THE ongoing furore in respect of the predicament of medical housemen may very well justify a psychiatric evaluation of doctors who are in charge of supervising housemen and whether the medical officers are exhibiting stress-related disorders ought to be examined.
In my view the proposition that medical interns need to undergo a “rite of passage” at the arbitrary dictum of senior medical officers is neither acceptable nor civilised.
A culture of bullying, abuse and humiliation premised upon the unwritten authority invested in the senior medical officers cannot justify a purported training regime to mould housemen to meet the challenges of the medical profession.
On the contrary they need to be nurtured with a well-defined holistic internship programme having consideration to the fact that they are fresh graduates with limited exposure to the real-life challenges in a hospital environment.
Obviously, the Health Ministry (MOH) has failed to put in place a standard operating procedure in respect of the houseman internship programme thus giving an unfettered reign of dominance to the supervising medical officers in their approach to the treatment of housemen.
While the decision by MOH to commence an inquiry into the matter is appropriate, I believe that the ministry has an obligation to formulate an ethical conduct of behaviour by supervising medical officers in the training regime of medical housemen. – May 11, 2022
K Veeriah is a veteran unionist and contributor to FocusM.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
