No matter what your educational background is, most fresh graduates have experienced the immense stress associated with landing a well-paying, secure job. Many graduates also pick up small, odd jobs in efforts to make ends meet while looking out for a secure, full-time job.
Now, based on this recent statement from a Penang exco, it looks like even medical graduates might be going through the same thing!
According to Malay Mail Online, Penang health, agriculture and rural development committee chairman, Dr Afif Bahardin reportedly said that more medical graduates are working at hawker stalls and becoming drivers for e-hailing services.
Source: The Star
He attributed this to long waiting periods for placement in government hospitals, saying,
“Some graduates had to wait one-and-a-half years, so they had to sell nasi lemak, drive Uber or work in fast food restaurants while waiting.”
The exco added that there also were not enough hospitals in the country to accommodate the sheer number of fresh medical graduates being produced, citing the fact that about 200 graduates in Penang could not find placement for their mandatory housemanship one year after finishing medical school.
“This is also due to a failure in the system as there were too many leakages in Putrajaya so the government do not have money to build hospitals.”
Source: Penang Medical College Malaysia
Dr Afif added that this issue is affecting the entire country and not just Penang. Since medical graduates now have to wait long periods before getting a placement in a government hospital, many of them have resorted to minimum-wage jobs to make ends meet in the meantime.
Plus, now that more of these graduates have longer waiting periods, the Penang exco added that this delay could also affect their chances of completing the mandatory housemanship successfully.
Wow, the struggle is real!
What do you think of this statement? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: “We Cannot Be Proud That Our Graduates Drive Uber Or Sell Nasi Lemak,” Says Tun M
