DOCTORS DEPRIVED OF PRACTICE

261 doctors have been excluded from the registry of medical practice because they could not prove they had taken part in the prescribed number of further training courses in the previous year. The number of exclusions can increase because only 45 pc of data have been summarized so far.

It is for the first time that doctors had to prove the fact of brushing up their knowledge. The deadline was March 31 for doctors practising in Hungary, they had to collect 250 credit points to prolong their licence. Credits could be collected by participation in conferences or by publications. Géza Gyenes, secretary general of the Hungarian Medical Chamber said more than 28 000 doctors had to produce the certificates of obtained credits. The decision of exclusion can be appealed. Though the necessity of further training is generally accepted, there are critical points of the procedure, too. Doctors complain of the high fees of conferences, and it is difficult to find a substitute for the time of the training courses. It is not clear what happens to doctors who were ill for a long time or who were on maternity leave.

Translated by Peter Szentmihályi Szabó