MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said the problems were expected to cause manpower shortages in Sarawak, Selangor, and Melaka.

“A number of doctors pursuing specialisation were also transferred to facilities that did not have the department with this specialisation. This will affect their postgraduate training,” he said in a statement today.

“Many doctors applying for their placements faced system errors and crashes, causing them to reapply multiple times over,” he said.

Muruga said the MMA surveyed 154 junior doctors about their experience with the system, known as eHO.

Of the 68 who had passed the exams for specialised training, 82% did not get the placements they wanted.

“Some of the comments given indicated that these doctors were already in a postgraduate pathway but were forced to transfer halfway,” Muruga said.

“Transferring doctors like this will jeopardise the production of specialists as it will affect postgraduate training.

The MMA said 126 of the doctors surveyed did not receive the placement they wanted, 110 of which are currently in positions such as registrar, co-ordinating house officers, or operating independently.

“This sudden movement of experienced doctors will affect services because new doctors that come in have to be trained from scratch,” Muruga said.

Applicants also could not select states such as Selangor, Melaka and Sarawak, which are reportedly understaffed.

Muruga urged the health ministry to compile and release a complete list of all health facilities and the number of doctors needed for each. Priority should be given to doctors who have passed their examinations to continue their specialisations.