Syndicate calls for ensuring non-Jordanian doctors are registered

AMMAN — The Jordan Medical Association (JMA) on Monday called on the government to launch inspection campaigns targeting private hospitals to make sure that all non-Jordanian doctors are registered with the syndicate.

JMA President Senator Hashem Abu Hassan said all doctors in the Kingdom, whether Jordanians or non-Jordanians, should be registered with the association in order to be certified. 

“This is stipulated in the JMA Law and has been the norm in Jordan for a long time,” Abu Hassan told The Jordan Times.

“Under the law, doctors are certified as practitioners only if registered at the JMA,” he said.

Jordanian doctors are granted permanent membership in the JMA while their Arab and foreign peers who are in the Kingdom as residents, or to obtain the board accreditation in their specialties, are given temporary membership, the syndicate leader said.

“The whole procedure is primarily meant to ensure that the physicians are really doctors with medical degrees from reputable universities. It also aims at regulating the profession and protecting patients,” he added.

Abu Hassan also explained that the certification of doctors working in the Kingdom is given by the Ministry of Health, the Medical Council and the JMA.

“There are 29,000 Jordanian doctors registered with the association,” he said, adding that “very few of the registered 600 non-Jordanian doctors residing in the country work.”

The association president also explained that the reason private hospitals are not allowed to hire non-Jordanian doctors if not registered with the JMA is to give priority in appointments to Jordanians. “There are now around 1,200 Jordanian doctors without jobs.”

The JMA has published an advertisement in local newspapers, calling on private hospitals to stop hiring non-registered doctors who, if caught, will face a three-month prison term or a JD10, 000 fine, or both.`