Posted on Lim Kit Siang's Blog:
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/03/23/plight-of-jpa-medical-scholars/
Frustrated JPA scholar's arguments:
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/03/23/plight-of-jpa-medical-scholars/
Frustrated JPA scholar's arguments:
- JPA's sudden change in policy that JPA scholars must immediately return to the country upon graduation is unfair
- Ridiculous reasons accepted for prolonging stay after graduation e.g. married to other scholars who are still commencing studies in oversea country concerned
- Ruin opportunity for sufficient exposure, experience and postgraduate training therefore waste tax players' money
- Lack of opportunity and funding to do research work in Malaysia
- Housemanship placements in Malaysia is random and does not consider academic achievements
- Malaysia is not able to cope with providing good standards of housemanship training to the many doctors who will be qualifying.
- Sceptical of specialist training opportunities in Malaysia
- Nothing wrong with wanting to earn in foreign currency and putting emphasis on career advancements
- Many of JPA policy makers are not doctors themselves, therefore, do not understand the situation
- Better to return to Malaysia only when received adequate oversea exposure to first world healthcare thus, will benefit the citizens more.
- To retain JPA scholars in government sector, more lucrative benefits like improved pay, fairness by meritocracy and adequate training opportunities should be installed.
It is very interesting to know that some JPA scholar is brave enough to challenge JPA openly concerning this 'hot' issue. Below are just my own thoughts about it and it will be up to you to form your own opinion. I may not be right in everything.
The changing policies of JPA. Too bad that I don't study law and I'm really shallow in this topic. But I remembered coming across a paragraph on the agreement about JPA is allowed to change the term and condition. I'll leave this to the lawyers to argue it out.
I do agree that JPA has some really weird policies especially concerning the reason accepted for prolonging the stay. What can I say about this, it is a loop hole in their system and it can be exploited to your benefit. It only depends on how far you're willing to go. You have to know the rules and play by the rules, get the meaning behind this?
Talking about gaining experience. It no doubt that studying oversea allows you to gain a different kind of experience as compared to training in Malaysia. However, think of the long term. No matter how long you try to escape, you'll have to go back to serve that 10 year bond. In order for patients to benefit, the doctor must be familiar with the local situation viz. diseases, health delivery system, hospital policies etc. It will be useless if you only know about oversea policies and situation and being very ignorant about the local healthcare which you will be serving in future. One thing is, we don't have the NHS in Malaysia which means we have to take into account the financial situation of patients before deciding their treatment etc. Another important thing is, we don't learn about tropical diseases which are a common diagnosis in a clinical setting in Malaysia. Therefore, I cannot deny that oversea doctors do lack in experience as compared to our local counterparts.
About training opportunities, I cannot say much about this as I have limited exposure to the healthcare situation in Malaysia. I'll be doing my electives this summer for 5 weeks and I hope to gain some insight to this. In the UK, there's the change in the immigration rules cutting down opportunities for international students who completed their training in UK universities for specialist training. They're giving priority to UK undergrads first, followed by EU undergrads and whatever is left behind will then only be opened to international undergrads. So, for those who are considering to continue to work and specialise in the UK, you all have to think twice.
So, will the future be brighter for those who goes back to Malaysia for their housemanship training? It is a difficult question to answer. There are different point of views, some say it is still easier if you have underwent UK training to specialise and it will be more difficult if you conducted your housemanship training elsewhere. But come to think of it, by going back to Malaysia, you can chose to apply to specialise in any parts of the world in future, not to forget, in Malaysia as well. The main concern will only be, is that degree recognised worldwide?
Looking through JPA's website, they do offer further scholarship for those who wish to pursue higher qualifications:
There are term and conditions and I cannot say for sure if they apply for medicine as well. So, aim hard for 1st class or honours.
Most of us are afraid to return to Malaysia for housemanship due to the horror stories we've heard. That's including the inhumane working hours, low pay, being sent to small villages or outskirts with lack of facilities and entertainment, etc.
All of us are afraid of hardships. I will definitely be disappointed if I were to be sent to a deserted village for my housemanship as I can foresee the hardship adapting to the living environment and worries about the lack in medical facilities. But what if nobody wants to go there? What will happen to the people living there? I think the only way to solve this problem is to routinely rotate doctors to be posted there and not give a life sentence to the poor doctor chosen to serve there forever. If we know the maximum length of posting, I don't think we'll be too reluctant to serve there. We cannot always receive and not give something back in return. The government on the other hand, cannot just exploit and not reward the doctors appropriately. We do need the motivation!
I am no saint, therefore, it will be difficult for me to say that I study medicine in order to save and improve people's quality of life and that monetary rewards and future opportunities do not matter. Come to think of it, most things I've said at interviews and personal statements are lies. I'm a hypocrite! But life is such that we cannot just merely survive on personal satisfaction and patient's gratitudes. Basic necessities itself needs to be bought with money. To get a degree involves fess. To travel to hospital and back involved travel costs. Why is that we have fund raising activities for good causes? Everything is money in this world. Therefore, I don't think we can be blamed for wanting to earn more provided we give something back to Malaysia in return. We have been given this golden opportunity and we should appreciate it.
I do feel that it is a good step for JPA in sending students to pursue their studies overseas it is not a waste of tax payer's money. It allows us to widen our horizons, learn the good points from other countries, and change our mindset for the better. At the end of the day, I do think that the knowledge and experiences we bring back will be beneficial and that they will slowly influence and shape the future generations.
My views maybe naive and some of you may disagree with it. I apologize if I have offended anyone in this posting.
The changing policies of JPA. Too bad that I don't study law and I'm really shallow in this topic. But I remembered coming across a paragraph on the agreement about JPA is allowed to change the term and condition. I'll leave this to the lawyers to argue it out.
I do agree that JPA has some really weird policies especially concerning the reason accepted for prolonging the stay. What can I say about this, it is a loop hole in their system and it can be exploited to your benefit. It only depends on how far you're willing to go. You have to know the rules and play by the rules, get the meaning behind this?
Talking about gaining experience. It no doubt that studying oversea allows you to gain a different kind of experience as compared to training in Malaysia. However, think of the long term. No matter how long you try to escape, you'll have to go back to serve that 10 year bond. In order for patients to benefit, the doctor must be familiar with the local situation viz. diseases, health delivery system, hospital policies etc. It will be useless if you only know about oversea policies and situation and being very ignorant about the local healthcare which you will be serving in future. One thing is, we don't have the NHS in Malaysia which means we have to take into account the financial situation of patients before deciding their treatment etc. Another important thing is, we don't learn about tropical diseases which are a common diagnosis in a clinical setting in Malaysia. Therefore, I cannot deny that oversea doctors do lack in experience as compared to our local counterparts.
About training opportunities, I cannot say much about this as I have limited exposure to the healthcare situation in Malaysia. I'll be doing my electives this summer for 5 weeks and I hope to gain some insight to this. In the UK, there's the change in the immigration rules cutting down opportunities for international students who completed their training in UK universities for specialist training. They're giving priority to UK undergrads first, followed by EU undergrads and whatever is left behind will then only be opened to international undergrads. So, for those who are considering to continue to work and specialise in the UK, you all have to think twice.
So, will the future be brighter for those who goes back to Malaysia for their housemanship training? It is a difficult question to answer. There are different point of views, some say it is still easier if you have underwent UK training to specialise and it will be more difficult if you conducted your housemanship training elsewhere. But come to think of it, by going back to Malaysia, you can chose to apply to specialise in any parts of the world in future, not to forget, in Malaysia as well. The main concern will only be, is that degree recognised worldwide?
Looking through JPA's website, they do offer further scholarship for those who wish to pursue higher qualifications:
There are term and conditions and I cannot say for sure if they apply for medicine as well. So, aim hard for 1st class or honours.
Most of us are afraid to return to Malaysia for housemanship due to the horror stories we've heard. That's including the inhumane working hours, low pay, being sent to small villages or outskirts with lack of facilities and entertainment, etc.
All of us are afraid of hardships. I will definitely be disappointed if I were to be sent to a deserted village for my housemanship as I can foresee the hardship adapting to the living environment and worries about the lack in medical facilities. But what if nobody wants to go there? What will happen to the people living there? I think the only way to solve this problem is to routinely rotate doctors to be posted there and not give a life sentence to the poor doctor chosen to serve there forever. If we know the maximum length of posting, I don't think we'll be too reluctant to serve there. We cannot always receive and not give something back in return. The government on the other hand, cannot just exploit and not reward the doctors appropriately. We do need the motivation!
I am no saint, therefore, it will be difficult for me to say that I study medicine in order to save and improve people's quality of life and that monetary rewards and future opportunities do not matter. Come to think of it, most things I've said at interviews and personal statements are lies. I'm a hypocrite! But life is such that we cannot just merely survive on personal satisfaction and patient's gratitudes. Basic necessities itself needs to be bought with money. To get a degree involves fess. To travel to hospital and back involved travel costs. Why is that we have fund raising activities for good causes? Everything is money in this world. Therefore, I don't think we can be blamed for wanting to earn more provided we give something back to Malaysia in return. We have been given this golden opportunity and we should appreciate it.
I do feel that it is a good step for JPA in sending students to pursue their studies overseas it is not a waste of tax payer's money. It allows us to widen our horizons, learn the good points from other countries, and change our mindset for the better. At the end of the day, I do think that the knowledge and experiences we bring back will be beneficial and that they will slowly influence and shape the future generations.
My views maybe naive and some of you may disagree with it. I apologize if I have offended anyone in this posting.
4 comments:
noreen a, about the clause in the JPA agreement kan..if you dont agree dont sign..although that clause sounds a little bit unfair but you hv to remember they are paying you, means they have higher authority than you, because they offer you a great deal with certain condition and you accepted it. hehe...I'm not pro-govt but just to tell you if bringing this to court sure lose.
icic. what about the sum? some are still saying that if want to break the bond, we'll only need to pay the sum which was agreed upon when the agreement was signed (rm 160,000) and not the total amount which jpa has sponsored (according to what they've recently changed. which one will be effective?
answer to your question about the sum, thats why in the agreement JPA put the clause terms and conditions under their discretion. Meaning you hv to pay by the new sum. By the way, you are a scholarship student, have to pay meh???
just curious for my friend who sadly didn't make it.
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