Okay, hi. Let me start by introducing myself.
I'm Danny, 24 years old, and I'm currently working as a houseman / house officer (HO) / junior doctor / Pegawai Perubatan Siswazah UD41 (my official job title) in one of the government hospitals in the state of Selangor. Despite the various job titles, they are all just fancy names for a government slave.
7 months into the job, and currently in the Surgical posting, which is my second posting. I was previously in Paediatrics.
So, from the title of the blog itself, you should be able to guess what are my current intentions. Yes, that's right, I wanna quit my housemanship. Why? How? My future plans? I'll explain all of those in other posts later.
Right now, I just wanna tell you guys the reason for me creating this blog. When I decided that I wanna quit my housemanship, I've been searching around the net looking for other career prospects, and what can I do with my MBBS degree. I noticed that there isn't much info as to what I can actually do with my degree without completing my housemanship. There are tons of blogs written by housemans out there, full of rants, but none of them have plans of quitting. And even if they say they wanna quit, they never actually did it. So here I am, filling the need for a houseman blogger who will actually quit his job, and update you guys on whatever happens next. So HOs out there who have plans of quitting, bookmark this page and follow my updates! Not that I'm encouraging you guys to quit, but I'm merely trying to show you guys that quitting housemanship is not the end of everything. It's just the beginning. Whether it's the beginning of your success or your downfall, depends on what you do after you quit. Let's hope my case is the former.
Anyway, as of today, I have officially been missing from work for the past 10 days. Of course I've informed my colleagues and the HO leader so that they could find someone to replace me. They were kind enough to remove my name from the daily roster so that the medical officers (MO) and specialists will not question my whereabouts. I still haven't officially quit my job yet though. There are a few options for me other than submitting a resignation letter, one of which includes being missing in action (MIA) from work. I'll explain all of these later as well.
So stay tuned my fellow HOs!
**To those of you who are not from this country, housemanship is the same as doing your residency. It's a compulsory 2 year service whereby you have to undergo 6 postings which are: Paediatrics, Medical, Surgical, Orthopaedics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Emergency (in some hospitals, the Emergency posting might be replaced with Anaesthesiology).
i am at ur exact situation!!!!pls give me ur email add as i can approach u much easily!trust me,i am at the same exact shoes of urs!havent quit but missing in action.meanwile,soooo blurr abt wat to do next n wat job to search...n cud u plsss tell me abt SHO thng?
ReplyDeleteHey there. Looks like there's quite a number of HOs like me. Anyway, regarding the SHO thing, you can try searching for NIOSH online. The course costs Rm4000, and the exam is about Rm1000. You can just reach me here, as any comments would be redirected to my email. :)
ReplyDeleteso doin it full time,it will be for 22days rite?i read tru the NIOSH thing..it says about registration with DOSH n bla bla..i dnt really understand...doesnt it mean after goin for the course,we will sit for exam n then get registered?? after the course we gotta still sit for more thngs?
ReplyDeletei also wana share this with u..the webpage also says abt occupational health doctor..as i viewed,no housemanship is in da requirement but i guess we need the full license..i was just wondering if u exactly knw whthr we gotta fnsh this crappy houseman for that or not?
u knw wat..my psy kept counselling abt goin bck to work n etc..sumtimes ive thought abt it (after a month of mc) but wen i put myself into the hospital aura,i knw i will sumhow breakdwn.i dnt like to work frm day to nite being away frm family n frens.any job that allows me to spend time wiffly n frens BUT with good pay is applicable..my current state of mind is totally devastated!
It's a 22 days course for full time. After taking the course, u will get some sort of attendance cert. With that cert, u can take the exam to be a registered safety and health officer. After working as a SHO for 3 years, then u can register fully under DOSH and u will a greenbook. Once u have the greenbook, it will be easier to get jobs as SHO, and the pay is also more.
ReplyDeleteIf u wanna be occupational health doctor, u have to finish housemanship because it's basically a specialty for doctors.
1. I was planning to quit medicine when I was in year 4 but I continued. But I spent more times on figuring out the stock market instead of studying.. and even until my final exam in year 5. *In between year 3 and 4 break, my dad introduced stock trading to me and I just discovered that my passion is stock market and I was thinking of becoming a stock trader instead of dr... however guess what, I passed my exam
ReplyDelete2. I am soon going to be a HO... will collect money as much as possible coz your profit gain depends on your capital... and if I cant stand HO, I will get out of it asap
3. Will follow your blog
if u were already planning to quit even since medical school, then most likely u're going to want to quit even more once u start ur housemanship. im not trying to discourage u, but im just preparing u for what u're about to face.
Deleteanyway, it's really good that u already have a backup plan, and even better that it's something u really like.
i wish u good luck in the future bro. do keep us updated on ur progress as well. :)
Planning to quit. Help me for the options of work please... thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere you go:
Deletehttp://chroniclesofaloner.com/2012/01/22/life-after-medicine/
Dont hv proper ideas in that blog. They hv alrdy moved to diff blog instead.sirloinsteak2013.wordpress.com.
DeleteCant help much then, since my sources are from there as well.
DeleteHello danny,im in the same boat as yours too. I quit 4 months ago, now i got job offer as underwriter in an i surance company as well. Do you mind if i ask, is there any guideline books, Refference or notes that will help in the job prospect as an underwriter? Or im merely going to study a whole different thing like marketing, bussiness, accounting etc..im going to start working in a month though, so im kinda nervous to jump into it without any knowledge.. so, mind to share some tips? Experience maybe? Above all..ur blog is the coolest thing i have ever read..proud to have someone like u who able to voice out everything...thx agn..
DeleteHi Azrina.
DeleteThanks for the compliments. :)
Btw, dont worry about preparing for the job. Usually training and reference materials will be provided. And the subjects are more towards underwriting, involving medical knowledge, and just a bit of financial and business topics as well. You'll do fine, no worries. :)
Hi Danny, I’m Chelsea. Currently a 3rd poster, and about to hand in my resignation letter this coming Monday. I realised medicine just isn’t for me and I want to quit so that I can explore new opportunities in life. But before I do so, I’d like to know - how are you doing now? Are you living a comfortable and contented life? Do you ever think about the past and wish you’d completed housemanship? Ultimately, are you happy with the path you’ve chosen? I know this blog was created ages ago but I hope you’re still there to help one last suffering houseman make the toughest decision of her life. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMe too Danny, curious to know how and what have you been all this while ? Your blog really comforts me and gives me lots of hope that Dr is not the only and final destination in life. I'm married with two kids, 2nd poster now, feel so hard n worthless being in this career. Please update us.
ReplyDelete