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Change Your Life! |
Where docs don’t want to go |
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News |
March
14, 2000 Over
500 district hospital and thana health complex positions have been vacant
for year, since the doctors assigned to them refused to go, arranging
alternative “posts” in Dhaka. “Many
doctors posted to hospitals outside the capital use connections inside the
Bangladesh Medical Association or influential telephone calls to cancel
postings,” said a healthy ministry official, who requested anonymity. “Many
doctors avoid work by becoming a “deputy,” an employees with no real
duties, or an “academics” such as a medical officer or assistant
professor, at a city hospital. For
example, an assistant professor at Mitford Hospital has been a deputy
since October 25, 1999, while an assistant registrar at Pangu Hospital has
been one since October 27, 1999. An orthopedic surgeon at Shaheed
Suhrawardi Hospital has been a deputy since January 1, 1999, while a
junior consultant in Dhaka medical College Hospital’s surgery department
has been deputy since July 199. There
are over 25 doctors working as deputies at Dhaka Medical College Hospital,
while there are at least 14 at the Bangla Bandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
University Hospital. There are about 20 deputies at the health
directorate, the Institute of Public Health and NIPSOM. In
all, about 124 positions have been filled in this way since 1998, but none
of the doctors have been punished. “Most
doctors trying to avoid posts outside the capital operate private clinics
or attend to “clinic business” after their hospital duties,” said an
official. Doctors
who begin courses or accept “academic” positions also crate staffing
problems at rural hospitals. According to the health directorate’s
records, about 200 doctors have completed their courses in the last two
years but have not reported to the authority. “I
know tow doctor who returned recently from abroad after eight years,
although their academic training ended after five years,” said a health
ministry official. “High officials have been instructed to discourage
foreign training due to such problems.” Sheikh
Fazlul Karim Selim, minister of Health and Family Welfare, said the
vacancies are a serious problem. “About
four to five doctors are p resent against nine in thana health
complexes,” said Selim. “There aren’t any guidelines for postings,
either.” Source:
The Daily Star |