I left government service for Mahkota Medical Centre, Melaka in 1994 at the age of 34.

I was a young specialist at that time. Most of the pioneer doctors were off about the same age. Being in a brand new hospital, we worked very hard to build it. As time passes, more doctors joined the hospital. In 2019 we celebrated our 25th anniversary. I am now considered a senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (although I still feel very young) in this hospital. Like most private hospitals in Malaysia, all specialists work as solo practitioners because most of the time we work alone with little involvement of our colleagues.

In order to survive in this kind of environment, I had to learn how to interact with all the resident specialists as well as the management of the hospital. Over the years I have gained much experience on how to build relationship with the various stakeholders of this hospital. Some of my experiences were good while others were not so pleasant. Somehow, even though these experiences are talked about casually among doctors, I think no one has actually written them down. So I decided to write down what I feel is important for a young specialist to know before joining a private hospital.