KP doctors reject new condition for licence renewal

ABBOTTABAD: The doctor community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has expressed concern over the decision of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) for declaring the Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Dental Education (CDE) compulsory for renewal of doctors’ licences to practice.
The PMDC has issued notices to doctors to complete the certification at earliest and asked all the physicians to present certificate of CME completion for renewal of licence to practice.According to the notices issued by PMDC to all cadres of doctors, including specialists and general practitioners whose registrations expired on December 31, 2014, a licence would not be renewed without provision of CME or CDE credit hours.
“Licence to practice is given only to those medical/dental practitioners/specialists who have completed at least five credit hours/year (for GPs) and 10 credit hours/ year (for specialists) of training of CME,” said the notice issued by Dr Shaista Faisal, deputy registrar PM&DC.
In a statement, People’s Doctors Forum (PDF), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claimed that doctors of all cadres, whose licences had expired on December 31, were feeling insecure as their licence could not be renewed till they do the CME/CDE trainings, for which no institution exists presently. PDF spokesman Dr Daud Iqbal said that although the PMDC’s step seems to enhance the quality of medical practitioners, the proposed training for all the practicing doctors cannot be completed during the amnesty time of six months.
He termed it an ill-planned exercise, which will create unrest amongst the doctor community. The PMDC should first accredit some institutions to initiate the said trainings all over the country, besides developing curriculum and ensuring availability of trainers.
He asked the provincial government to direct Health Regulatory Authority (HRA) not to take any action against practicing doctors till a final decision on renewal of their licence to practice.Dr Daud Iqbal demanded the provincial government to do legislation in this regard as is required after 18th constitutional amendment in which health sector has also been devolved.