By Eulalee Thompson, Staff ReporterTHE GENERAL Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom has withdrawn its automatic accreditation of medical doctors trained at the University Hospital of the West Indies' (UHWI) medical school.
Since 1948, when the UWI was established graduates of its medical school had become accustomed to the privilege of being able to practise medicine in the United Kingdom without first sitting a qualifying examination. However, information from the Vice Chancellor's office is that the GMC "has advised of a change in the United Kingdom Medical Act of 1983 to accommodate the reality of the establishment of the European Union."
The change is expected to affect not only regional doctors but also those trained in other Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The doctors will now be required to sit and pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Boards' test (PLAB) if they wish to practise in the UK.
"I don't think that it is a reflection on the quality of our training and our students can be confident that our training is of the highest standard. We always have our external examiners coming from Britain and they have always been very happy with the quality of our students," said Dr. Errol Daley, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ).
The UHWI, the regional teaching hospital for medical students, had always had hovering over its head threats of the withdrawal of the GMC accreditation. At one point it was because the students were not being exposed to a wide range of case studies when the hospital reduced its operation to emergency cases only, as a result of the nurse shortage and the latest issues had been that of the large number of persons squatting in front of the hospital gate, posing a health hazard.
But Dr. Daley said that decision was made not as a result of local issues but because of international politics. The world is getting large but everybody is looking after their own welfare," he said.
Dr. Trevor McCartney, chairman of the National Council of Continuing Medical Education, also emphasised that the decision was a political one taken by the British parliament and had nothing to do with local accreditation matters.
He said that the GMC's decision will come into effect as of December 31, 2003, meaning that persons who graduated before that date and who have already registered with the GMC, will not be affected by the new legislation.
In the meantime, the UWI has set up a steering committee to examine proposals for the establishment of a Caribbean accrediting body. The committee is consulting with other accrediting bodies in North America to identify suitable international models and to establish linkages that will ensure international recognition of the proposed accreditation body.
