Govt. finalises minimum standards for medical education
The Government has finalised the minimum standards for medical education and hopes to gazette them within the next three weeks after consultations with the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), the Sunday Times learns.
The Medical Education (Maintenance of Minimum Standards) Regulations will be presented to Parliament for approval after being gazetted.
Every university which provides medical education and training and intends to seek recognition for its medical degree from the SLMC will be required to adhere to these minimum standards. This will apply to medical degree awarding institutions in and out of Sri Lanka.
The Sunday Times obtained a copy of the regulations which were finalised at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
These regulations require every university that seeks certification as medical degree awarding institution to make an application directly to the Registrar of the SLMC along with the necessary documents.
No university graduate whose medical degree is not certified as conforming to the standards prescribed in these regulations will be eligible to apply for registration to practise medicine, the regulations state.
The SLMC in turn will be required to set up an evaluation team of not less than three persons including a member of a university academic staff, medical specialist to medical practitioners with expertise in the subject areas as well as in delivery of undergraduate medical education.
Upon recipient of the evaluation team’s report, the SLMC will be empowered to
undertake site visits to the concerned universities and once satisfied that the institution conforms to the prescribed standards, that university will be granted the certification.
In instances where the evaluation team finds that the university falls short of these standards, the SLMC Registrar will be required to communicate such concerns in writing and give a reasonable period of time to rectify the deficiencies before a review by the evaluation team. The certification of a university as conforming to prescribed standards will be valid for five years unless withdrawn earlier on reasonable grounds. The university can make an application for the renewal of its status after the lapse of this term.
The draft regulations also provide for the formulation of a comprehen- sive curriculum model together with instructional and learning methods designed to produce competent and compassionate medical practitioners, impart skills in research to enhance analytical and critical thinking and nature ethical and professional behaviours required for the practice of medicine .
Every student admitted to the medical studies programmes in universities will require to have passed the General Certificate of Education ( Advanced Level) Examination in the subjects of biology, physics and chemistry or an equivalent examination, at one and the same sitting with grades of B and above in all three subjects.
The regulations also lay down the criteria for recruiting of academic staff, educational resources, programme evaluation and governance and management.
The Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) on Friday boycotted a discussion at the Prime Minister’s Office on the formulation of minimum standards for medical education.
The discussion -- a follow-up of the Harsha de Silva Committee Report to Resolve Issues Related to the South Asia Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) -- went ahead without the main ‘stakeholder’ which is the SLMC, it is learnt.
It was like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark, sources told the Sunday Times pointing out that the Medical Ordinance, without a doubt, placed the responsibility of ensuring the standards of medical education with the SLMC.
The Sunday Times understands that the SLMC, through its Vice President Prof. Nilanthi de Silva, was invited on September 18, to a ‘discussion’ on Minimum Standards for Medical Education and Training and the Independent Quality Assurance and Accreditation Authority (IQAAA) draft bill, by the National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry.
The others informed of the meeting were Higher Education Ministry Secretary D.C. Dissanayake, Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Sugathadasa, University Grants Commission Chairman Mohan de Silva, Additional Solicitor General Sanjaya Rajaratnam, and National Policies and Economic Affairs Additional Secretary K. Mahesan. The meeting was to be chaired by the Prime Minister’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.
However, taking cognizance of the fact that the ‘discussion’ on Friday follows from the Harsha de Silva Committee Report, the SLMC’s Management Committee which meets weekly had decided to refrain from attending it until the SLMC discusses the report at its monthly council meeting next Friday (September 29).
The bone of contention is that this Friday’s discussion on the Minimum Standard is a result of the report.
An SLMC source reiterated that the SLMC members who met Dr. de Silva’s committee had not agreed to the proposed solutions in the report as the report needed to be discussed at length by the SLMC.
“The SLMC members who met Dr. de Silva had clearly indicated that the committee’s proposals needed to be discussed and determined at the SLMC meeting. There was no agreement on the committee’s report and recommendations,” another source said.
Pointing out that the SLMC members also stated that they could not agree to a document which dealt with the proposed Independent Quality Assurance and Accreditation Authority (IQAAA) Bill as it had not been presented to the SLMC, the source said the members also did not agree with the proposed restructuring process as it requires in- depth consideration.
The source added that whatever entity is set up, the existing powers of the SLMC on the maintenance of minimum standards for medical and dental education should not be tampered with.
As such, the SLMC decided to refrain from attending Friday’s discussion, which it is learnt, went ahead as scheduled.