Rawan Abudawood

Saudi Gazette SAUDI doctors, medical interns and medical students vented their anger and sadness, using a Twitter hashtag to reach out to the authorities and raise their voices. The hashtag, which is in Arabic, translates as ‘Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) ends the dreams of Saudi doctors.’ What would make a sizeable number of medical interns and doctors use a hashtag of this sort? I also witnessed some of the medical interns breaking down in tears, as they felt oppressed by the SCFHS and felt there was no one who they could complain to. Let us first start with the obstacles the medical interns believe that the SCFHS has placed in their way. We will first talk about the Saudi Medical License Exam (SMLE). According to what GP Dr. Amira Al-Shammary mentioned in an episode of YaHala, a TV show presented by Mofareh Al-Shaqiqi and aired on Rotana Khalijiya that discusses social problems, within only six months the SCFHS decided to increase the 150 questions in its exam to 300 questions over six hours. Not only that, the SCFHS also raised the pass mark from 50 percent to 60 percent. The cost of exams is also now SR1,083. The medical interns say that it is unfair that they are unable to change the dates of their exams 15 days before unless they pay a SR56 fee. In addition to that, many students view the exams as impossible to pass. In fact, consultants and specialists have also raised their voices hoping that this injustice will end. I will mention a few comments of doctors and consultants regarding the exams and the way medical interns are treated. Dr. Saleh Al-Harbi, a family medicine consultant, tweeted, “It is totally unfair to allow non-Saudi doctors to work for six months before applying for the SMLE while providing everything for them to make their experience easier and at the same time putting every obstacle in the face of our sons and daughters. As for the SMLE, I looked at the exam myself and the time provided for each question. I emphasize that this test is difficult for a lot of specialists and consultants. What about our interns? Please have some empathy towards our sons and daughters.” Professor Dr. Ayman Abdo, secretary-general of Saudi Health Specialties, said on YaHala, “During the last six months, 3,217 medical interns took the SMLE. Seventy two percent of them passed on their third attempt so the result would probably increase to 77 percent which is very logical and acceptable.” Dr. Khalid Edrees, a consultant podiatric foot & ankle surgeon and a consultant at the Ministry of Health, said in a tweet, “After long discussions with academics, a 72 percent pass rate is not a good result. It is important to reconsider the questions because this shows that there must be obstacles in either the teaching