Avoid Net stories on housemen bullying
THE death of a houseman in Penang recently triggered much speculation and conspiracy theories.
Social media platforms became a debating field with many voicing their opinion on this issue.
Many claimed that junior doctors are bullied by specialists and consultants, and face harsh working conditions and ungodly hours causing them to suffer anxiety and depression.
Curious, the researcher in me started to look for studies regarding job stress, anxiety and depression among housemen in Malaysia.
A 2013 study by Sami Abdo, G. Kurubaran, P. Wilson and R. Krishna found that the most common sources of job stress among medical residents were fear of making mistakes, time pressures and difficulty in meeting deadlines, working with uncooperative and incompetent colleagues and a lack of facilities for doctors.
In 2016, a study on housemen in a hospital in northern Malaysia found that the most significant causes of stress were poor work-life balance, annoying non-clinical personnel and medico-legal threats.
It also mentioned that, thanks to the implementation of the Graduate Medical Officer Flexi Hours Shift System, work overload and poor working conditions were not significant stressors any more.
In 2019, a research involving housemen at Sarawak General Hospital found that graduates from foreign universities suffered higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress scores. This is because they were trained differently and not exposed to local procedures and diseases, causing them to struggle to grasp the local practice of medicine.
Last year, the Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences published an article in which it was stated that house officers had an average-to-good job satisfaction, employer engagement and general wellbeing.
However, depression overwhelmed the quality of work-life balance, especially among females.
What about being bullied by senior medical officers, specialists and consultants? This aspect, although listed in the questionnaires of past studies, was found to be not significant.
I cannot help but wonder about the grouses and complaints of a few junior officers on social media that have been retweeted and reposted by thousands of people, but do they represent all medical officers in Malaysia?
I think it is important for nonmedical professionals to not fall prey to hearsay and stories on social media platforms and trap ourselves in an information bubble.
I urge readers to be more critical when it comes to making conclusions about the issue.
I also recommend that the government conduct a nationwide study to address the stressors that may aggravate a junior medical officer’s job satisfaction.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR SABARIAH MOHAMED SALLEH
Head, Media Research Cluster, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia