Medical graduates will have to sit for a special national exam before they are off loaded to the public in a move aimed at guaranteeing safety of patients in the country if Government plan is implemented.
The revelation was made yesterday during a meeting held between Parliament’s Health Committee and Officials (in featured photo) from Ministry of Health as well as Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
The team was led by Minister of State for Primary Healthcare, Joyce Moriku Kaducu who said that the move is aimed at eliminating incompetent medical practitioners whose number, Ministry says is on rise.
Dr. Katumba Ssentongo, Registrar Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council said that the proposal if approved will introduce an examination board to assess medical and dental students at the end of 5th year before commencing clinical practice.
Ssentongo blamed the drop in quality of medical doctors on medical schools in Universities admitting large number of students into the medical and dental courses despite lacking the requisite space, equipment and medical lecturers.
“This hasn’t been popular with many medical schools but we believe that this is the way to go. We are even stating further that since we aren’t satisfied with the level of training in internship, there should be another exam they sit for before they are released to the general public,” Ssentongo said.
While asking Parliament to back the proposal, Ssentongo said that the national examination will compel the owners of medical schools to put in place the necessary equipment and improve teaching staff.
“… So safety is a major determinant of a practice of a doctor and we want to be sure that they can present this in an efficient and effective manner,” Ssentongo said.
The development comes at a time when Jinja Regional Referral Hospital came under fire after a baby lost a limb in a botched caesarean section that was allegedly performed by intern doctors.
