DOH to hire medical graduates to help fight COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is calling on medical graduates to apply as “deputized physicians” to help in the government’s efforts to end the spread of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

In a Facebook post on Friday, the DOH said it would issue a special authorization for medical graduates to perform a limited practice to augment the workforce for COVID-19 response.

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDOHgov/posts/3322167721127790?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDwM7dzZcHX0RpC88Mv3N12lUpJ778DqMUSVMXGCwtrWRLLmdAZ4N5KpMJzttqzvBkV3spn0jfaNm–PZahmNyTr8EXRiz2GgC2UyH2nQ4_zNERD6MgQzCog7fuKUqMes89wu7YjfGha-gHe4QE4vYC1CUfdaqCJdJ509CUTDzzdtAXNXmSzHoellI16YfwXsZDpcW3GvKfz-7pNlWicSYys3sDNuLFakNQImjPOKcCjAsHOkUXfxUr6Cd-2DUkRo3eQYJfMAit_2O0Gg-IUF3M6sirSn8j7zbhk7dSwobJW5gRCBlS_O_hUyBbFKQ_aSZsqYa6IIEp8avrPivXeLbSxA&__tn__=-R

Applicants must submit an updated personal data sheet with a work experience sheet; a copy of diploma; and certificate of Post-Graduate Internship Completion to [email protected]. The hiring medical facility may ask for additional requirements.

DOH issued the following qualifications of applicants:

• Filipino graduate of a medical education program
• Completion of the one-year post-graduate internship program within two years prior to March 17, 2020 (from March 17, 2018 onwards) or the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ); and
• Must not have taken the physician licensure examination three times or more prior to the application for deputization or who are yet to take or pass the licensure examinations for physicians
• Preferably a non-smoker
• Does not belong to the high-risk population for COVID-19 — that is, senior citizens, pregnant, immunocompromised, with existing co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, asthma, lung disease, cancer, and so on

Applicants who are currently under quarantine can also submit their application, but they will be short-listed pending the submission of a negative COVID-19 test result.

Benefits

DOH said successful applicants can receive the following benefits:

• A monthly salary of P38,463.60, inclusive of 20% premium
• COVID-19 hazard allowance of P500 per day, pursuant to Administrative Order No. 26)
• COVID-19 one-time payment of special risk allowance, pursuant to Administrative Order No. 28)
• Modest board and lodging
• Other benefits provided under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, or Republic Act No. 11469 and other relevant policies, subject to government accounting and auditing rules and regulations

Job description

Medical graduates, if hired, will “provide primary health care services and support public health efforts that are geared not only to address or mitigate the spread of COVID-19 but also prevent and control other diseases.”

They will also help in the early detection of suspected cases and “facilitate appropriate referral following standard algorithms provided by the DOH.”

The graduates must also “treat cases that can adequately be managed at the urban health centers, rural health units, temporary isolation facilities or infirmaries thereby reducing the burden in hospitals that are already overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.”

Lastly, the Philippine health department said other tasks for COVID-19 response will be identified by the Immediate Supervisor or Hiring Authority.

As of Saturday, May 16, the Philippines posted 12,305 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 817 deaths and 2,561 recoveries.

/atm