A decision by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) taken in 2010 mandated that doctors wishing to renew their licences would have to earn credit hours by attending seminars and programmes which would help them update their professional skills, including publications in medical journals.
Doctors have to renew their licences every five years. The MMC recently advertised that doctors whose licenses were coming up for renewal should furnish proof of having earned 30 credit hours by the 31st March, to render them eligible for being given a renewal in keeping with their updated skills.
This means that doctors who last had their licences renewed in 2006-07 would need six credit hours for each of the preceding five years. Since the decision of the MMC was taken only in 2010, there is a mad rush among doctors to earn credit hours. The MMC has, however, clarified that only 12 credit hours are required this year. But conferences and seminars which till now had a moderate record of attendance has doctors making a beeline to attend.
Dr Ambarish Shahde, president of the Pune Chapter of the Indian Medical Association said that as many as 400 doctors had registered for the continuous medical education workshop or CME which is held every week. Earlier there was not much interest among doctors to attend the workshop, but with the new guidelines, doctors are enrolling for the workshop to make sure their licences are renewed.
Doctors in Pune are worried about the consequences of practicing without a licence. At the same time, the MMC, concerned that many doctors may not be able to earn the credit hours in time, will be meeting representatives of the IMA to discuss the possibility of conducting the CME online. There is also a proposal to allow doctors to send their renewal applications to the local unit of the IMA who could verify the credit hours earned. This would reduce the burden on the MMC.
Doctors have to renew their licences every five years. The MMC recently advertised that doctors whose licenses were coming up for renewal should furnish proof of having earned 30 credit hours by the 31st March, to render them eligible for being given a renewal in keeping with their updated skills.
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