AMMAN — Doctors holding foreign
board certificates and working for state-run medical institutions continue
their protests and vigils, demanding to be included in the amendment of the
Medical Council Law for the year 2022 and have their certificates recognized
and given a corresponding equivalent, and alleging that their demands are being
ignored.
اضافة اعلان
The draft amendment to the Medical Council
Law for the year 2022 has sparked widespread controversy recently, especially
the amendment to Article 17 of the draft, which exempts a doctor who holds a
specialty certificate from abroad and has practiced in his specialization for
three years in the country where he obtained his degree from submitting the
Jordanian Board Exam.
Doctors holding a foreign board certification
who spoke to Jordan News said that the amendment excludes doctors who hold
certificates from abroad and worked in the Kingdom; they demand “equality and
justice”, since they work as specialist doctors in the
Ministry of Health and
state-run medical institutions, they said.
Abdallah Matarneh, the official spokesman for
the protesting doctors, stressed that “excluding us from this amendment is
unfair to us, as doctors holding a foreign board have been working as
specialists for years without having our certificates recognized, which makes
us legally qualified”.
“At the same time, those who have specialized
and obtained a foreign board certification, and worked for a period of three
years or more in the country that granted them the board, are granted an
equivalent certificate easily, and this is a great injustice that we will not
allow,” he added.
Doctor Anas Zayed, one of the protesters,
asked that holders of foreign board certificates who had “worked for three
years and more in the ministry’s hospitals be included in the amendment, and
that their certificates be recognized”.
He stressed that “doctors are continuing
their protests and vigils in front of the Jordan Medical Association and the
Lower House, and will take escalating measures if their demands are not taken
into account”.
Muzaffar Al-Jalamdeh, member of the Jordan
Medical Association, told Jordan News that the “association is trying hard to
have the law withdrawn, and to reject it or vote against it, either through the
government or in Parliament”.
He also stressed that it is important to
hold deliberations before passing a law concerning the health of the citizens,
and respects the Jordanian Medical Council position.
He added that “there is a national health
committee, which includes medical leaders, deans of medical colleges and
others, that are working on developing proposed amendments that serve the
medical sector and its workers”.
“Certificates from abroad are diverse and
have different levels; some are strong, others are weaker, and therefore there
must be a clear law that controls the source of certificates, to make sure they
are in line with the medical sector in the Kingdom,” he said.
Jalamdeh emphasized the importance of
ensuring justice for all, especially since “there are doctors who obtained
their degrees abroad, but circumstances did not allow them to work in the
country where they obtained their degrees from, either because of the economic
situation or residence issues. Some of them returned to Jordan and worked in
the Ministry of Health or outside”, which means they have experience and should
be treated as such.
“The amendment should cover doctors who
graduated from both Jordan and abroad,” he pointed out.
Jordan News attempted several times to talk to
Secretary-General of Jordan Medical Council Mohammad Al-Abdallat, but he was
unavailable for comment.
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