'... at least five houseman suffer from depressive illness every month..' [theStar]

The DG of Health seems to attribute the increasing mental health issues to their 'inefficient selection process'. Wouldn't you think that it might instead be the questionable demands/working conditions that housemen in general are grossly subjected when they dutifully return to serve the health needs of our society? Why all this blaming everytime when a 'critical' piece of news emerge, and not look into whether the system might just be the contributory factor?

Sunday November 30, 2008

At Least five doctors to suffer from mental woes every month

By M. Krishnamoorthy

KUALA LUMPUR: Every month, at least five doctors are found to be suffering from mental illnesses, director-general of health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said.

He said these doctors were either psychotic or neurotic but still managed to get into medical schools because these schools were not screening students meticulously enough.

“When the doctors complete their two-year housemanship and their applications are submitted for registration with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), they fail to get registered.

“Their supervisors do not certify them as fit to be registered because of indiscipline and poor attitude arising from mental health problems.

“The mental cases range from psychotic to neurotic. Psychotic cases include delusions and hallucinations, and neurotic behaviour includes anxiety, fear and anger due to the competitive environment,” said Dr Ismail.

These medical graduates, totalling about 60 cases a year, are unable to cope with their housemanship as they may have been pressured by their parents to take up medicine.

Dr Ismail said it was disheartening to note this emerging trend due to an inefficient selection process, adding that the mental cases were referred to the Medical Review Panel (MRP).

Since many of these graduates have spent a lot of money on their medical education, the MRP may extend their housemanship and at the same time send them for psychiatric treatment.

“In the event they are assigned to work, they will be thoroughly supervised and counselled by experts and given light duties until their mental condition improves.

“I am not so sure whether we can identify those with attitude problems during an interview unless such problems are obvious,” Dr Ismail said at a forum on Training Future Doctors: Have we got it right?”

About 2,000 medical doctors are registered annually from 21 local medical schools and 400 recognised schools overseas.

Different medical schools around the world have different selection criteria for their students, Dr Ismail said.

However, he said that the ministry was also planning some form of examination to check their attitude, knowledge and experience after they complete their final examination.

Most of the mentally ill students, he said, could have undergone pressure and depression while studying and faced difficulty in coping in a hospital environment.

The other weakness was a lack of proficiency in the English language.

Higher Education director-general Prof Datuk Dr Radin Umar Radin Sohadi said the ministry was currently reviewing universities’ curricula to ensure high standards in medical education and training for doctors.

“Uppermost on our minds will be the safety and well-being of patients,” he said.

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...and the following response-cum-justification by the same author 2 days later:-

Monday December 1, 2008

Many medical students suffer from depression

KUALA LUMPUR: Many Malaysian medical students overseas who take examinations in a foreign language suffer from depression when they return.

Physicians for Peace and Social Responsibility (PPSR) vice-president Datuk Dr Abdul Hamid Abdul Kadir said that large numbers of young Malaysians were being trained in foreign medical schools in Indonesia, Russia, India, Poland, Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

At a forum on Saturday organised by the PPSR, it was highlighted that at least five such houseman are found to suffer from mental illnesses every month.

“These countries have varied systems of medical training and different types of patient care, based on the emphasis of the country. As a result, many of the students who go there undergo a culture shock,” said Dr Abdul Ha­­mid.

“Coming from different universities, backgrounds and experiences, they have difficulty relating and working, especially the weaker students,” he said, adding that there had been a sudden sprouting of many public and private medical schools.

While the schools have increased, however, the number of teaching hospitals have not.

Dr Abdul Hamid said that although there was an increasing demand for doctors, the standards and quality of patient care should not be compromised.

“These are the major concerns which the country’s healthcare and medical educational planners have to constantly bear in mind so that the value systems governing the training of our doctors are never lost sight of in the short term and the long term.”