Chairman s Annual Report 2013

Transcription

1 Chairman s Annual Report 2013 The past year 2013 has been busy and eventful, filled with unexpected challenges and joyous moments. We are particularly pleased with the Ministry of Health s support in steadfastly ensuring all interns and GMOs have documented assessment of their clinical rotations. Continuing Medical Education (CME) The CME Committee was headed by Dr. Monica Odwin-Sagala, Director of Regional Health Services. She was ably supported by Dr. Reeta Gobin, Ag Director of the University of Guyana Medical School and Dr. Andrew Amata, Head, Dept of Anaesthesia, GPHC. A total of CME lectures were delivered last year. Venues included GPHC, Project Dawn, New Amsterdam, and in the regions via the Ministry of Health. I particularly wish to thank Balwant Singh and Woodlands Hospitals for responding to our request to host CMEs. The Council hosted its quarterly CMEs at the Ocean View Conference Centre, increasing fees from $2,000 to $3,500 in order to lessen the Council s subsidy. There was an increase in the number of international presenters. Attendance rose from 170 to 220 persons, prompting a decision to seek a larger venue. Our final CME was held in collaboration with the Maternal & Child Health Division, Ministry of Health at the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal. Dr. Odwin-Sagala and her team must be highly commended for their prompt assessment of and response to CME requests, and for steadily guiding the improved quality of CMEs delivered. Website The website was upgraded in 2012, and usage increased significantly in We anticipate it enjoying a more central role as the Council moves towards greater use of technology. Annual relicensing forms may be completed and submitted on-line. We will explore on-line preregistration for CME lectures in order to bypass the considerable challenge of trying to decipher doctors handwriting. The site is being linked to the Caribbean Association of Medical Councils website. Lectures delivered at the Council s quarterly sessions were placed on our website. It is the Council s intention to continue to place all Ministry of Health clinical treatment guidelines on the website. In the future, webinars may become necessary in order to make our quarterly CME sessions more accessible for those physicians in remote areas. Optometrists and Medexes The Council continues to register optometrists and medexes. Following a series of meetings, it was determined that more emphasis will be placed this year on the supervision of new graduates and the continuing professional development and appraisals of registered medexes and optometrists, in a similar fashion to our monitoring of physicians.

2 Secretariat In 2008, the Council registered a total of 390 physicians, medexes and optometrists. The recent tripling of this number has underscored the need for a more adequately resourced secretariat. Towards this end, the Council increased registration fees to cover the costs of employing additional and full-time staff, and applied to the Ministry of Health for provision of office space. This matter is still in process. Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (CAMC) CAMC continues to be hindered by the fact that after 15 years, the intergovernmental agreement has not yet been legislated. Nonetheless, CAMC intends that every newly graduated physician in the region, who attends a CAAM-HP accredited Medical School should sit the CAMC licensing exams. This includes UWI graduates. Currently, Guyanese nationals and West Indian graduates of Cuban medical schools are the most successful groups of candidates sitting the CAMC exams. Non-native engiish speaking physicians will be required to sit an internationally recognized english competency examination before being eligible to sit CAMC exams. In 2023, ECFMG will only permit graduates of CAAM-HP accredited medical schools to sit the USMLE. The USA had expressed concern about the plethora of new medical schools mushrooming in the Caribbean. Currently, our Council locally recognizes graduates of UG, and the off-shore AISM and Greenheart Medical Schools who have passed CAMC, USMLE or PLAB. All off-shore medical schools in Guyana are urged to follow UG s example and seek accreditation with CAAM-HP. Medical Practitioners Act During a strategic planning session and team building exercise held in March, the Council recognized the need to seek urgent amendments to the Act. After meeting with the Minister of Health, our legal counsel, Mr. Kamal Ramkarran drafted our proposed amendments, which were sent via the Ministry of Health to the Attorney General s Office. We proposed that 1) English language competency must be a mandatory requirement for all categories of registration. For those whose competency in English was uncertain an examination would be developed to look at the candidates oral, written and comprehension skills. The University of Guyana has developed such an exam which Council intends to implement this year.

3 2) Internship Registration should not be less than one year, and must be completed within THREE years of graduation from medical school. Otherwise he/she would be required to sit an examination e.g. the UG medical degree final examination. 3) Limited Registration would commence after internship. Junior doctors would work under supervision for a minimum of three years before being granted full registration to work independently. They would have the opportunity to work in a Private or Public institution while possessing this registration. 4) A change in the Disciplinary Committee to the proposed Caricom model of a physician led and chaired Disciplinary Committee, with one change being that the Disciplinary committee be constituted as the need arises. Registration The Council has sought to be consistent in the performance of due diligence. We have agreed that this is our single most important function. Applicants were encouraged to view the list of registration requirements and download the application form from the website. Registration Table 2013 Category Number Relicensed 486 Full 50 Institutional 278 Short Term 93 Intern 23 Total Doctors 880 Optometrist 17 Medex 87 Hospital Accreditation The Council embarked on an exercise in the latter half of this year to visit and inspect hospitals. It was a personally very fulfilling experience as I was able to meet and interact with physicians at their host hospitals. The following hospitals were visited Linden, New Amsterdam, Diamond, Leonora, West Demerara, Woodlands and Anamayah. Vital areas for improvement

4 were communicated to the Chief Medical Officer and the Director of Regional Health Services. A full report will be submitted to the Minister. Future Our focus this year will be to continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health and Directors of Postgraduate Programs to get treatment guidelines and clinical protocols for dissemination on our website. We have also been mandated by CAMC to develop a specialist register. The Council s many achievements over the past year were due to the A-Team s wise counsel. Sheik Amir, former Chair and Medical Director of GPHC, who was patient with me in the initial stages as I encountered the challenges which he had previously faced. Sylvia Conway, for her consistent and constant encouragement. Shoba Gobin, fellow anaesthetist, and the first woman to act as Chair of the Medical Council, has an incisive and succinct no nonsense attitude. Monica Odwin-Sagala, Chair of the CME Committee, and influential ally in her role as Director of Regional Health Services. Hardat Persaud, the longest serving physician on the Council, freely shares his invaluable institutional memory. Shamdeo Persaud, Chief Medical Officer, whose wealth of knowledge and experience has helped to guide the Council. Madan Rambaran, former Medical Director of GPHC, former Director of UG Medical School, current Director of Institute of Health Science Education and invaluable and involved member of the Council. Kamal Ramkarran, legal counsel, whose services are entirely voluntary, has never lost a case on behalf of the Council! Excellently well done. Juanita Johnson, our secretary, who continues to perform outstandingly, has remained our backbone. In the last quarter, diminutive Shaniece joined Donna to provide enthusiastic and much needed assistance to Ms Johnson. Melissa Layne, our webmaster, who designed and maintains our website. Lastly, I must thank the many persons who have supported the Council in the past year with advice, suggestions and encouragement.

5 I wish everyone a healthy, incident free Sincerely, Vivienne Mitchell Chair