Government committed to stem doctors' brain drain

The government was determined to strike a partnership with the UK's national health service (NHS) so that the two-year doctors' housemanship system practised in Malta is recognised in the UK, England's acting director of medical education, David Sowden, said.

Prof. Sowden highlighted the government's enthusiasm and determination to get the partnership going as soon as possible, hopefully within one or two years.

For the past years, young Maltese medical graduates have had to leave the island to follow the British foundation course in order to apply for a specialist post in the UK. This led to a brain drain as a large percentage of medical graduates chose to leave.

The partnership, being discussed between the government and the UK NHS, would structure the two-year housemanship in Malta on the same assessment lines as the UK's foundation programme introduced by the British NHS in 2005. This would ensure Maltese graduates did not feel disadvantaged if they did not leave for the UK.

So far, meetings have been aimed at discussing the methodology and methods of assessment and training and to appoint the two programme coordinators - doctors Kevin Cassar and Tonio Piscopo.

Prof. Sowden was in Malta over the weekend to address medical students during a seminar entitled: Why Maltese Doctors Do Not Need To Go To The UK For Foundation Programme Training.

He explained that the purpose of his visit was to share, with colleagues in Malta, the experience of setting up the foundation programme.

During the seminar he got the feeling that most students did not really want to leave but did so as they felt it would benefit their future opportunities.

"This partnership is not just about securing people in Malta but also about having the highest standards possible," Prof. Sowden said.

Agreeing on this point, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Joe Cassar, stressed that this programme would not impinge on the students' freedom to work in the UK. On the contrary, he felt it was important Maltese postgraduate trainees seeking higher speciality training had some external exposure. The UK NHS was also offering help in finding one- to two-year placements for these trainees.

Dr Cassar added that another objective of the programme was to reach a stage whereby UK graduates completed the foundation course in Malta.