The Medical Association of Malta (MAM) notes with satisfaction that Mark Vella (August 15) is making a good name for himself and his country abroad, and encourages him to apply and compete for consultant posts in Malta when these may be issued in the future.

Indeed the public is locally served by many Maltese surgeons and doctors who opt to dedicate their career and their skills to their country.

MAM’s position is that doctors working both in Malta and the UK should be on an equal footing as regards eligibility for consultant jobs. Futhermore, irrespective of the MAM position, as an EU country Malta cannot do otherwise, as it would be infringing freedom of movement rules.

The employment criterion for consultant jobs in Malta is full registration with the Medical Council of Malta as a specialist, which can be easily achieved by sending a copy of the UK certificate of completion of training to the specialist accreditation committee and the medical council of Malta.

Furthermore, a two-year period of working as a specialist after certification of completion of training is required. This two-year period can be performed in any EU country, including the UK. Normally, selection boards require detailed documentation from employers and relative references as verification.

For this reason the requested criteria in no way puts at a disadvantage Maltese doctors working in the UK or any other EU country, as Dr Vella claims.

May I however remind Dr Vella that both the Medical Council of Malta, and the General Medical Council of the UK would censure any doctor who publishes his own curriculum vitae in a newspaper in an effort to promote himself, particularly when comparison is drawn with other certified colleagues.

Malta has come a long way in introducing transparency and accountability since the Health Care Professions Act was brought in line with European Union legislation, and unfortunately doctors who have left our shores before that period sometimes fail to appreciate this.