Medical personnel accreditation | Exam and internship for rookies may be required

The latest version of the health authorities’ blueprint for a medical personnel accreditation regime stipulates that prospective medical practitioners would be subject to a professional examination and half-year internship prior to joining the workforce.
The second consultation on the revised plan, which is slated to begin tomorrow, explores the viability of the system that allows practitioners to be excluded from the exams if the committee finds them to be capable in their field after deliberation.
In addition, students who complete their study domestically might also find their internship shorter than stipulated after consideration by the authorities. Currently, the programs offered by two local higher education institutes consist of self-designed practicums. However, the exact length of the internship for such students is yet to be established.
The classification of nurses, laid out in the preliminary blueprint, has been dropped in the latest version of the scheme. It was intended to set apart nurses with a bachelor’s degree from those with only a diploma.
The authorities insisted that students majoring in pharmacy at the Macau Polytechnic Institute would not qualify as pharmacists. Rather, they would attain a lower position, whose entry threshold was lowered to three years after taking programs from foreign schools into account.
Besides, the new version of the Medical Malpractice Law suggests that overseas medical experts could be invited to contribute to inspections into medical malpractice cases if the government’s intermediaries fail to defuse disputes through negotiations.
Besides, the Medical Malpractice Law, which is still pending further discussion, requires evidence from complainants who are allowed to seek assistance from the government regarding their search for evidence. In addition, it also makes it compulsory for medical practitioners to take out insurance policies against the possible risks involved in the execution of their duties.
Earlier, the authorities ditched the compulsory exams and internships after the March consultation immediately drew hostility from the nursing sector, which slammed such tests as redundant. However, they have this time returned to the second blueprint.