More than 150 newly graduated doctors could soon practise medicine following a government decision to open training for Bahraini medics.

The training programme, which will start on October 1, will replace the existing system of graduates waiting, sometimes for years, for the Health Ministry to announce available vacancies in various specialities, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Health Minister Sadiq Al Shehabi yesterday (July 28) said the trained doctors will also have the option to practise in the public or private sector, unlike before.

“We will ensure medics are highly trained for a period of three to seven years in various specialities, which follows our accreditation with the Arab Council of Health Specialisations (ACHS),” he said at a Press conference held at the ministry’s Juffair office.  

“The ministry held a number of meetings with the newly graduated doctors to discuss this and have explained the benefits of these training sessions.

“With these free sessions the doctors will get trained on their skills and thus get better in their profession.

“Moreover, they are also free to choose to practise in the public or private sector after their training.”

A total of 153 doctors registered on the ministry’s waiting list for employment will start the training in October, said the ministry’s assistant under-secretary for planning and training Dr Mohammed Amin Al Awadhi.

“Earlier the ministry, depending on the vacancies that came up periodically, used to choose graduates and train them, which obviously led to waiting lists – of those medics whose specialities may not have a vacancy,” he told the GDN.

“The new step is to start training for all new graduates so that they are in the system.

“The doctors are free to decide if they wish to practise in government sector including Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), BDF Hospital, King Hamad University Hospital, Jidhafs maternity hospital, etc, or in private hospitals.”

Dr Al Awadhi said the training period varied between three and seven years.

“The free training sessions, depending on the specialities, will be for three or five or seven years,” he explained.

“They will enjoy the status of doctors working at SMC and these doctors will also be paid more, once they finish their training, compared with existing doctors.

“The criteria for graduates to enter the training programme, as set by the ACHS, are that the graduate should be a Bahraini, must have graduated from a university accredited by the Health Ministry and must have the ACHS licence, which they obtain after the minimum 44 hours training as soon as they graduate.”

Meanwhile, Dr Al Awadhi dismissed claims that unemployment issues facing a group of fresh graduates have not been addressed.

The group of 40 medics earlier claimed they have been unemployed since they graduated in 2012, and some were given temporary contracts that did not guarantee them the status of a resident doctor.

“We cannot hire all trained graduates together as there may not be many vacancies at a given time,” said Dr Al Awadhi.

“By opening training for all new doctors we are helping them overcome the long waiting time and at the same time they will not be under temporary contract.

“They will be on training, gaining skills suiting their speciality right from the time they graduate.”

The ministry’s assistant under-secretary for human resources and services Fatima Abdulwahed Al Ahmed was also present at the Press conference. - TradeArabia News Service