Fears Of Doctor Exodus After Scholarship Bonds Are Lifted

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Contract doctors, dentists and pharmacists who received government scholarships will be relieved of their bond to serve the government. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: A government decision to end the scholarship bonds of contract doctors could result in an exodus from the national health service, say two MPs from Pakatan Harapan.
Former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said “foreign vultures waiting to steal our talent” might be the biggest beneficiaries of the public service department’s (JPA) decision to end the period of bondage.
Dzulkefly AhmadHe and his former deputy, Dr Lee Boon Chye, spoke of a possible exodus of contract doctors, with Dzulkefly saying the contract officers might decide to serve in the private sector, depriving the health service of progress.
Lee said ending the bonds would result in the scholarships becoming “a waste of government funds and a misappropriation of human resources”, and reflected poor long-term planning.
The Gopeng MP said the defective planning began with the education ministry allowing too many medical graduates to come out of local universities, and with JPA granting scholarships for positions that were not needed by the government.
Dr Lee Boon Chye.Dzulkefly, who is the MP for Kuala Selangor, said JPA’s decision betrayed the trust that taxpayers placed on the government. Malaysia risked becoming a feeder country producing bright minds for other countries at the expense of Malaysian taxpayers.
It was not enough to produce human resources without retaining them to serve the country, he said.
On Saturday, JPA announced that doctors, dentists and pharmacists on government scholarships will be freed of their bonds to serve the government. However, they would have the option to continue in service. - FMT

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