I REFER to the letter “Still awaiting agreed salary upgrade” by Frustrated Trainee Lecturer (The Star, June 6). I was also a trainee medical lecturer who recently completed my specialist training course under the Masters programme in a local university.

I joined a public university in 2007 and ever since my salary grade has been stagnant at DU45 despite completing my Masters and becoming a specialist.

I will still need to wait another six months to a year before I can be upgraded to DU52 according to the current scheme.

My university does not have its own hospital so we teach medical students in a Health Ministry (MOH) hospital. I also run my specialty clinics and do my ward rounds with the MOH doctors.

Frequently, I meet my juniors who are still medical officers in the same hospital and I find it extremely embarrassing and demotivating to see them getting a higher pay grade of UD48 and some even UD52 while I still languish at DU45 despite being a more senior doctor and a specialist.

A common misconception is that trainee medical lecturers are not fully qualified lecturers; hence they do not deserve to be given a higher grade than DU45.

This point has been harped on by the university registrars, the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) and the Public Service Department (PSD) ever since this issue was brought to their attention when the MOH upgraded the salaries of doctors in March 2010.

Even though trainee medical lecturers are not fully qualified lecturers, they are definitely fully qualified doctors and as equally qualified as the doctors in the MOH.

Trainee medical lecturers perform the same type of clinical work plus extra teaching duties.

If these doctors in the MOH are getting the pay grade of UD48 and UD52 based on seniority, why should the doctors who are trainee medical lecturers be denied this?

Ever since the MOH announced time-based promotion for doctors serving under them, there has been a drought of doctors joining the public universities as trainee medical lecturers.

It is counter intuitive for a person to give up a higher paying job for a lower paying one. As a result, many public universities have to employ foreign contract medical lecturers to fill this void and end up paying a higher salary to these expatriates than what a local lecturer would have normally been paid.

Many local doctors who are interested in lecturing are deprived of the opportunity to become medical lecturers. When these expatriates leave, as they eventually will, who will guide our medical students to become doctors to serve the people?

We have appealed to our universities, the MOHE and the PSD for two years highlighting this injustice, yet every time our appeals fall on deaf ears. How much longer do we have to wait?

DEMOTIVATED

Kuala Lumpur

• Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
• Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting
• First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
• Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
• Commodities trader sues BP, Shell others for alleged oil price fixing
• Billionaire Icahn seeks up to US$7bil for Dell bid
• Google faces new federal antitrust probe
• Goldman Sachs unveils checks on conflicts in bid to fix tarnished image
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Maybank bullish on growth, to expand regionally under new leadership
• Khazanah appoints Nor Mohamed deputy chairman
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August
• Daibochi expanding exports to S-E Asia and Australia

• Strong quake strikes off Tonga
• Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence
• One killed in Brazil giant fuel depot blaze

• Kingston leads, McIlroy in Wentworth woe
• LPGA plans 12-hole rounds in water-logged Bahamas
• Ryan Palmer sizzles with 62 to seize lead at Colonial
• Kelly overcomes scare to clinch title in KLGCC
• Time to make amends Garcia wants to meet Woods to defuse racist row
• American Johnson back to defend Colonial crown
• Rain dampens debut of LPGA Bahamas event
• Tianlang adds another US event to schedule
• Clock ticking for next golden generation
• Nadal wants to create history at Roland Garros
• Serena out to tame French Open demons
• Zheng Jie stuns Wozniacki in Brussels
• Ashour racks up 38th successive win
• Nicol David sails into quarter-finals of British Open in 35 minutes
• BAM must stop rewarding mediocrity or be doomed

• Please wait.

• Singapore GDP growth surprises, beats economists’ forecast of contraction
• KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
• Lower profit for Unico-Desa, hit by depressed CPO prices
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Daibochi expanding exports to S-E Asia and Australia
• TDM to expand plantation and hospital ops
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August
• Three held over May 13 statements
• Google faces new federal antitrust probe
• Danajamin names non-exec director