Today I am going to write on a hot topic discussed in the medical communities worldwide. That is revalidation / re licensing for doctors. I am sure this is going to be interesting topic for our users to comment upon.

Revalidation is the process where doctors are tested in a periodic basis to see whether they are up to date. This obviously needs to be done by a competent authority like the Medical Council.

There are couple of reasons why such a process is important.

Medical Knowledge is evolving

As we all agree medical knowledge is evolving. What was recommended, as the best course of action sometime back may sometimes be considered harmful today. There are new researches going on and new knowledge is presented to practice at a rapid pace. It is important therefore for the doctors to keep themselves updated.

Doctors actually do update themselves at various levels. At individual level, doctors themselves try to update their own knowledge. It may be in the form of reading journal articles, participating in seminars and discussions etc.

There are concentrated efforts by groups like Medical Associations e.g. Continuous Medical Education sessions, Annual Academic Sessions, symposia and workshops etc

But there are no hard and fast rules that all doctors should attend these. Doctors in triaining generally attend these, however vast majority of doctors are not in training programmes.

Government involvement

GMC in the United Kingdom is planning to implement a “License to Practice” programme where doctors have to revalidate themselves in periodic basis. In Sri Lanka too, this was once considered however it really did not materialise as yet.

Public Safety

I think it would be in good interest of the public if there were to be a revalidation process. Patients will get a better deal.

Doctor’s Safety too

It will also safe guard the doctor as well as he/she will be up to date on the subject. The mere fact that he/she has revalidated might help to provide evidence for him to safe guard himself in a court of law.

Some Doctors are concerned

Some doctors are concerned that this will be an extra burden on their already busy schedules. Some fear that the administration will try to take an upper hand over doctors on clinical duties.

The topic is open to your opinion, please comment!