They have also not been told whether they can appeal against the decision.
Some of them have been told they were rejected because their applications were incomplete despite the doctors making sure they had submitted all the necessary documents online.
“It appears that the portal had some problems which led to our attachments going missing and the applications getting rejected. But no one is telling us the actual story.
“When a few of them emailed the Public Services Commission (PSC), they were told to resubmit some of the documents,” the doctor said.
Some of them who spoke to FMT said the PSC should be upfront and tell them the exact reasons as they were all qualified doctors practising in government hospitals and health clinics.
“So the question of missing documents should not arise as all our details are available to the PSC.
“It should be more transparent as our future is at stake here. Contract doctors lose out a lot if they are not made permanent.
“All they say is that we have failed the screening criteria set by the ministry, with a list of possible reasons.
“Among these are specialisation, Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), locality, STPM, STAM, SPM and PMR subjects. This is so vague,” said another doctor.
The doctors said the next phase, which is the interview stage, was expected to start soon and they fear being left out of this exercise altogether.
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin had announced in February that 4,186 healthcare workers on contract would be absorbed into the health ministry for permanent posts from June onwards.
He said the number would be made up of 3,586 medical officers, 300 dentists and 300 pharmacists.
Khairy said the Cabinet had agreed to open up at least 1,500 permanent positions for doctors every year from 2023 to 2025.
In addition, 800 specialist posts and 70 dental specialist posts would be opened up every year from 2023.
The group representing the doctors, Hartal Doktor Kontrak, has been demanding transparency in the criteria and selection of contract doctors, along with the same perks granted to permanent doctors.