Doing a 2 year program would only entitle you to get 3/4 of the specialist allowance in the civil service and technically you can’t call yourself a specialist. Even in developed countries being a specialist is not just getting your 2 year postgraduate degree/training, it would take years and years of study/clinical internship for you to be acknowledged as a specialist.
Scholarships for dental postgraduate studies in the past years are scarce in comparison to our medical colleagues. Dentists in the civil service fret for not being able to secure the measly amount of scholarships given out per year. Some do get scholarships but do not get a place in university (think of Orthodontics, specialists who do braces, in Malaysia would only accept 4 candidates, 2 in Universiti of Malaya and 2 in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). Some who are lucky enough may get to pay (or paid by somebody else, cue mommy and daddy). To get study loans is also possible, though financing a postgraduate study in dentistry is not that cheap.
Local universities charge between RM100k to around RM160k for a 4 year clinical program. As what Universiti of Malaya is charging, a dental clinical postgraduate degree costs around RM103,816 for 4 years as of this year. Compare that with a medical postgraduate degree costs only RM10,180 for 4 years.
So it’s no wonder the amount of scholarships for dentists per year is small compared to our medical colleagues.
I can see private medical general practitioners studying for their MRCP exams while doing their locums and continue their specialist training later on, but for dentists it would be a very big sacrifice indeed.
Suddenly it makes me think that the overrated dental treatment fees are such a non-sense issue as being a dentist or dental specialist worth every penny that one could ever ask for!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Career Enhancement
I've been reading on post out posted by a friend of mine in FB. It is an interesting topic about the promotion of dental officers in Ministry of Health from U41 to U44. A sensational topic I suppose as he has got more than 15 comments already, an indication that the topic is truly heart touching (for me whoever has more than 15 comments on a single post out posted in FB is considered as hot topic). Yeah, coincidentally I also have been thinking about the prospect of a dentist or dental officer has in Malaysia. For now there are four major streams in my mind that most dental undergraduate would work with.
i. Ministry of Health (MH)
ii. Ministry of Higher Education (MHE)
iii. Ministry of Defense (MinDen)
iv. Private
Well, I won't be too much stress on the two latter streams as Ministry of Defense (MinDen) requires one to be bound to them by giving early undergraduate scholarship to be put on one-way ticket train.Perhaps it's a bit too harsh and correct me if I'm wrong but somehow I see MinDen as a rigid ministry in term of human resource for which they don't really permeates influx or eflux of other ministry member to them. For instance, a dentist from MH would face a hard time to change ministry to work under MinDen. But, shame on me if I put all the blame on MinDen as I see there is another strong reason why switching ministry is a tough process to get through. Perhaps, the existing ministry or especially MH purposely to put such hurdles so that the eflux won't be too significant!
Career enhancement for MH personnel as the Prime Minister proposed weeks ago seems a candle in the dark. Even though the pathway is far from ideal but the concept is undoubtedly a well timing. The new pathway has been specifically designed for medical officer, dental officer and pharmacist which carries the rank starting from U41.
Firstly, the new scheme reinforces on the duration of one tier to be promoted to another tier or so-called time frame. Interestingly, the time frame has been fixed in such a way that for U41 to become a U52 it takes precisely 12 years. This particular duration applies only for non-specialist path. The specialist path on the other hand shows a better prospect with a shorter period which takes only 9 years to become a U52. There is a major flaw that associates with this kind of pre-fixed duration path which is the Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) is going to be undermined by the system. Plus, the fixed 2 year duration of U41 to U44 seems kind of absurd to me as one has to be confirmed in service in order to enjoy the tier elevation and the process of confirmation is a long process that would take up to 3 years.
Secondly, the new scheme fails to give an express promotion for the officer who showed a great and excellent record in service. University system is doing better by giving a more open promotion for the lecturer specifically to enjoy an express promotion. For instance, a grade 45 lecturer can go up to VK7 under extreme special condition. Even though the case is under extreme special condition but at least there is a chance for one to go for it.
i. Ministry of Health (MH)
ii. Ministry of Higher Education (MHE)
iii. Ministry of Defense (MinDen)
iv. Private
Well, I won't be too much stress on the two latter streams as Ministry of Defense (MinDen) requires one to be bound to them by giving early undergraduate scholarship to be put on one-way ticket train.Perhaps it's a bit too harsh and correct me if I'm wrong but somehow I see MinDen as a rigid ministry in term of human resource for which they don't really permeates influx or eflux of other ministry member to them. For instance, a dentist from MH would face a hard time to change ministry to work under MinDen. But, shame on me if I put all the blame on MinDen as I see there is another strong reason why switching ministry is a tough process to get through. Perhaps, the existing ministry or especially MH purposely to put such hurdles so that the eflux won't be too significant!
Career enhancement for MH personnel as the Prime Minister proposed weeks ago seems a candle in the dark. Even though the pathway is far from ideal but the concept is undoubtedly a well timing. The new pathway has been specifically designed for medical officer, dental officer and pharmacist which carries the rank starting from U41.
Firstly, the new scheme reinforces on the duration of one tier to be promoted to another tier or so-called time frame. Interestingly, the time frame has been fixed in such a way that for U41 to become a U52 it takes precisely 12 years. This particular duration applies only for non-specialist path. The specialist path on the other hand shows a better prospect with a shorter period which takes only 9 years to become a U52. There is a major flaw that associates with this kind of pre-fixed duration path which is the Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) is going to be undermined by the system. Plus, the fixed 2 year duration of U41 to U44 seems kind of absurd to me as one has to be confirmed in service in order to enjoy the tier elevation and the process of confirmation is a long process that would take up to 3 years.
Secondly, the new scheme fails to give an express promotion for the officer who showed a great and excellent record in service. University system is doing better by giving a more open promotion for the lecturer specifically to enjoy an express promotion. For instance, a grade 45 lecturer can go up to VK7 under extreme special condition. Even though the case is under extreme special condition but at least there is a chance for one to go for it.
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