By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has given South African doctors trained abroad a ray of hope that backlogs of foreign qualifications will be handled before the end of 2023.
In recent weeks, doctors from South Africa who had acquired foreign qualifications complained of how they were unable to write their board exams as the council had failed to offer them, while they desperately needed work as a result of expired contracts.
“The training received by all foreign-qualified medical practitioners is subject to review to measure compliance and equivalence to the prescribed minimum South African requirements.
“This is to establish whether the qualifications meet the evaluation criteria and allow applicants to practice their profession in the country,” the HPCSA explained.
The council said an external service provider manages the Medical Board Examinations on behalf of the Medical and Dental Board (MDB).
“Previously, this was conducted by Sefako Makgatho University (SMU) whose contract subsequently expired, following several extensions.
“The HPCSA had already started a supply chain management process to seek a replacement service provider, with initial bids advertised in March 2022. Unfortunately, only one bidder responded but did not meet the supply chain requirements.”
The council said another closed bid was advertised to all the universities in July 2022, the same institution was the sole respondent and once again did not meet the requirements.
“As a result, a deviation from normal procurement processes was sought to enable negotiations with the same institution to provide guidance and ensure that requirements are met. This process took longer than anticipated but is now nearing completion.”
To address the registration backlog of foreign-qualified medical doctors, the HPCSA said it was still preparing to conduct both theory and practical board examinations before the end of the year.
The HPCSA has committed to exploring a more efficient and effective approach to medical examinations after consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including the universities with Medical School facilities, which will be submitted to the Medical and Dental Board and council for final ratification.