The medical manpower debate.

Medical manpower needs by the year 2000.

At independence in 1957 we had a total of 770 doctors with a doctor population ratio of 1:8091. In 1987 we had 5794 doctors registered and a markedly improved ratio of 1:2852 (Table I). Even if we were to aim for a modest 1:2000 ratio by the year 2000 when the population is estimated to rise to 22.5 million,' we will require to double our present number of doctors. We will need to register an a...

Health manpower in the medical marketplace.

Medical manpower mismanagement: mirage or miracle?

Utilisation of specialist medical manpower in Malaysia.

One hundred and twenty specialists from the Ministry of Health, the Universities and the private sector provided information on 4,802 patients seen over a total of two hundred and forty working days. This information was used to classify the patients into four categories based on a disease complexity classification. Each specialist's perception on the appropriateness of utilisation of his exper...

Controversy: the essence of medical debate.

Why does controversy exist? We have always known that it is human nature to enjoy the cut and thrust of debate. Subjective opinion is the essence of personality and is often based on singular experiences, which may have a disproportionate impact on clinical judgment. In the time of Osler,1 the opinions of senior physicians, based on experience, were regarded as the gold standard on which clinic...