Becoming a Specialist

From the NST

Medicine is often portrayed on TV as a glamorous profession, but it is not. Doctors have a tough job, and it is no goldmine.

This reality check was offered today by Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, who observed that students who did well in the SPM examination inevitably wanted to become doctors in the hope of earning big money.

“Medicine in Malaysia is no pot of gold, even for specialists,” he cautioned them. “The market is competitive, so unless you have the passion, do not go into medicine.”

Dr Chua said some 1,600 medical students were now graduating every year, with the number set to increase to 2,500 annually by 2010. Five years after that, it is expected there will be between 3,500 and 4,000 new doctors graduating annually.

“At this rate, we will achieve our target ratio of one doctor for every 600 citizens before 2020. So the market is going to be very competitive, even for specialists, as we will have a glut of doctors.”

Dr Chua, speaking at the Parliament lobby, said of the 1,600 medical students now graduating each year, 700 were from public universities, 500 from private universities and the rest from foreign universities.

“Being a doctor is not a glamorous job,” he said. “People are influenced by what they see on television and think that doctors lead comfortable lives on high salaries. It’s simply not true.

“Maybe if you are a specialist you may earn a lot of money, but even then, it depends on a lot of things.”

And becoming a specialist is not a breeze, either.
Dr Chua said it would take between 8 1/2 and 12 years, depending on the field of study, for a doctor to become a specialist.