Fresh medical graduates and being a life insurance sales person

The long wait for a houseman placing after graduating from medical school in Malaysia is now the new normal, there being thousands of graduates and the limited positions made available by the Government.
After spending 5 years in medical school (and in the case of private medical school, spending hundreds of thousands of ringgit in fees) being jobless is quite painful I can imagine.
We have fresh medical graduates seeking temporary jobs as a Barista, Grab driver etc.

Recently there was a query from a fresh medical graduate about whether becoming a life insurance agent would be affect her career and if indeed there was a conflict.

Kudos to the graduate for her insight. We put the question to doctors in DOBBS, our medical community and we got these responses:

It’s only a conflict of interest if you are practicing medicine and selling insurance to your patients at the same time .I think this graduate is okay to start his insurance sales .but it is prudent to stop insurance services once HOship starts.

as a RMP, your doctor patient relationship means you have considerable influence over your patients. When that influence becomes used to coax your patients to partake in commercial transactions outside of your basic doctor patient relationship, then it becomes unethical use of that relationship.
This applies to any other commercial activities, and a common grey area is doctors selling supplements, tonics, wellness and longevity products

PCEIA and medical license is not incompatible. The ethical issues arise from how and where you sell. Eg cannot sell to pts and in hospital.
As mentioned above, all needs to find extra option to face the future
If you are seeking alternate career pathways in medicine and looking at the insurance industry, don’t waste your medical education! Aim to become a medical affairs / health advisor for the insurance company, not just a normal insurance salesperson.

So there you have it. It is OK as long as you are not practicing as a doctor e.g. pre-housemanship or if you are in an alternate career, otherwise it is a potential conflict of interest.

On a related note, we are opening up our DOBBS Permanent Jobs Telegram group to all doctors (including  graduates), and also any HR or recruiters as we realise how critical the job situation is now for fresh graduates and indeed Contract Medical Officers who’s careers are now uncertain.  This Dobbs Permanent Jobs Telegram group is only for permanent or semi-permanent positions for medical doctors/graduates. It may be a clinical or non-clinical position but it should NOT be a temporary locum post (there are tons of Locum groups out there so we aren’t going to be one of them). Please note chatter or discussion is not allowed and any spammers will be immediately banned.