Newsroom
Exam or no exam: that is the question
When asked about AHP, there are usually two main questions. ‘Why would foreign doctors come to South Africa?’ and ‘Why wouldn’t foreign doctors come to South Africa?’ Neither answer is simple but doctors are most often motivated to come to South Africa for the work experience, lifestyle or a change of pace. For more details see some of our other website articles.
In terms of what might prevent doctors from coming to South Africa, in some cases this is entirely determined by personal choice. However, in terms of the technical requirements, this is often a much more complicated process.
What?
As a foreigner wishing to practice medicine in South Africa the requirements are threefold:
- The candidate requires registration with the Health Professional’s Council of South Africa (HPCSA);
- Two endorsements are needed from the Foreign Workforce Management confirming the candidate is eligible to work in South Africa; and
- A job offer from a South African healthcare provider.
Who?
The ease with which one’s HPCSA registration is acquired is entirely reliant on the country in which the candidate qualified. If the candidate qualified from a university recognised by the South African Medical and Dental Professional Board (closely affiliated with the HPCSA), their registration is merely a case of submitting the required paperwork. In case the tertiary institute at which the candidate qualified is not recognised by the Board, the candidate is required to sit both a theory and a practical HPCSA exam.
Why?
While there is much debate as to the validity of such an exam, the reasons are detailed and not without cause. As a South African doctor, one is required to complete a two year internship and one year of community service. Each of these requirements has syllabus-specific requirements including experience in maternal and neonatal healthcare, HIV specialist care and emergency medicine. This far surpasses the experience of most newly qualified foreign doctors. As such, the purpose of the HPCSA exam is to ensure that they will be prepared to face the medical challenges of the South African public healthcare sector.
However, the complications begin when a foreign-qualified specialist with many years' experience is required to sit the same exam, especially while such doctors are desperately needed in underserved healthcare facilities across the country. This is further complicated by the fact that that there are only two opportunities to write these exams each year. Moreover, in responding to an AHP questionnaire over a third of those who wrote an HPCSA exam indicated they reconsidered their decision to work in South Africa because of the length and complications of the exam registration and writing process.
Problems with the exam itself and how AHP helps
While AHP cannot be involved in the decisions of the HPCSA in determining who must write these exams nor do much about the delays in the process, we do our best to assist our candidates who are required to write exams. This year alone, 37 candidates were assisted by AHP to write HPCSA exams. Of those who responded to our questionnaires, 85.8% agreed that AHP provides great assistance with the exam registration process.
What is most often raised as a concern is that the medium of the exam is English with the argument being that many of those who fail could attribute this to the fact that English is not their first language. However, of the 58% exam candidates who indicated English is not their first language, only 14% found language was a problem. Of the total number of AHP candidates who sat exams, 74% passed the theory exam but a lower 62% passed the practical exam indicating an average pass rate of 68%.
There are significant challenges that can be attributed to the exam process; however, AHP continues to do everything it can to assist its candidates to succeed. We additionally acknowledge our valuable partnership with the HPCSA. Without the HPCSA’s continued efforts to streamline processes, AHP would not be able to place as many foreign-qualified health workers in the public healthcare system as we currently do, thereby impacting the impoverished communities that depend on South African public healthcare services.
If you have any further questions about the exam process, please do not hesitate to contact us at: placements@ahp.org.za
