Medical grads allowed limited practice to fight pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has adopted the Department of Health’s (DOH) protocols to allow medical graduates to engage in limited medical practice to beef up the health-care response to the new coronavirus crisis gripping the country.

In a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, IATF spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles stressed that special authorizations shall only be issued “as a last resort” to ramp up the government’s COVID-19 response.

He added that any authorization “shall only be effective for the duration of the state of public health emergency in the Philippines unless earlier withdrawn by the IATF, upon recommendation of the DOH.”

Special authorization

Republic Act No. 2382 or the Medical Act of 1959 allows the limited practice of medicine without any certificate of registration from the Board of Medical Examiners after passing the board examination.

Under Article III, Section 12, the health secretary may give limited and special authorization to medical students who have completed the first four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, and registered nurses.

This special authorization may be issued only during “epidemics or national emergencies, whenever the services of duly registered physicians are not available.”

Earlier on Monday, President Duterte reported to Congress that the Department of Budget and Management has approved the DOH’s request to hire 857 contract of service health-care professionals.

The health-care workers—which includes 82 doctors and 267 nurses—will be deployed to three COVID-19 referral hospitals: the Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, and the Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center.