The doctors told FMT this question was posed to them by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and health ministry officials whose teams are interviewing the 6,000-odd contract doctors who have applied to be absorbed into permanent government service.
According to sources, their answers will go on record to avoid successful candidates from appealing after they are offered the posts, something that had happened often in the past.
Checks showed that this question was not a mandatory one in past interviews of doctors, and also at the recent selection procedure for the special one-off intake of 18,000 teachers.
“The interviewers are asking this question directly and the doctors have to give a definite answer. They can’t say things like they may consider or will only accept if they are not posted to remote areas,” one doctor said.
He said the officers told them Sabah and Sarawak are facing an acute shortage of medical officers, especially in the rural areas, and that the likelihood of them being posted there if they are successful is high.
“The PSC officers said there were many medical officers who have served more than two years in Sabah and Sarawak and have applied to be posted back to the peninsula,” he said.
Another doctor said they were told their posting could be to remote health clinics which may require them to travel by boats to screen or treat patients.
“Some of us believe this is to make the selection procedure easier. The moment one says they are not prepared to go, they will be dropped immediately,” he said.
However, he said a random check among them showed most of them had said they were prepared to go, adding that most of those who said no consisted mainly of married women who have children.
The interview, which is being held nationwide, began a few weeks ago and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The doctors were told they should know the result in two to three months.
The PSC had said in April it had received a total of 10,593 applications through its job registration system. It is understood that of these, more than 6,000 have been called for an interview.
In February, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that 4,186 healthcare workers on contract would be absorbed into the health ministry in permanent posts from June. He said the number would be made up of 3,586 medical officers, 300 dentists and 300 pharmacists.
In 2020, the then health minister Dr Adham Baba said it did not list work in the interiors as a criterion for government doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to be considered for permanent posts.
He said that the placement of officers at health facilities nationwide, be it in urban or rural areas, or the interiors, was based on need of service.