When people talk about doctors, they often imagine stability, comfort, and a good life. But for one Malaysian doctor, reality turned out to be very different.
He revealed how years of 28-hour shifts, sleepless nights, and overwhelming workloads still left him unable to afford a home of his own.
From a student to a struggling houseman
“I wasn’t a bad student,” he recalled.
Back in school, he scored fairly well — 6As and 1B in UPSR, 7As and 1B in PMR, and 4As in SPM.
But teenage rebellion got in the way. He got hooked on online games, especially Maple Story, and his SPM results dropped.
When my results came out, my parents were really disappointed. They sat me down for a long talk. That was when I started to realise I needed to change.”
With grades that couldn’t secure a local scholarship, his parents decided to send him for A-Levels. He barely scraped through with a BBC — just enough to qualify for medicine.
“They used up most of their savings to send me overseas to study. I knew I couldn’t waste it.” reported by XUAN.
Six years abroad, then back to reality
Studying overseas was tough. He didn’t know the language or the culture, so he had to figure everything out on his own.
“I told myself, no matter how hard it gets, I must finish what I started.”
Six years later, he came home with a medical degree and was ready to face the next challenge — housemanship.
“I’d already heard all the horror stories about how being a houseman is like hell. So I was mentally prepared.”
After a short stint as a substitute teacher, he was called for an interview and soon began his first posting in a government hospital.
Pediatrics, orthopedics, surgery, obstetrics — repeat
His first posting was in pediatrics.
As a fresh graduate from overseas, I was completely unfamiliar with the local hospital system. Naturally, I was the one the specialists kept an eye on.”
He was often called to present patient cases during ward rounds. No one cared about grades anymore, only whether he could work efficiently.
“At first, I made mistakes and got laughed at. But within two weeks, I started to catch up.”
He learned fast and gained the trust of his team. Still, there were moments that broke his heart.
“Sometimes I had to draw blood from infants. Their tiny hands would end up full of little needle marks. It hurt to see that.”
After pediatrics came orthopedics — fixing bones, stitching wounds, cleaning injuries. Then came surgery, where he spent long hours in the operating theatre.
In obstetrics, he helped deliver countless babies.
One time the baby got stuck and couldn’t come out. We had to rush to the operating room. My hands had to stay in place until the baby was born. My heart was pounding the whole time.”
The most exhausting posting: internal medicine
But nothing compared to internal medicine.
“The patient load was insane. Every day felt like a war zone.”
He woke up at 5 or 6am to prepare patient reviews, then joined morning rounds with the medical officers and specialists. After that came a flood of reports, phone calls, prescriptions, blood tests, and ward work.
He also worked “red shifts” 8am to 5pm, rested four hours, then continued from 9 p.m. to noon the next day.
“In two days, I worked close to 28 hours. Sometimes I would fall asleep while writing discharge summaries.”
The last posting was in the emergency department, where he was made the “captain” among housemen, responsible for scheduling shifts.
After completing his housemanship, he finally became a full-fledged doctor.
Life as a medical officer
He was posted to Penang General Hospital and had a few departments to choose from.
“When I saw internal medicine, I immediately avoided it,” he laughed. “I picked a smaller department.”
There were no housemen there, which meant all the work fell on the medical officers. The responsibility was heavier, and the hours longer.
“On average, I was on call once every five days. Weekends were not spared. Daytime was outpatient clinics, nighttime meant emergencies and ward work. Intubations, CPRs, and critical cases became routine.”
He worked more than 70 hours a week.
“After a few years, I realised something even with all that work, I couldn’t afford a house.”
Reality hits hard
“When I was younger, I lived with my parents, ate their food, used their car. I didn’t have to worry about bills.” he said.
But as time went on, he started to feel stuck.
Looking at property prices, the monthly instalment for a decent home could easily hit RM3,000. With my pay, how could I afford that?”
That was when he realised the bitter truth — it wasn’t just that houses were expensive, it was that doctors weren’t paid as much as people thought.
“I used to think being a doctor meant middle-class stability. But seeing seniors in their 50s still struggling, still doing calls, still earning modestly — it made me rethink everything.”
After years of working long hours with little rest or reward, he made the difficult choice to leave the government service.
“Ethics don’t pay the bills”
“People say doctors shouldn’t think about money, that we must have ethics. But I’m not from a rich family. My parents spent their life savings for me to study medicine.”
He has no regrets about helping patients, he took his responsibilities seriously. But he also believes in being realistic.
“I have ethics. I care about my patients. But ethics can’t pay the bills. I’m just a normal person who needs to live and take care of my family.”
He said it with no bitterness, just quiet acceptance.
That’s the reality many of us live with.”
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