Question NW2567 to the Minister of Health
22 September 2023 - NW2567
Chirwa, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
With regard to persistent complaints by South African doctors who received training abroad, such as board exams, registration with HPCSA and internship registration, which his department has not been able to address positively and permanently, (a) what has he found to be the causes of these persisting issues and (b) by what date will his department resolve these issues permanently?
Reply:
a) According to the response received from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), registration with the HPCSA for foreign qualified applicants is not guaranteed. The relevant Board must satisfy itself that, the curriculum and/or training received is equivalent to that offered in South African institutions, or at least, satisfactory. For the relevant Board to make the necessary determination, it relies on the submission of documentary proof by the applicants for review. Such documents must respond to requirements as set by the relevant Board, including hours of training received domains and evidence of satisfactory clinical exposure during training. The documents usually written in foreign languages may also need to be translated into English and notarised.
A Task Team of the relevant Board will review the submissions and may decide to either reject the application or subject the applicant to a Board examination. Once the Board has approved the application for a Board exam, the applicant may need to wait until a Board examination is available according to set schedules (exams are available frequently set and sometimes may happen only twice in a year).
These processes are lengthy and may sometimes take several months especially as applicants sometimes do not provide all the documentary evidence as required timeously (a non-compliant application will not be processed).
Internship placements is the responsibility of the National Department of Health. Applicants for internship registrations must submit proof of placement to perform internship in an accredited facility. This requirement is in terms of the regulations relating to registration of interns. Those who are waiting placement are therefore not registrable until such time that they have been placed.
b) Based on the above it is evident that there are a number of factors that an applicant must comply with before an application can be processed. If applicants fail to comply with these requirements, then they will unfortunately be delayed. Thus the only way these issues would be permanently resolved is when applicants are in full compliance of the HPCSA requirements.
END.