Foreign doctors

By Dr. Mohammed Daud Haider, Dunedin Hospital, Dunedin, New Zealand
18 January 2004, 18:00 PM
I am talking from my personal experiences as I have been working in different countries for the last fourteen years including Iran, the USA Brunei and now in New Zealand. Many countries in the world hire foreign specialist physicians for rendering service to their community when there is a shortage of specialist physicians. Even in New Zealand, Australia and England, the governments are hiring doctors from South Africa, USA and Canada to get the services for their people and this service is free as governments pay the foreign doctors. These doctors are not allowed to do private practice. Even a hospital has to buy medical protection insurance for these doctors; without the insurance they are not allowed to work. The institutes that hire them must also appoint supervisors who are responsible for their activities. These doctors are not allowed to work in private hospitals. They are also involved in training the local doctors.

Bangladesh needs specialists and the government may allow them to work in the country as long as these doctors, appointed by different institutes, serve a portion of the people free of charge. A foreigner is never given a permanent registration to work privately as it gives them unlimited authority to treat or maltreat the local people and there would not be anybody to shoulder the responsibility. But they can be utilised in the institutes as specialists under supervision of local doctors designated by the hospitals.

We should utilise foreign specialists like specialists or consultants in other areas. I admit that physicians from India and Sri Lanka are good but not all of them are equally good. The BMDC should keep an eye on them through the local specialists.