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Black doctors complain to HRC over Colleges of Medicine exams

Black doctors have lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) against the Colleges of Medicine of SA, the body tasked by the Health Professions Council of SA with examining whether they meet the required standard to practise as specialists.

The CMSA has described the allegations as “defamatory, misleading, untrue and negligent”, reports City Press.

The allegations claims discrimination against black candidates who write the CMSA exit exams. The doctors are organised under the banner of Maatla, a group formed by postgraduate medical students frustrated by the alleged “unjustified failures” at the hands of the CMSA. The doctors are also seeking relief from the commission on accreditation certificates issued by the CMSA that allow them to register with the HPCSA as specialists.

The CMSA has a contract with the HPCSA to administer exit exams for medical practitioners who want to be specialists. A successful completion of university-administered research and the CMSA exams are required for a specialist to register and practise in the country. Buang Jones, head of the HRC in Gauteng, said he would conduct “a full and meticulous” assessment of the complaint. He said the commission had requested further information from the complainants.

The allegations were all old – some dating back to 2011 – said Dr Flavia Senkubuge, president of the CMSA. “We are currently engaging with the colleagues,” Senkubuge is quoted as saying in City Press.

In the complaint filed by the group, the doctors cited case studies of how they had allegedly failed the CMSA exams continuously and questioned the way their appeals had been handled. They also cited “renowned doctors, who allegedly continuously failed exams, despite being highly recommended and recognised in the health sector”.

 

strong>Full City Press story (Restricted access)

 

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