People First Party legislators and physicians appealed yesterday for an amendment to the Medical Law to protect patients from being treated by interns who have failed to pass the Department of Health's (DOH) certification exams.
According to Article 28 of the Medical Law, medical school graduates may practice as interns under the supervision of physicians. But the provision does not limit the length of internships.
"I am astounded by the fact that non-certified interns can practice as qualified doctors," said Chen Chung-ding (陳中鼎), a member of the Taipei Dentist Association (TDA).
"If this is so, I wonder what the point of certification is at all," Chen said.
The TDA had raised the issue with PFP Legislators Chen Chao-rong (陳朝容) and Chin Hui-chu (秦慧珠), and they held a public discussion at the legislature yesterday.
Most of the physicians in attendance proposed amending Article 28 by, among other things, limiting medical internships to only two years.
There are two kinds of internships in hospitals. One is for seventh-year medical students who need one-year internships as part of their school programs.
The other kind, also controversial, is for medical graduates who have failed to pass the DOH's qualification exams as certified physicians, but who are able to hold internships under Article 28.
"Patients cannot tell whether their doctors are certified or just life-long interns since they all wear the same white uniforms," said one participant at the public hearing.
Tan Kai-yuan (
"In 36 DOH-supervised hospitals nationwide, only three or four hospitals have non-certified interns," Tan said.
There are nearly 28,000 certified physicians in Taiwan, whereas, according to Tan, statistics for the number of medical graduates "are not available."
"But the problems happen neither in DOH-supervised hospitals nor in small clinics since public medical insurance authorities keep an eye on these hospitals," said lawyer Steve Chang (
"Most of the problems occur in private, mid-sized hospitals," he said, explaining that larger hospitals in both the public and private sectors tend to keep a closer eye on who they employ.
Private, mid-sized hospitals often have "interns in charge of shifts when certified physicians are unwilling to work, particularly at night or on holidays," Chang said. "But many urgent cases happening during these times cannot be treated by fully qualified staff."
In fact, the law requires that certified physicians supervise interns, but most of the time they work independently, Chang said.
"But after mistakes occur, the certified physicians will be asked by the hospitals to lie to the effect that they have supervised interns in treating the case in question," Chang said.
"It's very difficult for patients and their families to fight the hospitals."
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