Detailed information on over 60,000 registered doctors and dentists is set to be published soon, in an attempt to stop many of the country’s “unqualified” doctors from using different abbreviations on the side of their names to create an illusion of expertise and build reputation among patients.
Sources at the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) – which is the legal authority for identifying fake doctors – said the detailed information of registered MBBS and BDS doctors, including photographs and registration numbers, would be published soon.
The BMDC is currently uploading the details of all registered doctors on its website, which is expected to be launched within a month.
Dr ZH Basunia, registrar of the BMDC, told the Dhaka Tribune that the updated website would be an essential tool to detect fake doctors across the country.
A large number of doctors, claiming to be “specialists,” put up nameplates and print visiting cards by using different abbreviations on the side of their name to signify their medical qualification. The combinations that are mostly common include PGT, BHS, FCPS (part 1), FCPS (part 2), MD (in course), MD (part 1), MD (part 2), MD (thesis), MD (last part), MS (in course), MS (course completed) etc.
According to existing regulations, PGT or post-graduation training is just a training course and is not enough to qualify someone as a specialist doctor.
Regulations also suggest that FCPS, which stands for fellowship of the college of physicians and surgeons, cannot be used on visiting cards or nameplates, unless someone has fully completed the degree; FCPS (part 1) therefore meant that the person had not completed the degree, but only finished the first stage of the two-part degree.
The same regulation applies for other degrees such as MD and MS.
Moreover, visiting cards and nameplates of many doctors contain expressions like Fellow (Mumbai, Australia, London), Trained in Child Health, DTCD, DTSI, MPH, DTM&H, FKIT (Korea), MD (PGI), DM (Cardio) etc.
Authorities concerned said these letters did not qualify the doctors as specialists, as the abbreviations only represented short courses or seminars that these doctors might have attended in the country or abroad.
Common patients, most of whom had no idea about what these abbreviations meant, often got cheated by consulting these doctors thinking they were specialists.
A number of universities in the country including the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) offer MD, MS and various diploma courses. Besides, the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) offer FCPS and MCPS degrees.
BMDC President Professor Dr Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin told the Dhaka Tribune that a month-long campaign would be carried out to create awareness among the registered MBBS and BDS doctors to compulsorily write their registration number on the patients’ prescriptions.
If the doctors did not follow the directive, drastic action would be taken against them within the next two months, he said.
Sources said the existing BMDC act would also be updated with focus given on the possible actions against the negligence or misconduct by doctors with patients. The updated act would also try to ensure the protection of the doctors, the sources said.
Professor Dr Iqbal Arslan, secretary general of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), told the Dhaka Tribune that doctors were now fearful of providing treatment to patients with serious conditions, as the patients’ relatives often tended to attack the doctors if the patients died under the doctor’s care.
Asked about previous initiatives by the BMDC, council President Dr Amin said people often came to the BMDC with complaints as they did not how to bring charges against the fake doctors. However, no action could be taken against the doctors as the patients failed to cooperate properly, he added.
