Doctors avoid assignments in remote areas<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The unemployment rate of medical school
\ngraduates remains high because they refuse assignments in remote
\nplaces and fight for the few jobs in towns, an official said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Health ministry personnel bureau chief Munarso said that the
\ngovernment has given doctors the freedom to work in outer
\nislands, especially in isolated areas.<\/p>\n
They may open a practice after they complete their mandatory
\nservice in areas determined by the government.<\/p>\n
\"Medicine is an independent profession. They can open their
\nown practice or work for private hospitals or medical clinics,\"
\nMunarso said.<\/p>\n
The high rate of unemployment for medical school graduates has
\nbeen under scrutiny in the mass media. Observers say the
\njoblessness is ironic because Indonesia needs a lot more doctors.<\/p>\n
Official figures show that the population-doctor ratio stood
\nat 100,000:12 in 1994, meaning there was one doctor per 8,333
\npeople that year.<\/p>\n
It takes a graduate at least nine years to become a general
\npractitioner, six are spent in school and another three in
\nmandatory practice in the field.<\/p>\n
A government regulation of 1988 requires fresh graduates to
\nconduct two to five years mandatory practice in government-
\nappointed places.<\/p>\n
Unemployment of medical school graduates was raised recently
\nby Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association Azrul Azwar. He
\nsaid thousands of them are jobless.<\/p>\n
Munarso said the government is able to employ only a small
\nnumber of doctors due to limited job openings.<\/p>\n
\"About 2,000 doctors complete their mandatory practice every
\nyear, but only about 500 of them can be admitted into the civil
\nservice,\" Munarso said.<\/p>\n
A health ministry poll in February showed that 86 percent of
\ngraduates want to become civil servants.<\/p>\n
\"The government can't employ all doctors,\" Munarso said,
\nsaying job openings are not determined by his ministry, but by
\nthe office of the State Minister of Administrative Reforms and
\nState Employees Administration.<\/p>\n
He denied reports that doctors who have completed their
\nmandatory service and failed to become civil servants have little
\nchance of pursuing specialist studies.<\/p>\n
\"It's not true. In fact, of 744 seats available for doctors
\nwho want to become medical specialists, only 286 are for civil
\nservants. The rest are for physicians from private hospitals or
\nmedical clinics,\" Munarso said.<\/p>\n
Many fresh graduates are so discouraged by the prospect of
\nconducting mandatory service in remote areas that they choose to
\nwait until they get the chance to do it in Java or Bali.<\/p>\n
\"Most fresh graduates want to do their mandatory practice in
\nWest Java or Jakarta,\" Munarso said.<\/p>\n
In fact East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, Central
\nSulawesi, East Timor, Irian Jaya and Maluku, are badly in need of
\ndoctors, he said.<\/p>\n
To attract doctors to the remote areas, the government has
\nguaranteed they will get civil servant status if they are willing
\nto be sent back on permanent assignment to the provinces. (ste)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/doctors-avoid-assignments-in-remote-areas-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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