FAQ

Recently, I've gotten quite a number of phone calls, SMS, and replies in this blog (chewah, dah macam artis popular la pulak..) asking me questions such as "How to quit?", "What if I'm bonded by JPA?", "To whom should I send my resignation letter?", and other similar questions.

I've actually written a blog post on how to quit here: How to Quit?
And questions regarding the JPA bond have already been answered by some of the kind visitors of this blog (many thanks to those who contributed).

But since people keep asking, I'll write a short FAQ here to answer some of the common questions from my dear fellow housemans. I don't know much to be honest, but I'll try to share as much as I can. Please take my words with a pinch of salt, as some of the things I mentioned are just what I heard from my colleagues.

Question 1: How do I quit?

I'll just take a few extracts from my previous blog post. Here are some of the ways that you can use to quit your job:

1. Submit a 24-hour resignation notice (Notis peletakan jawatan) - the most bad-ass way to quit your job. But then you'll have to pay them one month's worth of your salary, which is around RM4000. And if you do quit, the next time you want to apply to become a houseman again for whatever reason I simply cannot imagine, they will hire you based on a contract basis. Meaning they can send you to wherever they want you to go (anywhere within Malaysia that is, duh), and they can terminate you any time if they're not satisfied with your performance. Don't ask me where to get the resignation form. If your hospital is using a computerized system, then the form might be somewhere in the shared network folders. If not, try asking the admin person who is in charge of the housemans. The form needs to be counter-signed by the Pengarah or Timbalan Pengarah. All you have to do is fill up the form and submit it to the admin. Don't worry about KKM, because the admin will handle that.
2. Submit a 1-month resignation notice - with this option, you don't have to pay them a month's worth of salary, but then you have to work with them for another 1 month. If you can bear the daily scoldings and humiliations for another month, then this is the suitable choice. The contract basis applies just like option No.1 as well.
3. Missing in action (Tidak hadir bertugas) - this is my current plan. According to the admin people of my hospital, if you don't show up for work, then they're just gonna stop paying you your salary. When you feel like working again, you can just show up for work, and then they'll start paying you again. You don't have to be rehired on a contract basis. But of course it won't look nice on your work record. And if you do show up for work again, they will have to take some "disciplinary actions" a.k.a tindakan tatatertib. I'm not sure what they exactly meant by "disciplinary actions", but unless your hospital has a medieval-style torture chamber in the basement, it's unlikely to be anything that you should be worried about.

Question 2: What if I'm bonded by JPA?

Okay, first things first, I am not bonded by JPA because I took PTPTN loan. In case of PTPTN, it's really easy, because you're not bonded or tied to any contract. All you have to do is make sure that you pay the monthly installments. And they're not that strict anyway, I've missed a few payments and no one sent me a letter or anything.
But what about JPA? Well, if you took up the JPA scholarship, then it's going to be one of the major factor that's stopping you from quitting your housemanship. Why? Because you're bonded to the government for 10 years if you're a JPA holder. I couldn't be bothered to call up JPA since I never took their scholarship, so I'll just share with you guys some of the things I've heard from colleagues/bloggers/forummers/rumors about the JPA bond:

1. The fine that you have to pay is not RM250,000 like you might have heard a few years ago. One of my friend quit her housemanship and the fine is only RM160,000. Still a large sum, but much less than RM250,000. A Toyota Camry rather than a BMW 3-Series. But my friend studied locally, so I'm not sure if those who studied abroad have to pay the same amount, since the cost of our local degree is much cheaper than the ones from UK, etc.
2. I've heard stories that you can pay in installments. I don't think it's true, because so far no one can confirm this, not even my friend who quit her housemanship.
3. A blogger recently told me in her comment that the 10 year bond doesn't mean that you have to become a doctor for 10 years. It just means that you have to work with the government for 10 years, regardless of your profession. Good news if you don't mind the low salary. Try looking up the SPA website and see what sort of jobs are available for degree holders.

Question 3: What kind of jobs are there for people who quit housemanship like me?

Refer to this blogpost:

http://chroniclesofaloner.com/2012/01/22/life-after-medicine/

There. I've answered some of the common questions to the best of my knowledge. If there is anything that I didn't mention in the post above, then it means that I don't know the answer. As much as I'd like to help my fellow HOs, sometimes I'm just as clueless as you are on certain matters.