Malaysia warns of workforce crisis as more new doctors opt to work in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR: After a research report showed that less than 11% of trainee doctors accepted local placements, the situation has been characterised once again as a “critical workforce crisis” that is challenging Malaysia’s public healthcare sector.

Brain drain, which occurs when highly skilled workers leave their home countries for jobs overseas, is not a new problem for the country, with many workers choosing to relocate to Singapore and Brunei for some years now. However, the situation has gotten worse, especially for the healthcare sector.

A professor in the National University of Malaysia’s Faculty of Medicine, Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, has also called the situation a crisis. “The public system is basically overburdened,” she told CNA last August.

Less than 11%

Only 529 out of 5,000 new doctors accepted the housemanship placements offered by the Health Ministry in January to address surplus graduates, a recent study showed, adding that strategies from Singapore’s recruitment agents have changed, as they are said to now offer positions to final-year medical students, instead of when they’ve already gained work experience, the New Straits Times reported on March 29.

These agents allegedly speak to students from institutions such as Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) before they take the final exams for their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees.  Since USM was recognised by the Singapore Medical Council last month, the number of Malaysian doctors from the institution increased from 30% to 40%.

More than 5,000 doctors have left Malaysia over the past decade, and not just for Singapore, as Australia and the Middle East have also been viewed as greener pastures. Many nurses have also left the country, saying that poor working conditions, as well as burnout, have been key factors that led to their decision to leave. In June, there were 14,000 nursing vacancies in Malaysia’s public healthcare sector, and the health ministry warned that there could be as much as a 60% shortfall of nurses by 2030, CNA added.

Higher pay, better benefits

Malaysian medical school graduates are among the lowest paid in the region. However, they receive a much higher salary in Singapore, where they can earn as much as S$110,000 annually. This is five or six times more than what Malaysia’s Health Ministry’s entry-level officers receive. Additionally, they are given permanent employment status and pension benefits in Singapore, in contrast to the uncertainty of their employment in Malaysia.

The Health Ministry is said to be coming up with a new formula that ends the contract doctor system, which would make their employment appointments permanent. This is expected to be announced by the end of the year.

The healthcare sector in crisis

Last year, a former minister addressed it, saying that countries that recruit doctors and nurses should pay Malaysia a fee, pointedly mentioning Singapore. Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who had formerly been in charge of Malaysia’s Economic Planning Unit, wrote last September that “the exodus of Malaysian-trained doctors and nurses to foreign countries, especially Singapore, has caused anxiety and stirred debates in Malaysia.”

He also called it “a national crisis in the making.” 

Mr Rahman referred to staff from Singapore’s Ministry of Health going to Kuala Lumpur to interview prospective medical professionals, which he called unprecedented.

He added that the Malaysian government should negotiate with Singapore for the amount it spent on training doctors and nurses. The funds collected could then be spent on improving healthcare services to Malaysians, especially in locations that are underserved. /TISG

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