Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Society of Malaysian Medical Association Medical Students, Malaysian Medical Association, 53000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Hum Resour Health. 2024 Aug 22;22(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s12960-024-00939-4.
In recent years, there have been many instances of negative sentiments expressed by and resignations observed from doctors working in the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia. However, little is known about the perspectives of medical students and their career intentions. This study aims to determine the current Malaysian medical students' career intentions immediately after graduation and upon completing the 2 years of housemanship and to establish the factors influencing these intentions.
This was a cross-sectional study of 859 Malaysian medical students from 21 medical schools who voluntarily completed a self-administered online questionnaire that was disseminated by representatives from medical schools nationwide and social media platforms of a national medical student society.
37.8% of the respondents were optimistic about a career with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia in the future. Most of the respondents (91.2%) plan to join and complete the MOH Housemanship programme as soon as possible after graduation, with the majority of them (66.2%) planning to complete it in their state of origin. After 2 years of Housemanship programme, only more than half of the respondents (63.1%) plan to continue their careers in MOH. Slightly more than a quarter (27.1%) of the total respondents plan to emigrate to practise medicine, with 80.7% of them planning to return to Malaysia to practise medicine after some years or after completing specialisation training. Combining the career intentions of Malaysian medical students immediately after graduation and upon completion of the 2 years housemanship programme, only a slight majority (57.5%) of the respondents plan to continue their career in MOH eventually. Most of the respondents (85.0%) intend to specialise.
A concerning number of Malaysian medical students plan to leave the Ministry of Health workforce, the main healthcare provider in Malaysia, in the future. Urgent government interventions are needed to address the underlying factors contributing to the potential exodus of future doctors to prevent further straining of the already overburdened healthcare system, posing a significant threat to public well-being. An annual national study to track medical students' career intentions is recommended to gather crucial data for the human resources for health planning in Malaysia.
近年来，马来西亚卫生部（MOH）的医生离职和消极情绪表达的情况时有发生。然而，对于医学生的观点及其职业意向却知之甚少。本研究旨在确定当前马来西亚医学生毕业后以及完成 2 年住院医师培训后的职业意向，并确定影响这些意向的因素。
这是一项横断面研究，对来自 21 所医学院的 859 名马来西亚医学生进行了调查，他们自愿填写了一份由全国医学院代表和全国医学生协会的社交媒体平台分发的在线自填问卷。
37.8%的受访者对未来在马来西亚卫生部（MOH）工作持乐观态度。大多数受访者（91.2%）计划毕业后尽快加入并完成 MOH 住院医师培训计划，其中大多数人（66.2%）计划在原籍州完成培训。完成 2 年住院医师培训计划后，只有超过一半的受访者（63.1%）计划继续在 MOH 工作。略多于四分之一（27.1%）的总受访者计划移民行医，其中 80.7%的人计划在一些年后或完成专科培训后返回马来西亚行医。将医学生毕业后和完成 2 年住院医师培训计划后的职业意向结合起来，只有略多于一半（57.5%）的受访者最终计划继续在 MOH 工作。大多数受访者（85.0%）打算专攻。
相当数量的马来西亚医学生计划在未来离开马来西亚卫生部，这是马来西亚主要的医疗服务提供者。政府需要紧急干预，解决导致未来医生外流的潜在因素，以防止医疗体系进一步紧张，对公众健康构成重大威胁。建议进行一项年度全国性研究，以跟踪医学生的职业意向，为马来西亚的卫生人力资源规划收集重要数据。
