Give serious thought to working hours of housemen


I AM currently undergoing my housemanship training in one of the main training hospitals in Ipoh. I am writing this to highlight the issues being faced by most housemen in my training institution.

In my opinion, housemen are being exploited in the current training system. The Government directive issued last year on the shift training system is not being followed. Under the directive, a houseman’s working hours is fixed at 60 hours a week but, I have been working a minimum of 70 hours a week, and sometimes up to 81 hours a week. The long hours is affecting a houseman’s performance as it is extremely exhausting.

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