Yafaaus dad Yasiph asked me this question.
Do you think when there is a good malpractice law, shortage of doctors which is already a problem would be worse? And existing local doctors would migrate to other countries? Just a whacky thought by a friend.
No. It (shortage) should (and will ) not be a problem at all. If and when that happens (malpractice laws) all the doctors will be ( i hope so) made accountable for their actions.
In developed countries doctors are even getting sued and their licenses canceled or put on limitations for very simple things, but for good reasons.
For example
A doctor who made an indecent comment about a female patient had to go through a lot of trouble. Another doctor who thought that he was doing a full and needed examination on a young girl got “wacked” because the tribunal found that the examination was not necessary. Another doctors license was withheld for 5 years only because she didn’t get consent to touch a patient..
If doctors are to migrate, it will not be that easy for them. They will instead choose to be where they are because still the laws in Maldives will suit them more. What i mean is that it will be more easier for them to practice in Maldives rather than in a developed country.
Why do you think they haven’t migrated to a place like US or UK or other developed country where they can get paid in dollars and British pounds rather than the Ruffia????????
I can give many reasons to that. One is simplicity of practice. You don’t have to update your knowledge. You can enforce your authority on others including the patients and other health professionals. “I am the god who knows everything.. no one knows nothing.. you all should listen to me…” is a common practice not in Maldives but many places who do not have such laws protecting the patients.
Another reason is , it is not easy to get in to the health systems in developed countries. Most of the doctors trained in Maldives are trained in places like Pakistan and India. If you need to get in to the health system in a developed country as a doctor you need to take a special exam or meet certain criteria (the practice in UK). Most people fail this. I know a Bangladeshi doctor who is cleaning floors . I know an Indian surgeon who is driving taxis .
Other option for them will be to go to Africa or Middle East..
In middle east you will either become a slave of the rich and you will not have that AUTHORITY that they love to display. And the money is also not that good if compared to Maldives. I mean in Maldives doctors get huge sums of money from such a small population. Africa ? forget it .. No Maldivian doctor will even contemplate going there.
well i could go on and on..
Maybe, the ‘justification’ is that it’s better having unprofessional ones than to have no doctors at all? It’s the same in the education system here too. Sucks.
A lot of the things you have said are true. But my dera friend, you have made some assumptions that go a bit too far.
The majority of Maldivian doctors have passed out of medical school as the top graduates in their classes. They can, and have passed PLAB, USMLE, AMC exams without much difficulty. Mind you, they are very capable people.
You ahev also failed mention the love of their country as a reason for them returning to Maldives. A significant number have left high paying jobs to come and work here. That is not to say that there aren’t people holding on to those high paying jobs either.
Yes, the risk of litigation are lower in the Maldives. But the risk of them sustaining significant physical and verbal abuse at the hands of the irate (maybe expectedly) relatives and bystaders is higher too. The work place is neither doctor nor patient friendly. The simple work environment and lack of support network too has its disadvantages.
A large share of doctors do keep themselves informed of advances in medical care. But the advances are seldom applicable in this setup. Nonetheless, that knowledge is being acquired.
OK, fair enough; there are few bad apples in our bag. But there are gems in there as well.
True . Very true.
There may be gems, what are they doing to improve things?
Helpless they are. Why?
Because they want to remain that way. period.