KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — Trainee doctors will be given counselling and exposure to the medical career prior to starting their housemanship to prepare them for the workload and stress.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the relevant departments had been directed to make changes to address stress problems faced by trainee doctors who went missing and could not be traced.
He said medical interns would also be given the choice of completing their housemanship at other hospitals if they faced problems at hospitals where they currently served.
“If they find that working in one particular place is stressful... we even give them the choice to go another hospital. See if the change can help them,” he told reporters after opening the ‘Workplace Health Promotion Seminar 2017’ here today.
In this regard, Dr Subramaniam said each year, the ministry found 20 to 30 per cent of medical graduates could not complete their housemanship in two years due to stress at the workplace.
Yesterday, Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa had revealed that doctors recorded the most absenteeism cases in the civil service and they mostly involved trainees who might be stressed out.
Meanwhile in his speech, Dr Subramaniam said only 480,000 workers who were offered health screening programme vouchers by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) benefitted from the facility as compared to 2.5 million eligible members.
“From 2013 to last year, 2.5 million Socso members aged 40 and above were given the free service but only 480,000 used their vouchers. Where is the other 2.1 million?” he asked.
He said it was disappointing as it showed workers took health screening lightly and employers were not concerned over the issue.
Therefore, the minister urged employers who distributed the vouchers to ensure their workers were eligible for a rest day to carry out health screening.
“It is for the long-term benefit of workers and if there are health problems, they can be treated earlier,” he added. — Bernama
