Training scheme agreement

Agreement has been reached by the Medical Association of Malta and the government over the setting up of a general practitioner vocational training scheme.

MAM said it viewed the agreement as an important step forward. It will establish the family doctor as a specialist in family medicine in line with European Union directives.

A three-year training scheme will be established to make the postgraduate preparation of family doctors comparable to that received by doctors who are training in the hospitals.

MAM augured that the few remaining points of disagreement on the new Health Care Professions Act would be ironed out in the near future and that this important new legislation would be presented in parliament as soon as possible.

This would create the legal framework which would be necessary for all training programmes in all specialities when Malta effectively joined the EU in a year's time, it said.