ISLAMABAD: Pakistani doctors, with MS (Doctor of Surgery) and MD (Doctor of Medicine) degrees, have been granted the status equivalent to the Fellow of College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) and Membership of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (MCPS) in Gulf states.
Although in Pakistan, degrees of MS and MD are recognised as clinical degrees, in 2017, Saudi Arabia declared them as research degrees, barring the degree holders from practice. This was despite the fact that both MS and MD degree holders work in hospitals to gain clinical experience, according to reports.
The Association of University Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (AUPSP) has appreciated the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistani embassy in Saudi Arabia for addressing the issue.
Talking to Dawn, AUPSP General Secretary Dr Asad Noor Mirza said that in 2017 Saudi Arabia had stopped MS and MDs from practicing, due to which 4,500 doctors suffered in the country while those practicing in other Gulf states also faced the same situation.
“In 2019 Saudi Arabia allowed MS and MDs to practice but put them at a lower level equal to two years MCPS despite the fact that MS and MD are four-year courses,” he added.
Mr Mirza said on Jan 23 the HEC executive director, Dr Shaista Sohail wrote a letter to the secretary general of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialities stating that in Pakistan MD/MDS/MS/MPhil was equal to FCPS.
The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, stated: “[T]he Pakistan Medical and Dental Council monitors and regulates policy for medical practice, ethics and licentiates and classifies both these clinical streams under Level-3 qualifications permitted to practice as specialists and consultants in their respective field of medicine and surgery.”
“Both these streams of qualifications i.e. MS/MD/MDS and FCPS, MCPS, etc. are at par with each other … and both are treated alike under the HEC Faculty Appointment Criteria.”
They requested to add these clinical degrees to Saudi Arabia’s Professional Qualification Requirements in the same tiers as for FCPS.
Dr Mirza said that on Feb 6, a delegation went to Riyadh and held a meeting with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialities secretary general.
“We got the assurance that MS and MDs will get the status equal to FCPS,” he said.
Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2023
