The Czech Republic is tightening conditions for hiring foreign dentists
In this regard, as reported by Vinegret.cz, on July 1, 2017, a law came into force in the Czech Republic that clarifies the conditions for obtaining qualifications for medical practice in the country. The new provisions will deprive foreigners of leniency regarding the qualifying examination.
“Most of the knowledge that foreigners demonstrated on the exam was appalling. There were cases when a Russian-speaking candidate submitted an application for qualification 9 times in a row,” said Pavel Hrz, head of the Czech Dental Chamber, to the Aktualne portal.
According to representatives of the chamber, there were also frequent situations where foreign candidates for dentist positions could not successfully pass the Czech language exam and did not have 5 months of practice behind them. However, despite this, they started working. Then complaints were received by regulatory authorities: patients simply did not understand what the doctor was saying.
According to Pavel Hrz, villagers prefer to have at least an unaccredited doctor rather than travel long distances for medical care. At the same time, professional associations and supervisory authorities often have no idea about self-proclaimed dentists, so such illegal practitioners in most cases face no fines.
Experts hope that the new law will reduce the number of unscrupulous dentists. “We do not want to hinder anyone in performing their duties. Our primary task is to improve the quality of healthcare services so that it is comparable, for example, to Germany,” Hrz clarified.
According to the latest data, there are 8,240 dentists in the country, of which 842 are foreigners. According to the Czech Dental Chamber, among them there are often individuals from Russian-speaking countries who lack qualification.