I REFER to the recent discussion about the shortage of doctors and possible solutions to the problem.

One problem is that of junior doctors leaving the public sector after serving their bonds. The problem is an old one and the Government has not found the right policies to balance the provision of affordable health care for the masses against providing palatable working conditions for junior doctors.

Setting up a third local medical school is resource-straining and will require a long time for its benefits to materialise. Solutions such as hiring more foreign doctors to ease the workload in public hospitals is temporary, but at least it can improve the situation in the short to medium term.

Expanding the current medical schools' capacity is still the most viable option for now. If health-care costs are to be kept affordable, despite rising costs of treatment and increased patient volume, supply must be stretched or expanded. There is no other way. Currently, demand is growing relentlessly, while supply lags way behind. The buck has to stop somewhere and junior doctors are shouldering it collectively.

Tay Xiong Sheng

This article was first published in The Straits Times.