CHENNAI: Hundreds of doctors looking forward to entering government service have requested the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) to announce the examination date for the post of assistant surgeon soon. The deadline for online submission of applications to fill 2,553 assistant surgeon posts ended on July 15.
Dr S Uthayakumar from Namakkal district said several doctors, in the anticipation to get into government service, refrain from enrolling in a postgraduate course. Not from a financially sound economic background, many of them are working in private institutions or with the government on a contract basis for inadequate salary, he said.
In October 2022, the board issued notification to recruit 1,021 doctors. Over 25,000 doctors attempted the examination held in April 2023. The state appointed the doctors for the posts in February 2024. The batch prior to that was recruited in 2018, said the doctors. Many are losing confidence in the recruitment process due to the delay, added Dr Uthayakumar.
Dr M Senthilkumar said over 10,000 MBBS graduates pass out each year. Despite enough job vacancies in primary health centres, the board has not been conducting examinations on time. A female doctor from Tiruchy said the competition gets tougher by the year. Seniors are losing out on a better chance, she said.
Recently, while talking to presspersons, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said the recruitment for the 2,553 posts would be done soon.