Materia Medica Malaysiana

Doctors on the field

THE army wants you! For many, working in the Armed Forces is seen as a job with low pay and poor benefits. And if you are a doctor most Malaysians would call you a fool if you give up a “money-printing” private practice for “subsistence” living in army camps.

The overwhelming majority of those who serve in the military are Malays; non-Malays have traditionally shunned becoming soldiers. Yet in the health services division of the Malaysian Armed Forces there is a big non-Malay presence, even more so in the higher ranks.

Armed Forces Health Services Division director-general Mejar-Jen Datuk Pahlawan Dr R. Mohanadas (which is the highest position in the division) says that at least 25% of the staff in the division is non-Malay.

In this day and age when the Government is trying hard to get more non-Malays to enlist, this division seems to have got it right.

Ophthalmologist Kol. Dr. Nor Aishah Malek and her husband Kol. Dr. Azlan Mohd. Nor are happy with their careers in the Armed Forces.
Dr Mohanadas started off as a Kedah state scholar, and in the 1970s and 80s there was compulsory national service. After one scholarship followed another, he began to enjoy the military lifestyle and its traditions.

“Personal comfort should be the lowest priority. National requirements should come first. Still it is a unique lifestyle with the uniforms and the procedures.

“Being a doctor in the military involves a clash of duties. As a doctor you are tasked to save a life but as a soldier you might be expected to take one,” Dr Mohanadas points out.

He says the advantage of a military career is that it emphasises personal development and gives a person the confidence to survive difficult situations. He certainly put that to good use when he headed a number of United Nations missions.

“Now that I am basically handling administrative duties, I do miss the bonding and camaraderie in the infantry as a young doctor,” admits Dr Mohanadas.

Terendak Hospital commanding officer Kol Dr N. Arichandra concurs that the traditions, morals and discipline of the military provide a good upbringing and build character and he also misses the army life.

“In the field, you are a soldier first, a doctor second. During the 1970s, there was still communist activity and when we were in the jungle there was esprit de corps and if there was a doctor present then it was good for morale,” points out Dr Arichandra.

Dr Arichandra remembers going out in a helicopter and then being winched down somewhere in Kroh, Perak, where some communists had been spotted and then the chopper suddenly left.

His team thought they were abandoned but they later found out that the chopper had to leave because it had a problem with the rear rotor. He also recalls booby traps and explosions during jungle missions.

Lt Kol Dr N. S. Nachiappan who is also based in Terendak is a general surgeon who deals mainly with muscular-skeletal conditions and was on a Health Ministry attachment for two years.

However, the lure of army life persuaded him to stay on.

He says the pace is not as hectic as in civilian hospitals and he has more time to spend with his family. He needs that extra time too as his wife is a doctor in private practice in Johor Baru, thus he has to travel quite a bit.

For Kol Dr Tang Ming Kin, another doctor in Terendak, his stint in the army came about because of a loan he obtained from the Defence Ministry while studying in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia from 1989 to 1993. He had the option to repay the loan or serve 10 years with the military. He took up the latter and while he didn’t know what he was getting into, he has no regrets.

Dr Tang, a surgeon, says he likes the outdoor aspect of the service and that he had served in many places like Sarawak and Sabah. Another aspect of the service he likes is that it gives him the time to plan his life as there is more control over time. He likens it to a trade off – more time but less pay compared to private practice. He concedes that the fringe benefits are much better than in government service.

In the long term with the educational needs of his children, he sees himself leaving the service eventually. Dr Tang adds that for a bachelor, being a doctor in the military is worthwhile.

Ophthalmologist Kol Dr Nor Aishah Malek is the second female in the military to be promoted to the rank of Kolonel and she is very happy with her career as it has taken her far.

Dr Nor Aishah has no problems juggling a career, five children and husband. It helps, of course, that her husband, surgeon Kol Dr Azlan Mohd Nor is also in the army and posted to Terendak.

They both say it is a good life and they have travelled not only to various places in Malaysia but foreign lands in the course of their duties. – By S.S. Yoga