Around 40 foreign doctors have signed a petition asking the Directorate of Health to ease the authorization requirement so that they can assist during the current Coronavirus crisis.
“We have a moral obligation to Norway and humanity to face the current crisis together with authorized doctors and health professionals in Norway,” the letter quoted by Klassekampen.
Since the introduction of new regulations in 2017, all doctors with education outside the EU / EEA have been subjected to a general examination in general medicine, in addition to a test in national subjects and prescribing and managing medicines. But due to the current crisis, tests are no longer offered, and doctors are queuing up to help.
“Before 2017, there was no subject examination, only in national subjects and drug handling in addition to the language requirement. For me and many other doctors who are also specialists, it feels strange that we cannot contribute in the situation Norway is in now,“
said Itab Khalayli to the newspaper. She is from Syria and was a laboratory doctor at a hospital in Aleppo before fleeing to Norway in 2015.
Among the doctors behind the call are various specialists, including in the field of internal medicine, gynecology, orthopedic surgery, dermatology, surgery, ophthalmology and general medicine. The doctors are either refugees, married to Norwegians or they are Norwegians with education from outside the EEA.
Department Director Anne Farseth of the Directorate of Health told Klassekampen the Directorate does not have the authority to deviate from provisions stipulated in regulations and that these must be decided politically.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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