FOREIGN DOCTORS IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 10

FOREIGN DOCTORS IN NEW ZEALAND

Effect on High Standard of Practice

WELLINGTON SURGEON REVIEWS POSITION “The British code of medical ethics varies considerably from that held by some other countries and there is no doubt that the interests, and especially the feelings, of patients are more sympathetically studied by the British practitioner than any other in the world. This is of supreme importance to the community,’’ states a leading member of the British Medical Association concerning the influx of German doctors into New Zealand. The following statement made by a prominent Wellington surgeon reviews the position “The .registration of medical practitioners entitling them to practise their profession is dependent upon their having followed a prescribed course of study and having obtained a university degree or special diploma in the country wherein they wish to practise. The special diplomas are granted .by such bodies as tile Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Physicians of London, both holding Royal Charters entitling them to function as examining bodies. Different Requirements. “The course of study to be followed and the standard of examinations is determined by a specially-constituted body such as the General Medical Council in Great Britain. This course of study and the standard of examination is determined to suit the circumstances of medical practice in the country concerned, and varies considerably in different parts of the world. There is, for instance, a great difference in the requirements for medical practice in England and Germany. In Germany, the qualifying examination is an M.D., or doctor of medicine, whereas in New Zealand the qualifying examination is an M. 8., or bachelor of medicine. The M.D. is a special qualification only obtained after many years of extra study. Again, the M.D. of Germany does not entitle a practitioner to practise surgery. If he wishes to practise surgery he must pursue further special study at <1 surgical clinic for a period of five years. The ordinary practitioner has no proper training in surgery at all. "Registration in one country does not entitle practitioners to be registered in any other country. There are a few countries, however, who have reciprocity in registration; for instance, New Zealand has reciprocity with Great Britain and, I believe, with South Africa and Australia, but not 'With Canada or the United States or any country in Europe. No New Zealand graduate, even with the highest degrees and experience, can practise on the Continent of Europe, with the possible exception of Italy, without obtaining a medical degree or diploma in that country by going through the whole medical Course again, “Great Britain has reciprocity with New Zealand, South Africa and Australia and, I believe, Italy and Japan, but no other countries. This is du(/ partly to the national differences in practice which' would make a practitioner in one country unsuited to the countries of different customs and language, but largely to the different course of study and standard of degrees.

“In some countries*'- poor medical schools and inferior diplomas are notorious. If, however, as is reported, certain examining bodies- in Great Britain have been giving degrees and diplomas to foreign practitioners without any adequate prescribed course of study or satisfactory examination, New Zealand may have to reconsider whether reciprocity with Great Britain should continue, as there would be grave danger of seriously lowering the standard of practice in New Zealand by the admittance of Inferior practitioners.

“We believe that a period of three years’ study has been prescribed by nearly all the medical schools in Great Britain before any foreign practitioner is permitted to qualify for a diploma. Some schools, unfortunately, have not fallen in line with this, possibly influenced by the tuition fees. The prescription of a period of three years instead of the six years which is the minimum course possible for any New Zealand student is a very great concession. Unfair to New Zealand Graduates. “In New Zealand the authorities have been very much more accommodating by allowing a fore'gn practitioner to take the final examination after a period of 12 mouths’ study. In one case it was less than this. It has been demonstrated that the course of study and the experience obtained in these European countries cannot compare with the course of study and experience of our own New Zealand-trained practitioners. It is grossly unfair on the young university graduates to be compelled to pursue a full six years’ course of hard study and then to find that foreign practitioners from countries which allow no reciprocity with New Zealand are allowed to come here and’ be entitled to practise on the same footing as themselves. “There is no doubt that the quality of our New Zealand graduates is very high, and, as New Zealand has taken such pains over the last few decades to see that its practitioners are not allowed to practise unless they take their university degrees, it seems absurd to permit the lowering of this high standard by admitting foreign practitioners not trained in a similar manner. If these practitioners are admitted, then we should take steps to lower the standard of our own degrees and to be fair to our own people. 9 Iheie is in medicine the same human weakness as we have in music, inasmuch as the public is apt to think that a foreign brain and a foreign name carries with it. a natural superiority. The plain fact is, however, that British and New Zealand practitioners stand very high and are recognised as being in the forefront of world medicine, especially in the general practitioner class, in some European countries this class is of a much inferior grade.

It is felt that every effort must be made to retain our standard of practice in New Zealand as well as to safeguard the legitimate interests of our joung practitioners and students. There can be no doubt that the interests of the New Zealand public will be better served by their own countrymen, whose honesty and high ethical conduct will be at their 'service, and who have a natural incentive to do all they can for their compatriots.”