Sending a question to the Ministry of Health, reader N.T.H.Q said: "I am a preventive medicine doctor, grade V. 8:0002.06, working at the Department of Environmental Health - School Health - Occupational diseases, occupational diseases at the Provincial Center for Disease Control. I have a certificate to practice as a preventive medicine doctor with the expertise of examining, detecting and treating common diseases; initially handling some emergency cases in the community.
I also attended a vocational health examination class of the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment and got a certificate as a lecturer and occupational safety and hygiene trainer. I have worked for over 36 months in the occupational disease department.
Can I ask, am I allowed to have occupational health check-ups for employees at enterprises? ".
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Health responded as follows:
To be able to conduct occupational medical examination and treatment, she has the scope of practice in occupational medical examination and treatment. Currently, she has a practice certificate for preventive medicine doctors, and she has adjusted her practice license as follows:
At point b, clause 2, Article 135 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP dated December 30, 2023 of the Government, it is stipulated that:
"Conditions for granting an adjusted practice license:
... b) In cases where a practice license or practice certificate has been granted before January 1, 2024, within the scope of practice, there is a specialty but it is recommended to add another specialty than the specialty that has been granted within the scope of practice, which must meet the following conditions:
- Having one of the training degrees prescribed in Point b, c, d, dd or e, Clause 1, Article 127 of this Decree or having a basic specialized training certificate as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 128 of this Decree corresponding to the title on the proposed practice and specialized license;
- Having completed the practice process for the cases specified in Point b, c, Clause 2, Article 125 of this Decree".
Clause 2, Article 128 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP stipulates the conditions for a degree to be granted a practice license as follows:
"2. Requirements for basic specialized training certificates issued by domestic training institutions:
a) Awarded by a training institution that has completed at least 01 training course to grant a corresponding specialized degree and has graduated or a medical examination and treatment facility is a vocational training institution that meets the provisions of Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 111/2017/ND-CP dated October 5, 2017 of the Government regulating the organization of vocational training in health sector training (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 111/2017/ND-CP), currently organizing vocational training in a specialized field or major corresponding to the training content of granting a basic specialized training certificate;
b) Programs and documents for training basic specialized training certificates developed, appraised and issued by training institutions or used by other training institutions when approved in writing by that institution; program content, learning volume, lecturers in accordance with the training program for granting specialized degrees of the industry or major corresponding to and related to the specialized training program;
c) Minimum training period of 09 months".
Readers can refer to the above regulations for comparison. In specific cases, it is necessary to provide a specific "professional medical examination class of the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment" to have a basis to answer whether the training certificate is eligible for issuance to adjust the scope of practice or not.
