KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — A dental association has called for permanent appointments for contract dentists in the health service, after similar demands from pharmacists.
The Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) noted that the contracts of the 2021 contract dentists’ cohort ended earlier this year without extension, while subsequent cohorts are facing similar outcomes.
“This has resulted in trained dental professionals leaving the public health care system despite having completed their service and gained valuable clinical experience,” said MDA president Dr Chong Zhen Feng in a statement today.
“This situation raises concerns not only about the career prospects of young dental professionals, but also about the sustainability and continuity of public oral health care services.
“Dental officers play an essential role in delivering preventive and clinical oral health care, particularly to schoolchildren, underserved communities, and Malaysians who depend on public dental facilities.”
MDA urged the government to review the position of affected contract dental officers, consider appropriate opportunities for permanent appointments, and establish a sustainable workforce strategy that prevents further loss of trained dental professionals from the public sector.
MDA’s statement followed a call by the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) for the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide a clear pathway for contract pharmacists awaiting permanent appointment, following Budget 2027.
“MPS supports the government’s efforts to strengthen and stabilise Malaysia’s health care workforce. However, a solution to the contract health care workforce issue cannot be considered complete if pharmacists facing the same employment uncertainty are left without a clear pathway forward,” said MPS president Prof Amrahi Buang.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, announced during the tabling of Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat last Friday that more than 9,000 contract doctors would be offered permanent positions next year, including those who complete housemanship.
Although Anwar’s announcement was hailed by Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) and many other doctors as a victory and an end to the contract doctor system, neither Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad nor the MOH have specifically described it as an “abolition” of the contract doctor system.
Dzulkefly told reporters yesterday that the 9,000 permanent posts approved under Budget 2027 would only be for contract doctors, excluding pharmacists, dentists, nurses, and medical assistants.
The health minister reportedly said the absorption of 9,000 contract doctors into permanent service next year would be twice as high as the usual annual intake of 4,500 officers, and that it would be “done by cohorts”.
Under the decade-old contract doctor system that was introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration, the December 2016 batch of medical graduates entering housemanship was appointed on a contract basis. Prior to that, all trainee doctors were permanent employees in the civil service on the first day of housemanship.
It’s not immediately clear if medical graduates entering housemanship beginning 2027 will automatically be considered permanent civil servants on the first day of training, which would mean a true “abolition” of the contract doctor system and going back to pre-2016.
If the government still ties permanent appointments to transfers or placements – except that permanent positions may be offered at an earlier stage of a doctor’s career instead (immediately after housemanship, as opposed to after two years’ compulsory service) – then it risks facing the same problems of high no-show rates or de facto rejections of permanent appointment offers, as seen in Sabah and Sarawak this year.
CodeBlue reported earlier today that based on Sabah state health department data, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of medical officers posted to Sabah from outside the state failed to report for duty for permanent posts, resulting in Sabah suffering a net loss of over 240 doctors.
