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REVISED MEDICAL OFFICERS POSTING EXERCISE 
 
The Medical Officers Posting exercise (MOPEX) which is held every 6 months saw a revision in the Nov 1997 MOPEX. In the past, the Ministry allocates the postings of the Medical Officers based on the 6 choices indicated on the MO’s posting request forms.

For the revised MOPEX, MOs will continue to indicate the 6 choices of postings. The main difference is that, instead of MOH, Departmental Heads will select the MOs for their respective departments from the pool of MOs who have indicated the department as one of their choices.  Postings of MOs who have not been selected by any department will be allocated through balloting.

The rationale of this revised exercise potentially serves a ‘win-win’ situation. Previously, the Ministry allocated postings to MO based on the choices indicated against the availability of positions. This was often without the input from department heads who will be in direct contact with the MOs in daily work for the coming months. MOs themselves have expressed discontent when given postings that may be less than choice. With revised procedure, the ministry may see less of such disgruntled MOs. Department heads will, on the other hand have more control over the quality of the MOs as the MOs would have been selected by them in the first place.

Whether the above can be achieved remains to be seen. What has been witnessed since the implementation, however, was crudely a reflection of the resourcefulness of fellow MOs.
Impressive curriculum vitaes were prepared overnight and forwarded to department heads. Some departmental heads found themselves busy meeting potential candidates. For some, the exercise was no different from a formal job application. Yet others took a back seat and hoped for their choice postings, albeit passively.

We await with anticipation the outcome of this revised MOPEX, and will certainly actively collect feedback from MOs both new and old. Do look in coming issues for an update.  
  

The SMA MO Committee wish to thank Dr Ivan Shim for putting the MOPEX up on the SMA website, after 36 gruelling hours of hard work by his computer. MOs can submit and view their postings at http: www.sma.org.sg/mopex

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