The Specialists
Accreditation Committee approves the
Malta
College
of
Family Doctors' Specialist Training Programme
The Specialists Accreditation Committee has recently approved the Specialist Training Programme presented by the Malta College of Family Doctors in preparation for formal training of trainee family doctors.
The path is now set for the start of formal specialist training for new family
doctors early this year. Since November 2003, family medicine (general
practice) has become a speciality in Malta, at par with all other specialities.
The Maltese government is bound by EU directives to set up a training scheme
for new family doctors who wish to work in the national primary health care
service. The Specialist Accreditation Committee (SAC) is the body that advises
the government on all post-graduate medical training issues. The Malta College
of Family Doctors is represented on the SAC, and is responsible for advising the
committee on family medicine. In fact the College has helped set up a register
of Specialists in Family Medicine, has designed the Specialist Training
Programme for Family Medicine, and will be involved in developing the relevant
Curriculum and in the assessment process for the trainee family doctors in
conjunction with the SAC.
Completion of Specialist Training in Family Medicine will allow successful
trainees to become specialists in family medicine with an international CCST
certificate issued by the SAC, and will allow full membership status with the
College (MMCFD). Last year the College awarded the MMCFD certificate to 230 of
its members that have become specialists in family medicine on the basis of past
experience and training.
The College has been involved in the initial set-up of the University of Malta's
Department of Family Medicine, in the work of the SAC and now in the setting up
of specialist training in family medicine. A group of trainers have been trained
over the past four years for this task, with the expert assistance of the Royal
College of General Practitioners. Other College initiatives have included the
introduction of Irish College of General Practitioners’ Diplomas for local
family doctors, a Masters programme provided by the University of Ulster, a
local Diploma in Family Practice, a research project using electronic medical
records and a continued medical education programme that has been running since
1992.
It is hoped that the College's efforts to improve the quality of family medicine
in Malta will continue to benefit from the support of the government and sister
colleges. The College has achieved much from the voluntary efforts of a few
dedicated members, but maintaining this rhythm of development in future will
require more substantial support and investment of resources.