Foreign Doctors Must Have Referrals

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 17 November, 2009 | 16:50 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The National Congress of Indonesian Internists last week proposed that foreign doctors who want to work in Indonesia must have referrals from a professional organization. According to Ari Fahrial Syam, the congress committee secretary, the profession organization can check on the doctors’ credentials and competency.

“We would like to ensure that foreign doctors have the competency described in their degrees,” Ari told Tempo yesterday. He added, “there is a similar adaptation model applied to Indonesian doctors who earn their specialization credentials abroad.”

According to Ari, the Indonesian Doctors Council is formulating regulations covering licenses for foreign doctors working in Indonesia. Foreign doctors could be flooding this country when the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) comes into effect in 2010.

DWI WIYANA