Limited number of doctors accepted as civil servants
JAKARTA (JP): More than 2,000 doctors who have dedicated their services to the public were denied entry into the civil service when the Ministry of Health limited recruitment to 300 this year.
A statement from the ministry's public relations office dated Aug. 30, made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday, said examinations were conducted last week to select 300 doctors out of the 2,400 who registered.
Under a ministerial decree issued in 1991, the government requires all graduates of medical school to undergo a three-year period of compulsory service, known as PTT (Pegawai Tidak Tetap), in small towns and remote places across the country as a way of better distributing health services.
In the past, these doctors would automatically be recruited into the civil service and work for the Ministry of Health after completing the compulsory service period of two to five years.
Through the 1991 decree, instead of two to five years, the compulsory service was shortened to three years and their salaries hiked in line with the new system under which not everyone will be recruited into the civil service.
The statement said that for the 1994-1995 fiscal year, the Ministry of Administrative Reforms has ruled that the Ministry of Health will recruit only 300 new doctors from the PTT program because of limited funds.
Although the program has already sent five successive groups as of August, the announcement said the positions available were only open to the first and second groups.
Participants from the third group who also took the examinations, would be posted according to further requirements in 1995-1996, the announcement said.
Positions in the civil service remain at a premium because they offer the possibility of a government scholarship for doctors who undertake special fields.
The first group consists of 924 doctors, the second group 864, the third group 597, the fourth group 804 and the fifth group 808 physicians. According to the announcement, at least 200 new medical school graduates have registered for the sixth group of the program.
Remote places
The PTT program requires doctors to work in remote places across the country, which can be categorized into normal, remote and very remote places.
Those placed in normal locations, meaning that the trip from the community health centers (Puskesmas) to the province's capital is less than 12 hours, earn a monthly salary of Rp 575,000 (US$265) while those in remote locations, where the trip is between 24 to 36 hours with "relatively high risks" and where general foodstuffs cost twice the normal price, earn Rp 977,500 per month.
Those in very remote locations, where the trip is between 24 to 36 hours with "very high risks", where transportation can be potentially cut off completely at certain times of the year and communication is hard to come by or non existent, earn Rp 1,207,500 per month.
The government has offered several alternatives to PTT doctors who fail the civil service exams, including becoming civil servants at ministries other than the Ministry of Health; becoming employees of private and state companies; participating in specialization courses on a self-funding basis; and working or continuing studies abroad.(pwn)