The recent proposal by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, to set up a postgraduate medical training facility – the Academy of Medicine – “will not solve the problems of the territory in the short term,” according to Rui Furtado.
The surgeon and former president of the Association of Macau Portuguese Speaking Physicians admits he does not know the full extent of the project that, in his opinion, should be considered more as an “idea, for the moment.”
Dr Furtado thinks that the government’s idea is to create a similar project to the one currently existing in Hong Kong, which besides offering medical training also functions as a professional association.
“It is definitely something ambitious for Macau,” says the professional, adding that the importance of the academy justifies the “involvement of the whole community and under the direction of highly competent people, with the scientific and pedagogical council to be comprised of people from different areas.”
Dr Furtado thinks that this “idea” has not yet reached the “project” stage and that it “will take a long time to put this [Academy of Medicine] to work as it is needed.” He suggests that “in the short term, the government should establish cooperation protocols with Hong Kong institutions that have good reputations to commence this formation process.”
Mário Évora, President of the Macau Cardiology Association and on the board of directors at the Macau Public Hospital (CHCSJ), said that the future academy is a way for the territory to “fulfill some of its needs in terms of specialists.” He pointed out that “Macau does not have a Faculty of Medicine and is totally dependent on external training providers in terms of resources in this field,” adding that “these professionals come from various places around the world. Some are foreigners, others locals who went abroad to study and then returned to Macau, and we need to have a way to integrate their knowledge and practices.” Évora commented that “the ideal solution would be to have a local Faculty of Medicine, but that would take too much time, so this academy can work as a first step toward that [Faculty being established] in the future, I hope.” He is in favor of the creation of the academy as a way to “promote and elevate the quality of medicinal practice in the territory.”
Like Furtado, Évora also supports the idea that the government should “conceive of a routine structure in that field that can boost the start of the academy.” For that purpose, he suggested the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine, “since it is an institution that already has its modules of academic teaching and research perfectly tested.”
Physicians’ salaries deemed insufficient
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, recently said that “the salaries of physicians in Macau are too low,” and that this is contributing to the difficulty in “attracting talented individuals from abroad to Macau” in this field.
Two physicians interviewed by the Times share the opinion that embarking on a career in medicine “needs to be carefully considered.” According to Rui Furtado, “Medical staff have a very specific function in society and their job cannot be fitted easily onto a salary scale like any other.” In his opinion, “the government should decide, based on its importance and value to society, a fair price for that job and apply it accordingly.”
Mário Évora agrees with this sentiment and says, “the medical profession should be removed from the general scale used for public servants and have its own, like what happens with judges or teachers at the University of Macau.” He added that “the way that it is now, [the profession] will not be able to attract good professionals to work in Macau. We need to elevate the standards and widen the recruitment base,” he said.
Rui Furtado stated: “When compared to Hong Kong or Australia, the salaries are definitely low.” He gave the example of the neighboring SAR, in which “a few years back a head of service would earn around MOP60,000 [per month in Macau], while in Hong Kong the same position would pay around HKD100,000.”
Furtado concluded by saying, “On the day the government decides that they want to have excellent professionals from Hong Kong working here, they will come! But for that, the government must remunerate them well.”
A human resources specialist operating in greater China said that a “Head of Service Doctor” working in Macau currently earns a little over MOP100,000, while someone holding a similar position in Hong Kong earns approximately double that (a little less than HKD200,000) and a doctor working in mainland China in Beijing or Shanghai earns around RMB133,000.
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