Take pity on our poor housemen
I REFER to the letters “12-hour shift hard on docs” ( The Star, Sept 3) and “Look into plight of housemen, Health Ministry urged ( The Star, Oct 11)”. It is shocking to read about the grind housemen are being put through, as the two writers – one a retired doctor and the other a concerned parent of a houseman – described.
In the past, when the number of doctors was insufficient, parents of young housemen cited cases of housemen being put through ridiculously long hours, sometimes 36-hour “on-call” shifts. Over the years, one would assume that this maltreatment would have changed, but apparently not.
The plight of housemen (doctors-in-training) who spend a good part of their young lives studying for a career of their passion only to find themselves being put through punishing hours to earn their place is demeaning. They are certainly no better than the foreign workers imported to serve in a 24-hour restaurant. Even these people are able to catch their breath after 10 hours of straight work whereas housemen are put through 12-hour daily work, taking care of the sick with no time to even have a decent meal or enough sleep.
And these housemen, I am told, also have to study for their posting examinations by sacrificing their sleeping hours.
The 20% drop-out rate is alarming and oft-quoted by health officials during impromptu news interviews. Did anyone ever ask if this same drop-out rate occurs in Singapore where healthcare is among the best, if not the best, in the region? Has anyone questioned why, after spending millions of ringgit and sleepless nights poring over medical texts, a houseman would give up in the final lap of his/her run?
How silly can the Health Ministry (which is manned by educated people some of whom were doctors) be in light of this ridiculousness? The Health Minister is himself a doctor. Can he do what his mere officers cannot or are not willing to do?
Each year, we lament the glut of doctors. Is this punishing workhour a means of getting rid of those who do not have the perseverance or physical ability to stay the pace? If it is, then the medical profession is indeed an over-glorified career choice. If not, then the Health Ministry should start by making it more humane and welcoming for young doctors who are expected to spend their lifetimes fulfilling the Hippocratic Oath. KHS Melaka