The health ministry is offering 4,914 permanent posts this year.
Its minister, Dr Zaliha Mustafa, said they consist of 4,263 positions for medical officers, 335 for dental officers, and 316 for pharmacists.
“I hope eligible candidates will fill out their applications and submit them immediately.”
Zaliha said the ministry is also looking into the need for health clinics to operate on “extended hours” to reduce non-critical patients at emergency departments.
She said the ministry is also set to expand online clinical consultation services, or virtual clinics, in another 100 health clinics.
“This will make a total of 370 clinics throughout the country providing this type of service,” she said.
Zaliha also said the administration of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to Form 1 students will resume this year.
Last year, then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said only 6% of Form 1 students were fully inoculated with the HPV vaccine in 2021 because of a global HPV vaccine shortage.
By comparison, 97% of Form 1 girls were fully inoculated with the HPV vaccine in 2020.
It is understood that the Hartal Doktor Kontrak group, which pushes for transparency in the criteria and selection of contract doctors, and equal benefits with permanent doctors, held a meeting with Zaliha last month.
The group’s spokesman, Dr Muhammad Yassin, had said the meeting would cover issues faced by contract doctors such as permanent positions and the ministry’s long-term plans for them.