MAM threatens action as doctors await training decisions

MAM said the current recruitment call opened on May 15, 2026, and that applicants are still awaiting confirmation of their appointments and commencement dates. In a statement, it said the delays were prolonging doctors’ career progression and creating uncertainty.

This is not a quarrel about whether specialist training should be demanding. MAM itself set out how long the path already is: after five years of medical school, doctors spend another five to 10 years in specialist training. Its complaint is narrower and sharper than that. A process was opened, applications were made, and the outcome is still pending.

The association said the Public Service Commission had rejected a proposal to expedite the process, citing concerns relating to pending petitions and possible changes to appointments. That is the administrative knot at the centre of the dispute. Fairness and transparency matter in recruitment, particularly where appointments can be contested, but MAM’s point is that those principles cannot be used to justify what it called excessive delays.

“The time for assurances has passed,” the association said.

MAM demanded that the current recruitment process be concluded and that a formal review be appointed to identify the causes of the delays. It also called for a transparent, time-bound recruitment protocol and for reform of the recruitment system, with clear institutional responsibilities and accountability for meeting deadlines.

The tone of those demands is procedural rather than theatrical, which makes the threat attached to them more striking. If no action is taken, MAM said, it will pursue all industrial relations measures available to protect its members’ rights.

It also said it remained willing to engage constructively in reform, but added that after years of repeated failures, it would not accept further delays or “empty assurances”.