Oman has unveiled a crackdown on its medical profession with new laws requiring all GPs and dentists trained outside of the Sultanate to have at least three years experience, it was reported.
According to the Ministerial Decree, private healthcare doctors and dentists would need at least three years of experience to obtain a licence to work, the Times of Oman reported.
“However, those passing out from Oman’s colleges are exempt from this rule,” the decree issued by the Minister of Health, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, said.
Health department officials say the changes are an important step towards improving Oman’s healthcare system, as well as encouraging more Omanis to work in the health sector.
“It is our hope that these updates will help in filling the gaps in the healthcare sector,” a senior official of the Health Ministry said.
K.P. Raman, director and chairman of Al Hayat Polyclinic, said it always hired doctors who had enough experience “since we believe that health comes first”.
Welcoming the change, he said that private healthcare hospitals will not able to apply for the visa if a doctor did not have three years of working experience.
Health services in Oman have developed from only two hospitals with 12 beds and 10 clinics in the 10970s to more than 50 hospitals run by the Ministry.
Oman’s Health’s Vision-2050 aims to set up 10,000 health centres to meet the increasing demand of its growing population and expanding urbanisation.
“The Omani population is expected to double by 2050 and this, in turn, entails the doubling of health services,” a senior health official was quoted as saying.
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