Opening up a ‘rich vein’

The medical registration rule changes exempting South African and Maltese doctors from PRES examinations could prove to be a rich vein for Irish NCHD manpower managers, reports Lloyd Mudiwa. The Medical Council has agreed to exempt South African and Maltese applicants for registration in the General Division of the Medical Practitioners Register from sitting the Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES), a move which could make it easier for the HSE to address NCHD shortages in our hospitals. The move, which reinstates long-standing arrangements dating to the Commonwealth era in place prior to the new Medical Practitioners Act, has seen the first…