Internship in Australia (II) – JPA scholars asking for the moon?

There is an ongoing thread in Dobbs, the Malaysian doctors forum Australian-trained doctors ’may be forced overseas’ and basically, Internship (Housemanship) jobs in Australia are relatively scarce compared to the number of medical students being produced.
Now JPA scholars studying medicine in Australia are making a plea for “guaranteed Internship jobs” in Australia

PETALING JAYA (March 17, 2013): Malaysian medical students on scholarships in Australia are calling on the government to enrol its scholars at institutions that provide internships for international students.
In a petition to the government, more than 400 students pursuing medical degrees in Australia, said the lack of internship meant they had to return to Malaysia to get internship placements.
University of Newcastle student Mohamed Ehsan Ebrahim, who initiated the petition advocating for internships for Malaysian medical students in Australia, cited a 2009 report that stated that there were 1,134 Malaysian medical students studying in Australia.
“As of 2012, some 200 medical students graduating from Australian universities are without internships,” he said recently.
Noting that internship is a requirement for all medical students to become registered medical practitioners, Mohamed Ehsan said these students often returned to Malaysia for internship, adding to the large number of local graduates doing internships in local hospitals.
“Due to the lack of training opportunities in Australia, UK and Ireland, these unregistered doctors come back to Malaysia, overwhelm our public sector, resulting in the ministry having to fork out more money to train them,” he added.

I wonder if it is so bad to have to come back to Malaysia to do your Housemanship, and hey, perhaps even serve the country which paid for your scholarship? Are these JPA scholars asking for the moon?

One Dobber (currently training in Australia) made this comment

I think the gov should just scrap this overseas JPA medical scholarships.
None of the people I know actually return. They are not needed anyway. Plenty of HOs already. A waste of taxpayers money.
In fact, those who initially wanted to return were strongly encouraged not to, so they have “safety in numbers”. They share among themselves how to cheat the system.

Related post: Internship in Australia