Bahrain: Ministry urged not to hire female doctors from abroad

Manama: A Bahraini doctor has urged the Health Ministry not to hire foreign female doctors, suggesting that it should invest in Bahraini female students instead.

“The ministry should give up the idea of bringing female doctors from abroad to address the shortage of women doctors in some departments. A foreign doctor will not come alone and will be accompanied by her husband and children and eventually by relatives,” Dr Taha Al Durazi, deputy head of the Bahrain Doctors Society, said on Wednesday.

“As a solution to ensure both a sufficient number of female doctors and the satisfaction of the patients, the ministry should annually allocate a specific number of scholarships to women in specialties that require female doctors,” Al Durazi said in a statement.

Faisal Al Hamad, Health Minister, last month said Bahrain had 1,064 foreign doctors in 2007, up from 960 in 2006. “We had 642 doctors in the public sector and 318 in the private sector in 2006. In 2007, we had 710 in the public hospitals and health centres and 354 in private clinics,” he said.

Bahrain has a shortage of female doctors in some specialties, prompting the authorities to hire doctors and nurses from abroad. The situation was compounded last April after a motion was tabled by Al Wefaq, the largest bloc in parliament, and supported by the Islamist-dominated Lower House, demanding that women patients be treated only by female medical staff.

The Bahrain Medical Society vehemently rejected the motion, and threatened to sue doctors who accepted the proposal banning opposite gender medical examination on the grounds of “violating the principles of medical practice and promoting sexual discrimination”.

Al Durazi said the number of Bahraini female doctors would be boosted, if the authorities provided up to four scholarships annually and encouraged female students to take up specific specialties. “Such a measure will help address the current accumulation of female doctors in some areas of expertise that has limited their numbers in other fields,” he said.

Most Bahraini female doctors prefer to study general or family practice medicine, but Al Durazi said more women were needed in other fields. “There are departments where more female doctors are required to deal with patients. Unfortunately, many women doctors do not like departments where there are late shifts or surgeries that could have negative results and eventually put heavy social burdens on women,” he said.

By Habib Toumi, Gulf News