You Are Fired! Hundreds Of Pakistani Doctors Jobless As MS, MD Degrees No More Acceptable In Saudi Arabia, Other Gulf States
Hundreds of highly-qualified Pakistani doctors have been rendered jobless – majority of them in Saudi Arabia – who have been told to leave or be ready for deportation, said a report published by DAWN.
According to the report, it is a result of the decision taken by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain according to which these countries have rejected the century-old postgraduate degree programme of Pakistan — MS (Master of Surgery) and MD (Doctor of Medicine) — removing it from the eligibility list of the highest paid tier.
The Saudi health ministry claimed that it lacked structured training programme, a mandatory requirement to hire medics against important positions.
The decision initially taken by Saudi Arabia was followed by the other three countries, which will also result in a huge loss of foreign remittances for Pakistan.
But there is a huge discrepancy: the same degree programme offered by India, Egypt, Sudan and Bangladesh was acceptable in Saudi Arabia and other countries, an affected doctor said.
The newspaper says it has obtained copies of service termination letters of several doctors issued by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS).
“Your application for professional qualification has been rejected. Reason is that your master degree from Pakistan is not acceptable according to the SCFHS regulations,” reads a letter.
Some of the affected doctors and senior health officials in Pakistan blame the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) for damaging their career.
A spokesperson for the Association of University Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, Dr Asad Noor Mirza, said the CPSP delegations during recent visits to Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states had presented distorted facts about Pakistan’s university programme to maintain monopoly of the CPSP-sponsored FCPS qualification.
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Your have said that the same degree was offered by Bangladesh, India, Egypt and Sudan and it is accepted by Saudi and other Gulf countries.. But you not mentioned that these countries follow certain procedures before granting the post – Graduate degree in medicine. This must not be the case in Pakistan