is just so… unnecessary.
Now, I guess the picture is kind of clear why some department is in shortage forever.
Understanding current dilemma, together with the crowding of repeating Master students in the mother university, the board of Elders’ in the Master training, decided to send those who failed twice in the Final to the Ministry side to gain more exposure, plus alleviate the predicament of shortage. But so far, everything seems to be a hearsay.
Probably this is just a transitional period.
I hate to admit it, but being caught in the transitional period of time is as painful as being in surgery, motionless and speechless but senses intact after general anesthesia.
OOOOOOOUUCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Wish I can shout that out to the world. But, I can’t.
Like what the Chief told O’ Malley in Grey’s Anatomy – “Be like a sponge. Absorb”
Instead of absorbing all the gossips, we just had to absorb whatever comes our way.
I heard scary true stories about the pivotal realization of the shortage in another hospital happened after one of
the MOs gone down with a perforated gastric ulcer. Perhaps ‘noble’ does equal to ‘stupid’ after all.
Probably the only blessings now are having colleagues who are not calculative, offer me a great deal of assistance and persist in sharing knowledge, plus all my specialists and Consultants, previous and current hospy, who are wonderful mentors in their own enigmatic ways.
I’m being hopeful, not noble, that these, like all things in life, will pass. Hopefully, soon.
P.S. One of the cool specialist here probably a bit awed but not surprised that medical officers in the minor specialty of ENT totally outnumbered the current workforce in my dept, and jokingly rebutted: Of course, ENT needs more people, they’re taking care of more holes than us.
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