After the government scrapped a regulation on mandatory internships for university medical graduates a few years ago, it was hard to find any new doctors willing to be assigned to remote areas.
Most preferred assignments at hospitals in big cities to qualify for their practice licenses.
But the situation is now changing, thanks to the launch of an incentive system in 2006 for new doctors.
This system has prompted many medical school graduates to go to the country's most isolated districts, boosting hopes of improving underprivileged residents' access to health care.
"Many new doctors are now interested in assignments to remote areas. They are only required to serve for six months and will earn large monthly incentives," said Marissa, a 26-year-old doctor about to begin work in a remote district in Sarolangon regency, Jambi.
Marissa was among some 370 doctors attending a farewell ceremony at the Health Ministry offices in Jakarta on Monday, before leaving for their respective posts.
Doctors willing to be placed in the country's most isolated regions would serve for only six months to obtain practice licenses.
They will receive Rp 5 million (around US$537) in incentives in addition to the standard Rp 1.73 million salary each month. Extra incentives may also be given by some local administrations, the ministry said.
These new terms compare favorably with assignments in cities, where doctors will have to intern for three years and get paid Rp 1.18 million per monthly. In smaller towns, they are required to provide one year of service at a salary of Rp 1.53 million.
Marissa, who worked previously in a community health center and in a maternity hospital in Jakarta, said assignments in isolated districts would make doctors more valuable for future employers, such as private or state-owned hospitals in big cities.
She said doctors in these regions could encounter a wide variety of infectious diseases, whereas patients in cities mostly suffered from cold or flu.
The Health Ministry will send 776 doctors, comprising 565 general practitioners and 211 dentists, to various districts in 25 provinces across the country this year. They will be sent in three batches, with the first batch in April and the last one in September.
Mustikowati, the ministry's head of human resources, said the incentive system has so far proved very popular, with 1,162 doctors and 283 dentists applying for posts in remote regions.
Sjafii Ahmad, the ministry's secretary-general, said the government would employ as civil servants doctors who have served for five years in remote areas.
Those interested in applying for the program can do so at www.ropeg-depkes.or.id or www.depkes.go.id.
