A Malta-based online medical school could be used as a backdoor for underqualified doctors to work in EU hospitals, European doctors fear.

Frank Montgomery, who chairs the Standing Committee of European Doctors, an EU-wide doctors’ lobby, told Times of Malta a Malta-based company offering medical courses via online correspondence had been the topic of discussion at a recent meeting of its members. 

The German doctors’ lobby had expressed worries about the company and its operations.

“This is a matter of concern for us. We do not know the level of qualifications within this organisation and have doubts on the programme being offered, which is why we have raised this with our partners,” Prof. Montgomery said.

The contentious programme is offered by the European Digital University, which was licensed by the Maltese education authorities last year.

The company offers students the possibility of enrolling in an online medical degree programme complemented with clinical training in Germany. The programme consists of a three-year Bachelor of Medicine degree accredited by Malta’s National Commission for Further and Higher Education.

According to the EDU website, a two-year master’s degree in human medicine, which includes practical clinical training in EU hospitals, is also available.

The website says that “the innovative EDU study model provides the best possible education in clinical medicine to young people with an intrinsic passion for becoming a physician”.

Healthcare industry sources said the company was interested in applying for a licence to offer full medical courses and be able to certify doctors.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said when contacted the authorities were being “very rigorous” in reviewing the company’s requests. While the government was all for innovation, it was also aware that medical education had to be treated sensitively, he said.

A spokesman for EDU told Times of Malta students were recruited through a rigorous selection process based on their performance after sitting for both a cognitive test and an interview. The company’s admissions criteria, he noted, were similar to or, in some cases stricter, than those of other public or private universities.

The spokesman said an application to offer a course leading to a Master’s degree had been submitted and was in the final stages of the accreditation process. 

The EDU was expecting a final decision next month and, then, EDU medical students would graduate as a doctor of medicine after completing the Bachelor of medicine and Master of medicine courses, he continued.

“As a doctor of medicine, the student can strive for a professional recognition in Europe and also in other countries beyond Europe, which is then always individually reviewed,” the spokesman said.

Prof. Montgomery, however, declared he had no confidence in the course offered by the EDU and feared such practices could be a trend creeping into the EU’s medical sector, whereby physicians were certified by institutions that did not meet the necessary standards.

We do not know the level of qualifications within this organisation

“I would advise any student and aspiring physician not to enrol into this course because we are not certain of its credentials and ability to meet European requirements,” he said.

Prof. Montgomery, a heavyweight in the medical sector who is regularly involved in talks at European Commission level, harbours concerns on whether the company adhered to the EU prerequisites all medical schools had to meet before being able to certify medical professionals.

Medical schools, he said, should have a hands-on element and be part of an educational ecosystem that included a university and a hospital. 

“Medicine should be learned on the ground, with a hospital, a pathology department, an anatomy department and all the other things that make a medical school what it is,” he said, adding both he and colleagues were not even aware of the qualification of trainers involved in the EDU programme.

Prof. Montgomery pointed out that EDU students were given practical training in private German hospitals, which was why the matter was raised by the German doctors’ lobby.

He said he was informed the company had only decided to come to Malta as it had been informed it would be given the go-ahead by the authorities in a relatively short period of time. 

Clearance, he remarked, was given in less than two months, again raising concerns of the level of due diligence.

Doctors who contacted Times of Malta said they feared the EDU course could jeopardise the island’s good reputation as a medical hub.

“Malta is known to be a serious country when it comes to medicine and medical training. Something like this, where we are not sure of the qualifications and the credentials [of those behind the venture], may appear innovative but it may also risk damaging the island’s good name,” a concerned veteran physician said.