THE ROADs NOT TAKEN

Brain-drain (or recently brain-gain) used to be an important part of life. When I

graduated as a doctor, there were not many opportunities for specialised training. I

considered going to:-

(1)Singapore – Upon graduation, half of my classmates from Sarawak did their

housemanship in Singapore. Many of our seniors had stayed on in Singapore to

get specialised training. A few succeeded but have to stay behind because their

spouses would not return to Malaysia. There is also a differential preference not to

train “foreigners” in Singapore. As a Yayasan Sarawak scholarship, I thought it was

my obligation to return to Sarawak.

(2) Australia – In 1988, I was offered a 1-2 years’ job in Perth as a urology registrar.

This was made possible because a Malaysian who had graduated as a urologist

by training in Malaysia had migrated to Perth. However, the Australian authorities

decided that I should only receive half of the pay of an Australian registrar. I would

also not be eligible to sit for the FRACS Urology exam.

Needless to say, I did not take up “compromised” offer.

(3) USA – At the same time, I considered training in the USA as they are supposed to

have the world’s most advanced medical centres. To do that, I passed the ECFMG

exam (Examination Conducted for Foreign Medical Graduates). The residency

programme in the US for surgery was 4 years and I was only able to get a visa for 3

years. There would be therefore the chance that I would not be able to complete my

training if I do not get a 1 year extension.

(4) United Kingdom – By a combination of factors (including somebody’s bad luck,

namely, a candidate was awarded a scholarship but committed suicide thereafter),

I was able to fight for a scholarship to do Urology in the United Kingdom. After

spending 2 years, namely, at the University of London and University of Edinburgh,

I returned to Malaysia. A few months after my return, the Professor GD Chisholm

of the University of Edinburgh offered me a job as a senior lecturer and honorary

consultant urologist at the Western General Hospital. When I was in the U.K,

Malaysia was undergoing an economical recession and I had a tough time making

ends meet and also in the cold dam weather. I also had a 2 year bond with the

Malaysian Government, just having utilised their scholarship. I therefore declined the

faxed letter of offer from the late Professor Chisholm who was my main mentor when

I was in Edinburgh.

However, in the current globalised world, it does not really matter where I stay and also

at this age.

Dr Clarence Lei Chang Moh

Date: 4th July 2011