According to data from the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), approximately 36,000 physicians in the country are practicing without renewing their registration.
The BMDC lacks accurate information regarding the number of individuals who have registered using fake documents, and they do not know how many are practicing as physicians without any registration at all.
BMDC President Professor Saiful Islam shared this information during an exchange of views with media at the BMDC office in Bijoyanagar of the capital on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting was attended by BMDC's Permanent Recognition (Institution) Committee Chairman Professor Abdul Wadud Chowdhury and BMDC Registrar Md Liaquat Hossain. ‘
The purpose of the meeting was to inform journalists about the current situation of the BMDC.
Professor Saiful Islam stressed that the investigation, hearing, and resolution of complaints related to professional misconduct, medical negligence, mental imbalance and character defects are important and sensitive tasks for the BMDC.
Since 2010, the BMDC has received 147 complaints against physicians. Of these, 71 complaints have been resolved, 27 are still under investigation or in the process of report writing, and 49 are awaiting formal approval.
According to the documents distributed at the meeting, out of the 71 settled cases, the BMDC has imposed various punishments on 17 physicians in 17 different cases.
Notably, the BMDC permanently cancelled the registration of one physician involved in the harassment of a journalist from Prothom Alo.
In addition, the complainants withdrew their complaints in 20 cases, leading to the dismissal of those physicians. Warning notices were issued to 9 physicians, while 5 physicians received formal reprimands.
In addition to registering physicians, the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) is also responsible for approving medical institutions. During the meeting, several journalists raised concerns about the quality of some private medical colleges, pointing out that they admit students through dishonest means.
They also noted that the association of private medical college owners is attempting to cancel the MBBS admission automation system.
BMDC officials provided the following statistics: there are 134,568 registered physicians in the country, 14,323 dentists, and 2,918 medical assistants. Among the registered physicians, approximately 36,000 have not renewed their registration, with the majority being senior doctors.
In response to journalists' questions, BMDC President Professor Mohammad Saiful Islam addressed the issue of fake physicians. He explained that there are two categories of fake physicians. Some individuals obtain BMDC registration by submitting fraudulent documents, and the BMDC is capable of identifying them.
However, there are also individuals who are practicing medicine without BMDC registration, posing as physicians. Identifying these people is more challenging for the BMDC.
Professor Saiful Islam further stated, "If a specific complaint is filed, we can request law enforcement agencies to take action. We recently did this in an incident in Cumilla."